Despite high prices, farmers' markets still thrive

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Every year Chuck Geyer and his three children truck boxes upon boxes of their plump, juicy strawberries, raspberries and other produce to a bustling Saturday farmers market near Washington.

This year, the family has started bringing something else to the market -- higher prices.

But while price hikes are rippling through farmers' markets across the United States, they are doing little to deter shoppers looking for local produce.

The 825-acre (334 hectare) Westmoreland Berry Farm in rural Oak Grove, Virginia, 83 miles south of Washington, is among the farms facing higher energy costs for everything from oil-based crop protectants to the gas they use to travel to the market.

The surge in fuel costs has prompted Geyer and his wife, Anne, to raise prices an average of 5 to 7 percent.

"We haven't passed on 100 percent of those increases to customers because everyone else is dealing with the same crunch," said Geyer, who has absorbed as much as a 15 percent shrinkage in profits to keep sales flowing.

"The volume of business is increasing because of this big push for local products," said Geyer.

Fed by the new environmental trend to buy locally, the sites are a throwback to a more traditional style of commerce and the often makeshift, outdoor markets stand in great contrast to the big box stores and hyper markets that have come to dominate the U.S. food trade.

Farmers' markets have risen in popularity every year since 1994 when the U.S. Agriculture Department first began collecting data on the operations. This year alone more than 4,500 farmers' markets will be operating across the United States, an increase of 21 percent from just four years ago, with revenue topping $1 billion.

FRESH IS "BETTER"

The U.S. grocery giant Safeway Inc can top the annual sales from farmers' markets just about every two weeks, but the rising trend could prove a thorn in the side for established chains as they battle runaway food inflation and concerns over food safety.

Touted as the safest in the world, the U.S. food supply has been hit by a series of safety incidents involving lettuce, peanut butter and spinach that have eroded public confidence. The current outbreak occurred after food tainted with a rare form of salmonella sickened 869 people in 36 states and Washington. Initially blamed on tomatoes, U.S. officials are still trying to find the source of the outbreak.

"I'm trying to think of the last time I heard of salmonella coming out of a farmers' market. It's always a big chain thing," said Marty Hayden, a vice president with environmental group Earthjustice. "The perception is fresh is better."

The meteoric rise in farmers' markets -- which peddle everything from fruits and vegetables to curios, soaps and candles -- are attracting often affluent consumers who want the freshness and safety of produce that hasn't been hauled thousands of miles in a 18-wheel truck or by barge.

PRICES UP