Granby
“I never knew a tomato could taste so good.”
A neighborhood teenager was describing his summer trip to France. As he talked, I pictured open-air markets, a feast for the senses, with crates of tomatoes, lettuce, lemons and garlic. I could almost smell the lavender and the pungent aroma of roquefort cheese.
I remembered tomatoes tasting better in the south of France. And I wondered why. It probably falls under the same category as how the French stay so thin. I guessed the tomatoes my neighbor raved about were locally grown, carefully selected at the morning market.
You’ve heard it before – fresh is best. And there’s something to be said about where you buy your produce.
On average, produce in the U.S. travels 2,000 miles before reaching its destination, losing nutritional value along the way. Vegetables, like snap peas, start losing sweetness after they are picked.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture annually publishes a directory of farmers markets. According to Wendy White, marketing specialist, 89 markets were listed in 2006, up from 78 in 2005.
There’s a growing demand for local products, White says, not just organics. Fresh produce has more vitamins and minerals, so it’s better for you. Plus, farmers markets are fun.
My introduction to farmers markets was 10 years ago in downtown Chicago. There the weekly summer market created an organic oasis in our gray world of steel and glass. I would return to my cubicle with fresh flowers, tomatoes and basil feeling rejuvenated. By the end of the summer, a group of us was making weekly farmers market runs. We were trading pesto recipes. We shared tips for storing tomatoes and baking peach pies.
Last summer, I was happy to see a farmers market start in Granby. Anchored by Morales Farms, the local lettuce farm, the market sells seasonal produce. On Friday nights, locals and tourists mingle around tables laden with peaches, tomatoes and spinach. My kids show more enthusiasm for the vendors’ dogs than the tomatoes, but I keep trying.
Sometimes we drive 2 miles east of town to Morales Farms. The winding gravel road takes you past pastures of alpacas and forgotten log cabins up to the small farm nestled on a ridge. Rows of green lettuce and spinach grow below a backdrop of mountain peaks.
A wood vegetable stand sells fruits and veggies on the honor system.
Morales Farms is the last of many. Once known as the lettuce capital of the U.S., Granby farms shipped trainloads of produce across the country during the 1930s and ’40s. Last summer, Carol Morales gave me a tour. Until then, I didn’t realize how much labor and expense goes into a pesticide-free farm. Now I know.
The Moraleses have been following organic practices for years, though they aren’t certified organic. It takes two people per 10 acres to raise a crop. Every field is hoed and harvested by hand. They rotate crops every year, plant alfalfa to fortify the soil, and fertilize with goat and alpaca manure. Walking in the fields sampling green beans and zucchini, I marveled at how delicious everything tasted straight from the plant.
Carol sells the fruits of their labor to local restaurants and grocery stores and directly to consumers at seven farmers markets – like the Market at Belmar in Lakewood. She is adamant about picking produce no more then two days before delivery, which means their lettuce and spinach will last a week in your refrigerator.
As the organic industry grows, there’s the fear that small farms will feel the squeeze from big corporations like Wal-Mart, which started offering organic produce this spring. Since organic farming is so labor-intensive, I wonder if Wal-Mart will look to foreign growers where work is cheap. If so, the produce they import won’t be as fresh as Morales Farms’.
Wal-Mart’s plan to offer organics that cost just 10 percent more than regular produce might mean more people can afford to eat organic. Maybe with increased demand, more farmers will go organic. But I can’t see how small U.S. farms can compete.
At the grocery store, I often compare prices between organic and non. Often, I can’t resist buying the lower-priced item. Does it really make a difference? But when I see that the peaches or lettuce are grown in Colorado, I put them in the cart. I know that organic and locally grown aren’t necessarily the same thing. But for me, locally grown speaks loudest. It tastes best.
I like supporting local farmers and a local food source. And tomatoes that taste so good.
Gretchen Bergen is a freelance writer.
