Shop Around the Corner
Redefining the neighborhood grocery store
By Katrina Tauchen
Imagine sitting down to a typical dinner at the table with your family. The plate in front of you is filled with some of your favorites: grilled chicken, steamed vegetables and whole grain bread. By most measures, it’s a great meal; it’s low in fat, high in fiber and packed with all those nutrients that doctors and diet books can’t get enough of. But if someone were to ask you where that healthy meal came from — where it was grown, raised or harvested — what would you say?
Many sources estimate that the typical food travels 1,500 miles before it reaches your plate. Although the validity of that exact statistic is often dependent upon what the consumer buys (a 2003 study out of Iowa State University’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture that is often cited looked at a sample of 16 produce types grown in the US and determined how far they traveled from their point of origin to point of sale), the sentiment still rings true across the country: Most food travels a long way, and identifying its origin is not always easy.
THE BERKLEY OF THE MIDWEST
Shopping local is one of the clearest solutions to the where-does-my-food-come-from conundrum, and Columbia has worked to redefine how we shop and what we buy around the city. In comparing Columbia’s food market to the rest of the country, “it’s got to be one of the top markets in the nation,” says Caroline Todd, market manager of the Columbia Farmers Market. “I had one guy tell me that Columbia’s food system was the Berkley, Calif., of the Midwest.”
The Columbia Farmers market operates under a purposefully narrow definition of the term local when it comes to food, and that’s part of what makes it stand out among its peers from other cities. “We have four pages of rules, and our No. 1 rule is that you have to grow it yourself,” Todd says. “Our No. 2 rule is you’ve got to be from a 54-mile radius, which takes it to an 18-county area. So that’s our definition of local.”
The benefits that come from the narrow definition are numerous. There are benefits to the environment; food that travels less typically leaves a smaller carbon footprint. There are benefits to the local economy: Buying local goods from farmers, who are local businessmen and women with farms or headquarters based in or near Columbia, pours money right back into the local economy, where those same farmers work and spend money themselves. And then there’s the taste factor, which arguably benefits all parties involved. “For one thing, it [the produce] tastes better because they just picked it,” Todd says. “If the food at the grocery store is coming from a 1,500-mile radius, we figure if it’s picked Monday, gets processed or packaged Wednesday, gets into the container and gets onto the truck, the earliest it can get to the grocery store is five days — as opposed to five hours.”
A GROWING TREND
The Columbia Farmers Market has grown significantly since it began in 1980, when a handful of farmers sold their wares from the backs of trucks. Today, it isn’t unusual for more than 4,000 people to visit the market on a single weekend, something Todd attributes to the city’s wholehearted embrace of the local foods movement. “This community has been very good to the farmers market,” she says.
Amidst the growing customer base, Todd says she notices a trend toward people utilizing local foods as a means of preventive health care. “Food expense can be directly related to medical expenses. There can be a correlation between folks making better food choices, which can mean spending more, and having less cost on health care … I think that’s what I saw the most of this season when we started: people concerned about their health, people trying preventive health measures instead of, ‘I’ve done all these bad things, and now I’m super sick and have to be good to myself.’”
Beyond the health benefits, people are also rediscovering the fun of food. “Food’s a good time,” Todd says. When the economy took a downward turn, she noticed that people were buying food and having their friends over instead of going out. “They’re still having a celebration, but it’s at home, and the focus is more on being together and eating.”
And with local foods in play, a social gathering can rise to a whole new level. For the past two years, Todd has hosted a locavore Thanksgiving for friends and family, the rule being that all food served must come from within a 50-mile radius (the exception is out-of-towners, who are allowed to bring something from their own area).
TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
The locavore Thanksgiving is a fun event, Todd says, and it makes people think about where their food comes from, but not everyone is ready to jump head first into the local foods fast lane. Consider the following tips for newcomers to the local foods movement: where to start, what to buy and how to shop prepared:
1. Start with fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the highest demand items when it comes to local shopping, and they hold that spot for a reason. Produce is a great choice for new local shoppers because it doesn’t require much effort to prepare. A lot of items just need a quick wash, and they’re ready to eat.
2. Try local meats. Show Me Farms and Missouri Legacy Beef produce great products locally, and Todd says that once you start buying it, you’ll have a hard time switching back. “I only buy meat from the market because I know where it’s from,” Todd says. For added convenience, Show Me Farms and Missouri Legacy Beef both sell their products to multiple locations around Columbia (see “Where’s the beef?”), so there’s no need to worry if you’re craving a burger and the farmers market is closed.
