Md.-Grown Produce Ripe For a Growing Promotion

Locally grown fruits and vegetables might cost a bit more than supermarket produce, but they're as fresh as can be, and the buyer knows exactly where they came from.

That's the sales pitch coming from Maryland farmers as they gear up for the third annual statewide Buy Local Challenge, which begins Saturday. Organized by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, the challenge asks people to pledge to eat at least one item from a nearby farm each day for a week.

Unlike in past years, the commission is inviting people outside Maryland to take the pledge, offering an interactive Web site where farmers and other participants from across the country can promote their products, share recipes and advertise food events. In support of the challenge, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is hosting a cookout today at the governor's mansion.

Christine L. Bergmark, the commission's executive director, said the hope is that a week of buying local food will be habit-forming for consumers, will pump up the economy and will promote a fresher alternative to supermarket produce. She said supermarket food can sit in transit for long periods and have a large "carbon footprint."

"Local farm families, they're competing in the wholesale market with food that comes in very inexpensively from other countries," Bergmark said. "I would love to see the entire nation join the Buy Local Challenge."

Bergmark said that even if consumers buy locally just for the summer, it can have a huge fiscal impact for growers. She said that if everyone in the state spent $12 a week for eight weeks, it would translate into $200 million going "straight back into our local farmers' pockets."

That would be a welcome change for such growers as Bobi Crispens of Millersville, who operates a 40-acre farm and is readying peaches, blackberries and corn for next week. She sells her crops at a stand on her farm, at farmers markets and to restaurants.

Crispens said the Buy Local Challenge tends to bring in new buyers. Last year, she said, she saw a noticeable rise in business during that week.

A huge spike in business has also come in response to a string of food-borne illness outbreaks in recent years, causing more people to want to know precisely where their food comes from, Crispens said.

"When all that started coming down, business boomed," she said.

Bergmark said Monday that about 250 people had registered for the pledge at http://www.buy-local-challenge.com and that she hopes for far more.

The site also serves as a tool kit for vendors, with free downloadable logos, fliers and news releases to help promote the week, which has spurred several events to capitalize on the publicity.

O'Malley praised the buy-local movement, saying it promotes smart nutrition and environmental responsibility.

Buying local food "puts our families first by providing strong nutrition, keeping money in the local economy, and ultimately preserving open space by keeping farmers on the land," the governor said in a statement. "Buying locally moves us toward a smart, green and growing future for all Marylanders."