REGIONAL— Do you know where the food you’ll put on the diREGIONAL— Do you know where the food you’ll put on the dinner table tonight came from? You will if you bought it from a local farmers market.

And that’s just one of the benefits of a growing movement across the country, including here in the North Country, in favor of locally-grown foods— both as a means of obtaining the freshest and healthiest foods possible, but also as a way to build more diverse and sustainable local economies.

It’s a trend that’s continuing to grow in terms of its impact, both on consumers of food (that’s all of us) as well as on the growing number of small growers and other small-scale food processors who are sprouting up all across the region.

Farmers markets, including weekly markets in Ely, Tower and Cook, have become more than a source of fresh, local produce, baked and canned goods, and related crafts. They have also increasingly become a valuable source of information for growers and consumers alike about healthy eating options. They’ve become clearinghouses, in some cases, for information on threats posed by non-traditional farming practices, such as the use of genetically-modified foods. They’ve also become a means of transforming the definition of what it means to be a farmer, and they’re changing the face of farming today.

According to the Minnesota Farmers Market Association (MFMA), growers who come to farmers markets to sell their products are twice as likely to be under age 35 as a traditional farmer. They’re twice as likely to have been farming for less than ten years, and fully 51 percent are women, versus 30 percent of U.S. farmers overall.

It’s a trend that local growers, like Missy Roach, who operates Bear River Farm, located west of Cook, have noticed at recent statewide organic growing conferences. “I’m seeing a lot of women but also a lot of young farmers, and that’s really encouraging,” she said.

It’s no secret that entering traditional farming these days is almost impossible unless you’re wealthy, inherit a farm, or are willing to go deeply in debt to buy up the amount of land and equipment necessary for commodity-based farming today.

But farmers markets have allowed average folks, with anything from a big backyard garden to a few acres of mixed agriculture, to enter the food economy in a significant way.

And while industrial agriculture today is increasingly reliant on fossil fuel inputs and high technology, the new generation of small scale growers have “gone back to the future” in many cases, reviving traditional and sustainable farm practices, such as the use of cover crops, crop rotation, composting, and other methods of boosting soil health that were widely used prior to World War II. “I like learning about all the new farming practices,” said Roach, “which are really old practices in many cases.”

According to the MFMA, eight in ten growers at farmers markets report using one or more healthy soil practices. Nearly as many report using organic methods, although most haven’t gone through the effort to become certified as such.

“I’m not certified organic, but I grow everything using organic methods,” said Janna Goerdt, who runs the Fat Chicken Farm in Pike Township. “I think if I just did the paperwork I could be certified organic.” Goerdt is a regular at farmer’s markets across the area, where she is known for offering a wide range of vegetables grown mostly in hoop houses she’s erected on her property.

To Goerdt, who operates a CSA (community-supported agriculture) in addition to attending markets, agriculture is a decent source of income, as well as a way to put lots of high-quality food on her own table. “I grow what I like to eat,” she said, “ and I grow it the way I want my food to be grown.”

For consumers, that’s part of the appeal. “I really like the freshness,” said Marcie Speer, of Eveleth, who was shopping last Friday at the Tower Farmers Market. While the market attracts a fair number of summer people from nearby Lake Vermilion, Speer came all the way from Eveleth for the market, and regularly shops all the farmers markets in the area with her husband.

Gary Skogman, who lives in Greenwood Township, was waiting for his wife Roberta, who brought him along as she shopped at the market last week. He said she usually picks up some of the fresh breads or other baked goods that are for sale at the market.

Don Elj, of Hoyt Lakes, who works at the Tower Post Office, was at the market for the second time this season. He said he likes the selection of fresh produce as well as the opportunity to support local food producers. “As long as I can find good stuff, I’ll keep coming,” he said.

And with mid-August already here, it’s peak season at area markets as tomatoes and corn, which are usually big draws, are starting to ripen. Cami Kolstad-Devaney, of Soudan, who specializes in heirloom tomatoes, said she has 100 tomato plants in her large garden, full of ripening fruits. But even before the tomatoes are ripe, Kolstad-Devaney keeps customers happy with her famous soft pretzels, which sell out almost every week, and other assorted baked items. This past week, she had fresh peach tarts, and they didn’t last long with the steady stream of customers.

