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You can't get it any fresher than these ears of corn.
At Millers' Produce stand in downtown Concord last week, Laura Miller was selling Silver King corn, which she proclaimed as bigger and sweeter than Silver Queen. The crop was hand-transplanted from the greenhouse to the Rowan County field and produced an early crop.
“It was picked at 5:30 or 6 a.m. today, and I started shucking it at 7,” Miller said at lunchtime Wednesday. “You don't get it fresher than coming from the (local) farmers …. I think people are starting to get scared of stuff brought in from other places.”
The “buy local food” movement is fueling farmers' markets, which are expanding days and locations, inventory and programs to meet the tastes and demands of consumers. There are more opportunities for people to “buy local” and programs and special events to draw in all ages.
Under the umbrella of Piedmont Farmers' Market Inc., a new market is now open from 3 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays in the employee parking deck at Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast. The market is mainly for hospital employees but is open to the public.
Consumers can find a market nearly every day of the week, and the Saturday market on Winecoff School Road in Concord has been extended from the end of October to Dec. 19 this year.
Special events draw in customers, such as the “Zucchini 500” from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the North Carolina Research Campus market in Kannapolis. Children are invited to create a race car with a zucchini squash and compete for prizes in different categories.
“Kids need to be involved in growing food and learning how to prepare food,” said Debbie Bost, Cabarrus County Cooperative Extension director. The Piedmont Farmers' Market is affiliated with the N.C. Cooperative Extension.
“The more we do for the kids, then the families are comfortable bringing kids to market,” Bost said. “Every little bit helps in trying to make sure we put the message forward that locally grown food helps the local economy – as well as provides a fresher, better quality food for families.”
One new initiative – labeling local foods – was on display at the downtown Concord market on Wednesday.
“The Farmers' Daughter” table, run by Lisa Wacheldorf of Concord, labeled the produce as Cabarrus County grown. Wacheldorf also sells fresh garlic and heirloom peppermint that has been in her family since the 1940s.
“A lot of the garlic (in stores) is shipped from China,” she said. “I was furious, just furious, and asked, ‘Why can't we grow it here?'”
Robert and Rachel Stanley and their children, Lily, 3, and Ian, 2, perused produce at the Concord market, and left with corn, squash and sweet potatoes. Robert Stanley said he feels better about buying food from “someone who lives and works and goes to church and pays taxes where I live.”
Cabarrus County should soon have more farmers supplying the demand from families like the Stanleys. The county has just opened the Elma C. Lomax Incubator Farm Park, where “beginner” farmers learn how to plant, tend and produce local crops and run their own farms.
Isaac Dellinger, 7, visited the downtown Concord market with mom, Kathleen Dellinger, and brother Josiah, 6. Isaac was asked why it might be better to buy his okra, beans and tomatoes here.
“It's kind of warm, where it can grow better,” said Isaac, who's especially fond of tomatoes. Otherwise, he said, “you have to put it on a plane to get here.”
