I was one of many flocking to Clark Park on the vernal equinox, eager to shake off the chill of hibernation in weather that flirted with seventy degrees.  For some, a warm Saturday afternoon at Clark Park means medieval role-play and sword fighting, but for much of the community it's time to stock up on produce at the Farmer's Market.  

If any questions arise, you're often standing face to face with those who've cared for the product from seed to harvest. “It's cool to be able to meet the people who grow your food, and your supporting local farms and responsible growing practices,” says Andrew Bowers, a market faithful.   
 
The majority of Hail’s products are certified organic and his dairy is one of three in the country that is 100% grass fed (rather than grass-based like most, according to Paul). Growing practices, particularly organic versus non-organic, are an important issue to many of the small-scale farmers at the market. The initial costs of becoming certified organic, according to How Organic Certification Works by Maria Colenso, averages $579 for farmers with income of $30,000; $1,414 for $200,000; $3,623 for $800,000; and $33,276 for $10,000,000. Producers aren't allowed to use the official USDA organic seal unless they're certified. 
 
Many can’t afford it. “We'd have to increase our prices to sell as certified organic,” says Phylann Russell of Keystone Farms. “It just isn't worth it as a small farm. So to keep prices down, we use natural methods and advertise as organically grown and leave the certified label for bigger farms.” 
 
Noelle Margerum, of the Spring Grove-based Margerum's Herbs Etc., echoed Russell's sentiments.  “It's just my sister and myself doing everything,” explains Noelle. “Who has the time? For the people who ask I'm glad to tell them we grow naturally, but not everyone cares about their food being organic.” 
 
The “organic” label - used to appeal to socially, nutritionally and ethically conscious eaters - can often be misleading. It's a term filled with loopholes to accommodate corporate interests.  Since some ingredients aren't easily produced organically, the USDA's certified organic label allows 5% percent of an organic product to consist of pre-approved non-organic materials. The organic market boomed during the Bush administration, allowing Big Food to expand the list of exempt ingredients from 77 to now close to 250, according to Jim Hightower in his exposé Think Your Foods Organic? Think Again.
 
I finished with my shopping and sat down with the obligatory Honest Tom's taco (made largely from the ingredients grown by the folks I had just patronized). As I ate, I watched the “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” notion unfold as if it'd always been this way. 
 
America's industrial food system of cheap energy and hyper production is at the root of its societal crises. In such a system our nation eats to obesity or early death via preventable chronic disease, food goes wasted while hunger and malnutrition continue to rise, and the environment chokes on fumes as the average food item is hauled 1,500 miles from production to plate.   
 
The current abundance of root crops at Clark Park's market might not have the same appeal as bananas from Peru or avocados from Mexico, but consider the larger picture. Michael Pollen, in his open letter Farmer in Chief, describes our food's shift from “a system that in 1940 produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil-fuel energy it used into one that now takes 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food.”  More dramatically he states, “...when we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases.”   
 
These external costs aren't reflected in supermarket prices. Some produce at the farmer's market is more expensive, like a head of garlic for $1.00. But economic impact can offset cost differences, as AdBusters 3/50 Project points out, “...68% of what you spend in an independently owned local store returns to the community through taxes and payroll. With a national chain, only 43% stays in town.” 
 
Aside from boosting the local economy, farmer's markets can be the only source of nutritious food available for people - possibly even your neighbor - stranded by modern food. Urban food deserts are becoming commonplace in socioeconomically distressed neighborhoods across the country. A food desert refers to urbanites unable to access grocery stores and reliant on corner markets selling mostly high-priced processed, packaged food.    
 
The Food Trust - the umbrella organization for most of Philadelphia's farmer's markets – promotes access to affordable, nutritious fresh food as a pivotal part of neighborhood revitalization. Their markets serve neighborhoods lacking supermarkets and fresh food outlets. Twelve years ago when Clark Park's market started, the surrounding area was a far cry from the chic hotspot for progressives it has become today.    
 
To help further accessibility, all Food Trust markets accept food stamps (EBT/Access cards).  Current public policy grants free EBT point-of-sale machines to traditional grocers, but farmer's markets must purchase (about $900) or rent (about $30 per month) wireless point-of-sale machines, along with a $65 subscription fee and a $0.10-per-transaction fee. It is stumbling blocks like these that continue to slow the local food movement, but legislation can only be swayed public demand.  So, the next time you need potatoes, collard greens or fresh from the farm milk, consider a farmer's market before heading to Whole Foods. And if time or money are available to you, volunteer or donate to organizations like the Food Trust. 

Article photograph by author, "Veg' Head" photograph from dustinj, via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Philly" photograph from camardella, via Flickr (Creative Commons).