Kolstad-Devaney says the market is a way to exercise her artistic side, and her display table is filled with artfully-arranged flowers as well as colorful bunches of rainbow chard and homegrown herbs. “I’ve got a huge flower garden, too,” she said, “and I love having an outlet for my creativity.”

While each of the vendors brings a slightly different motivation, they share a commitment to local food production and to the small community the market has created. “I love going to market,” said Roach, who helped organize the Cook market, now in its tenth year. “All the vendors are kind of in the same boat and we help each other out. There’s a community spirit aspect to it,” she said. “And our customers are our neighbors and our friends. That’s important.”

For vendors, the market is social event, as well as a chance to compare notes on growing methods, successful varieties, and insect or weather-related problems they might be experiencing this season.

“It’s more about the sense of community than making money,” said Cami Kolstad-Devaney

And the organizers of the Tower market take that sense of community even further, by sponsoring their annual BLT night at Good Ol’ Days Bar and Grill, in Tower. The event, which incorporates Karl Jonas’s fresh-baked, secret recipe semolina bread, fresh bacon from Mary Ann and Shannon Wycoff’s Bear Creek Acres in Kugler, with fresh tomatoes from Kolstad-Devaney’s heirloom garden and fresh lettuce from Fat Chicken Farm and others, is a fundraiser for the local food shelf. According to Goerdt, it’s a way to support the market’s vendors as well as to “eat the most awesome BLTs ever!” This year, the event starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21, and you’d better get there on time, or they could run out. This has consistently been a high-demand event.

In the end, after all, it is about the food, and about good, healthy eating in a sustainable way. And that’s a mission that Goerdt finds appealing. “I love giving really good, honestly good, food to people who appreciate it. And I love being able to introduce people to new foods. If you can introduce somebody to kale or swiss chard for the first time, it’s just really gratifying.”

nner table tonight came from? You will if you bought it from a local farmers market.

And that’s just one of the benefits of a growing movement across the country, including here in the North Country, in favor of locally-grown foods— both as a means of obtaining the freshest and healthiest foods possible, but also as a way to build more diverse and sustainable local economies.

It’s a trend that’s continuing to grow in terms of its impact, both on consumers of food (that’s all of us) as well as on the growing number of small growers and other small-scale food processors who are sprouting up all across the region.

Farmers markets, including weekly markets in Ely, Tower and Cook, have become more than a source of fresh, local produce, baked and canned goods, and related crafts. They have also increasingly become a valuable source of information for growers and consumers alike about healthy eating options. They’ve become clearinghouses, in some cases, for information on threats posed by non-traditional farming practices, such as the use of genetically-modified foods. They’ve also become a means of transforming the definition of what it means to be a farmer, and they’re changing the face of farming today.

According to the Minnesota Farmers Market Association (MFMA), growers who come to farmers markets to sell their products are twice as likely to be under age 35 as a traditional farmer. They’re twice as likely to have been farming for less than ten years, and fully 51 percent are women, versus 30 percent of U.S. farmers overall.

It’s a trend that local growers, like Missy Roach, who operates Bear River Farm, located west of Cook, have noticed at recent statewide organic growing conferences. “I’m seeing a lot of women but also a lot of young farmers, and that’s really encouraging,” she said.

It’s no secret that entering traditional farming these days is almost impossible unless you’re wealthy, inherit a farm, or are willing to go deeply in debt to buy up the amount of land and equipment necessary for commodity-based farming today.

But farmers markets have allowed average folks, with anything from a big backyard garden to a few acres of mixed agriculture, to enter the food economy in a significant way.

And while industrial agriculture today is increasingly reliant on fossil fuel inputs and high technology, the new generation of small scale growers have “gone back to the future” in many cases, reviving traditional and sustainable farm practices, such as the use of cover crops, crop rotation, composting, and other methods of boosting soil health that were widely used prior to World War II. “I like learning about all the new farming practices,” said Roach, “which are really old practices in many cases.”