3. Think ahead. Oftentimes, the farmers market is overwhelming simply because the shopper doesn’t know what he or she is looking for. Know what’s in season before you go (the Columbia Farmers Market website is a good place to check; visit columbiafarmersmarket.org), and look for a recipe or two that incorporates what you’re planning to buy.
Columbia Farmers Market hours
• Main location
1701 W. Ash St. (parking lot behind the ARC)
Saturdays (March 20 – Nov. 20), 8 a.m. – noon
Mondays and Wednesdays (May – October), 4 – 6 p.m.
• South location
3900 Forum Blvd. (parking lot of Forum Christian Church)
Thursdays (May 20 – Oct. 28), 3 – 6 p.m.
• Winter market
301 W. Green Meadows Road (inside Rockbridge Christian Church)
More details to come at columbiafarmersmarket.org
The Columbia Farmers Market accepts Food Stamps
Where you can get it
Although the farmers market is your one-stop shop for all things local, other Columbia businesses have upped their game to offer select local fare such as fruits, vegetables, bread, meat and/or eggs:
Hy-Vee
- 3100 W. Broadway, 447-0133
- 405 E. Nifong Blvd., 442-8595
- 25 Conley Road, 442-7703
Schnucks
- 1400 Forum Blvd., 446-2800
Clovers Natural Market
- 2100 Chapel Plaza Court, 445-0990
- 2012 E. Broadway, 449-1650
The Root Cellar
- 814 E. Broadway, 443-5055
Café Berlin
- 220 N. 10th St., 441-0400
Uprise Bakery
- 10 Hitt St., 256-2265
Hoss’s Market and Rotisserie
- 1010 Club Village Drive, 815-9711
Do you know of another great place to shop local in Columbia? Visit our Facebook page, and tell us about it. We’d love to hear from you!
Where’s the beef?
Show Me Farms and Missouri Legacy Beef both produce hormone-free, free-range beef that’s raised locally. In addition to selling at the Columbia Farmers Market’s main and south locations, the farms provide products to the following local businesses:
Show Me Farms, Born Tender Omega Beef, borntenderbeef.com, (573) 449-4250
- Hy-Vee
- Murry’s
- Café Berlin (chicken)
- Addison’s
- Columbia’s Kitchen
- Sycamore
Missouri Legacy Beef, missourilegacybeef.com, (660) 788-3555
- Clovers Natural Market
- Hy-Vee
- Hoss’s Market and Rotisserie
- Sycamore
- Broadway Brewery
- Café Berlin
- Wine Cellar and Bistro
- Uprise Bakery
- Reynolds Alumni Club
- Perche Creek Café
- MU Dobbs and Mark Twain dining halls
- Essentials restaurant at University Hospital
Myths of the market
Debunking some common complaints about buying local foods.
It’s expensive. Just like at any grocery store, knowing what’s in season can make a difference when it comes to cost; labor, materials and supply all affect the bottom line. “It can be expensive to purchase raspberries that were grown in hoop houses because more money goes into that production,” says Caroline Todd, market manager of the Columbia Farmers Market. “And it can be expensive whether they are purchased at a market or at a grocery store. The price is better if you go out and pick them when they’re in season.” To get the most for your money, do some research before shopping to find out what’s in season. Late summer is a great time to look for tomatoes, squash, peppers, corn, peaches and apples.
Todd says it’s also important to consider quantity when comparing prices. A head of lettuce might cost $4 at the grocery store and $5 at the farmers market, but if the $4 head weighs 10 oz. and the $5 head weighs one pound, then the locally grown fare is really less per ounce.
I can’t always get what I want. This can be true but certainly not for lack of choices. Sometimes the answer is as simple as changing your perspective. In many cases, local producers offer much more variety than typical stores, Todd says. For example, a grocery store might carry five or six varieties of tomatoes, whereas one vendor at the Columbia Farmers Market grows more than 200 varieties. Keep an open mind, and appreciate the bounty that’s available. Maybe you won’t find that particular kumquat you’ve been wanting, but you might stumble across something new that you love.
I don’t know what to do with it. One of the biggest obstacles people face when it comes to buying local is not knowing what to do when they get the items home. In reality, cooking and local shopping go hand in hand, and part of the fun of buying fresh, local food is creating a meal out of the things you bring home. It’s not as easy as popping something in the microwave, but that doesn’t mean it has to be difficult. Invest in a cookbook that teaches you to cook with the seasons.
Did you know?
- Buying produce at a local market keeps twice as much money in the local community as buying it at a supermarket.
- In 2006, 19 cents of every dollar spent on food grown in the US went to the farmer for raw foods input; 81 cents went toward the process of transforming the raw foods into food products and getting them to grocery stores and restaurants.
- Expanding a community’s local foods system can increase employment and income in that community.
Source: US Department of Agriculture
