farmers market – Memphis Flyer

COVID-19 is radically changing how local restaurants operate, and, in tow, local farmers are facing mounting challenges as well.

“To be completely frank, it’s run us ragged,” says Scott Lisenby, who operates Bluff City Fungi.

“Our day-to-day operations have changed dramatically almost overnight. We’re running on a skeleton crew, and we’re working at 110 percent to keep up with the almost daily changes,” he says.

Fungus among us: Bluff City Fungi

Local restaurants are reporting dramatic losses in sales, which has had an inevitable impact on the farmers from whom they source their food.

For example, Ed Cabigao, one of the owners of Zaka Bowl, Interim, and South of Beale, has experienced this phenomenon at each of those restaurants — which all source food from local farmers.

“Interim experienced an 80 percent drop in sales instantly,” Cabigao says. “S.O.B. experienced a 30 percent drop in sales initially, and it has now dropped to around 50 percent. Zaka Bowl experienced a 50 percent drop in sales and has held at that.

“Interim was the first concept where we closed the dining room because of sales, and also because it’s pretty clear that the pandemic should be taken very seriously,” he says. “We are right next to a retirement home and a pediatrician’s office, so that helped strengthen our decision.”

The effects of restaurant closures like these have been felt throughout the local farming community.

“Since farming takes months and months of planning ahead, we have tens of thousands of dollars worth of product coming up and no one to sell it to,” Lisenby explains.

“The majority of our business is direct to restaurants and wholesalers, and, understandably so, almost every single one of those streams of income has dried up overnight,” he adds.

“The nature of the restaurant business relies on a constant flow of sales every single day, and when a sharp, unprecedented decrease happens so swiftly, and coupled with the fact that there has been no direction or leadership in terms of when we can expect the pandemic to pass, it forces us as business owners to make very difficult decisions,” says Cabigao.

Though they’re considered essential businesses, farmers markets are having to make tough decisions, too. It was recently announced that the opening of this year’s Memphis Farmers Market (MFM), originally scheduled for April 4th, would be delayed and projected to open on May 9th instead.

“We feel it is our responsibility to do our part to flatten the curve and help stop the transmission of this virus through our city,” says Robert Marcy, executive director of MFM.

“Please know that we made this decision with the entire MFM community in mind, as the health of our vendors, customers, volunteers, and staff is most important, and whatever measures we need to take to ensure their health and safety are the proper ones,” he adds.

Sandy Watson, market director of the Cooper-Young Farmers Market, is also adapting rapidly to changing circumstances.

“This situation can’t help but have a lasting impact — the community has been forced to cook at home more now that restaurants are closed,” says Watson, recognizing that the need to access fresh food is more important than ever.

“Will that continue after this is over? Will restaurants be able to recover from this? Some will not,” Watson says.

It’s not too late to support your local farmers, and many have transitioned to online sales and home delivery.

Lisenby offers his own advice: “Please shop local. Please. Your farmers are adapting to better serve you right now, many will deliver or ship right to your door, many are still working farmers markets with ramped up safety protocols.

“Reach out to your favorite local farms and see what your options are for supporting them,” Lisenby suggests.

Find out more about your options from local farmers markets at memphisfarmersmarket.org and cycfarmersmarket.org, or order from Bluff City Fungi at bluffcityfungi.com.

When most people first hear the word “locavore,” their response is apt to be, “What?” But it will most certainly be used more frequently now that Oxford University Press, publisher of the New Oxford American Dictionary, announced that “locavore” is the word of the year.

The term was coined in 2005 by a group of women in San Francisco who challenged residents to eat locally for the month of August. They defined “local” as foods grown and harvested within a 100-mile radius of the city. They also encouraged people to can and preserve food bought by local growers for the winter months.

It’s estimated that most produce in grocery stores travels an average of 1,500 miles before reaching the table. Locavores are trying to increase awareness of the damage this transportation costs, not only in terms of higher prices but also in increased air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions. Additionally, instead of supporting local farmers in the community, money is sent to food conglomerates across the country and even around the globe.

While the word “locavore” is new for many, the movement to eat locally is not.

“It’s nothing new,” says Steve Lubin, owner of Good Life and Honeysuckle, a local health-food and supplement store. “This has been preached for years: Eat fresh, eat local, eat as organically as you can, which means eating seasonally.”

In today’s global marketplace, consumers can purchase fruits and vegetables year-round regardless of season. For instance, it’s not hard to find melons in most major grocery stores this time of year, but while the fruit is there, what’s missing is quality and flavor.

John Charles Wilson is president of Agricenter International, which houses a farmers’ market that recently closed for the winter season and will reopen next spring. He says many, though not all, of the vendors are local growers. He believes eating local means eating healthier.

“When you know it comes straight from the farm, it hasn’t been handled by 40 different hands, so it’s a safer product,” he says. “It’s picked at the peak of flavor.”

The effects of supporting local farmers and buying locally grown products are much more far-reaching in Memphis than people may realize, says Jeanice Blancett, owner of Square Foods.

“The impact of not having to use trucks going from California to Memphis — the gasoline, the pollution, the cost — is tremendous,” she says.

Jill and Keith Forrester own Whitton Flowers & Produce in Tyronza, Arkansas, about 35 miles north of Memphis. They are committed to raising and selling only the freshest products.

“People don’t realize what resources they have right here. It’s really important to buy from and support your local farmers,” she says.

Both of the Forresters were educators and gave up teaching when they started their farming operation, something they’ve never regretted. Jill tries to make people aware of the importance of supporting local growers.

“When produce isn’t being shipped from California or from out of the country, it keeps your money local. And just think about what all that shipping does to the environment,” she says.

Benefits to consumers are obvious when the freshest fruits and vegetables go directly from the field to the table. “If you know your farmer, you know your food,” says Jill, who is currently selling Whitton’s flowers, vegetables, and herbs outside Square Foods on Saturdays.

One of her fellow vendors, Tim Smith (known to many in the community as “the arugula guy”), and his partner run a small farm in Holly Springs, Mississippi, called Gracious Gardens. Smith picks his produce the day before it’s sold.

“People are waking up to the idea that there are ways to get something fresh,” Smith says. “They are tired of going to the grocery store and seeing shriveled vegetables. Think about when you get something from California. It’s been picked, boxed, and trucked. Think about how many days it spends in transit. If it’s from California, it’s not fresh.”

The fact is, Blancett says, the minute something is picked from the vine, it starts to die.

She concedes that eating locally is more challenging during the fall and winter months, when fewer vegetables are in season. But supporting local farmers has other advantages, Blancett says: “There’s a sense of community — everyone taking care of one another.”

Blancett remembers one time when Smith was getting ready to leave after a day of selling his vegetables in front of Square Foods.

“At the end of the day, when he was packing up, he [stopped to] show me how to change the alternator in my truck,” Blancett recalls. “Somebody on the West Coast isn’t around to do that, but my local farmer will give me some turnip greens and then turn around and help me fix my alternator.”

Whitton Flowers & Produce and Gracious Gardens sell produce at Square Foods (937 S. Cooper, 274-4222) on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Ask the produce manager of your neighborhood grocery store about the availability of locally grown produce. Fayette Packing Co. (16620 Hwy. 196, 867-3826) sells locally raised pork and can get locally raised beef by request.