According to the MFMA, eight in ten growers at farmers markets report using one or more healthy soil practices. Nearly as many report using organic methods, although most haven’t gone through the effort to become certified as such.

“I’m not certified organic, but I grow everything using organic methods,” said Janna Goerdt, who runs the Fat Chicken Farm in Pike Township. “I think if I just did the paperwork I could be certified organic.” Goerdt is a regular at farmer’s markets across the area, where she is known for offering a wide range of vegetables grown mostly in hoop houses she’s erected on her property.

To Goerdt, who operates a CSA (community-supported agriculture) in addition to attending markets, agriculture is a decent source of income, as well as a way to put lots of high-quality food on her own table. “I grow what I like to eat,” she said, “ and I grow it the way I want my food to be grown.”

For consumers, that’s part of the appeal. “I really like the freshness,” said Marcie Speer, of Eveleth, who was shopping last Friday at the Tower Farmers Market. While the market attracts a fair number of summer people from nearby Lake Vermilion, Speer came all the way from Eveleth for the market, and regularly shops all the farmers markets in the area with her husband.

Gary Skogman, who lives in Greenwood Township, was waiting for his wife Roberta, who brought him along as she shopped at the market last week. He said she usually picks up some of the fresh breads or other baked goods that are for sale at the market.

Don Elj, of Hoyt Lakes, who works at the Tower Post Office, was at the market for the second time this season. He said he likes the selection of fresh produce as well as the opportunity to support local food producers. “As long as I can find good stuff, I’ll keep coming,” he said.

And with mid-August already here, it’s peak season at area markets as tomatoes and corn, which are usually big draws, are starting to ripen. Cami Kolstad-Devaney, of Soudan, who specializes in heirloom tomatoes, said she has 100 tomato plants in her large garden, full of ripening fruits. But even before the tomatoes are ripe, Kolstad-Devaney keeps customers happy with her famous soft pretzels, which sell out almost every week, and other assorted baked items. This past week, she had fresh peach tarts, and they didn’t last long with the steady stream of customers.

Kolstad-Devaney says the market is a way to exercise her artistic side, and her display table is filled with artfully-arranged flowers as well as colorful bunches of rainbow chard and homegrown herbs. “I’ve got a huge flower garden, too,” she said, “and I love having an outlet for my creativity.”

While each of the vendors brings a slightly different motivation, they share a commitment to local food production and to the small community the market has created. “I love going to market,” said Roach, who helped organize the Cook market, now in its tenth year. “All the vendors are kind of in the same boat and we help each other out. There’s a community spirit aspect to it,” she said. “And our customers are our neighbors and our friends. That’s important.”

For vendors, the market is social event, as well as a chance to compare notes on growing methods, successful varieties, and insect or weather-related problems they might be experiencing this season.

“It’s more about the sense of community than making money,” said Cami Kolstad-Devaney

And the organizers of the Tower market take that sense of community even further, by sponsoring their annual BLT night at Good Ol’ Days Bar and Grill, in Tower. The event, which incorporates Karl Jonas’s fresh-baked, secret recipe semolina bread, fresh bacon from Mary Ann and Shannon Wycoff’s Bear Creek Acres in Kugler, with fresh tomatoes from Kolstad-Devaney’s heirloom garden and fresh lettuce from Fat Chicken Farm and others, is a fundraiser for the local food shelf. According to Goerdt, it’s a way to support the market’s vendors as well as to “eat the most awesome BLTs ever!” This year, the event starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21, and you’d better get there on time, or they could run out. This has consistently been a high-demand event.

In the end, after all, it is about the food, and about good, healthy eating in a sustainable way. And that’s a mission that Goerdt finds appealing. “I love giving really good, honestly good, food to people who appreciate it. And I love being able to introduce people to new foods. If you can introduce somebody to kale or swiss chard for the first time, it’s just really gratifying.”