Farmers' markets a hit for all but farmers
The peaches on Erin Ferjulian's Hudson farm are ripe, juicy -- and not for sale at any farmers' market.
Ferjulian said she has no time to take her peaches and other produce to local markets.
"I'm trying to run my farm stand and I have all I can do," Ferjulian said. Farmers like Ferjulian are in hot demand this summer, when it seems like every town either has a farmers' market, or wants one.
Governor Deval Patrick has proclaimed Aug. 19-25 Massachusetts Farmers' Market Week, calling the markets "essential to the vitality of Massachusetts farms." It all has left farmers' market organizers like Jeff Cole, executive director of the Massachusetts Federation of Farmers' Markets, with an unexpected problem.
"We don't have enough farmers to go around," he said, "so some communities are going without."
The US Department of Agriculture's five-year census showed the number of farmers in Massachusetts dropped by 1,232 between 1997 and 2002. State officials said the number of farmers actually grew from 6,000 to 6,100 between 1998 and 2005. But out of more than 6,000 farmers, Cole said only about 350 sell their produce at the state's 134 farmers' markets.
And that has made it difficult for communities like Watertown, Marlborough, and Needham to get farmers' markets off the ground.
"It's kind of trendy to have a farmers' market," said organic farmer Tim Winship, who has declined numerous offers to sell his produce at farmers' markets across New England. Winship said he spends most of his time farming six acres in Templeton, N.H. He brings his produce to Newton's farmers' market on Tuesdays only because he's been coming to the market for two decades and knows he'll probably sell whatever he puts out.
The city of Marlborough wanted to hop on the trend. Once known for its orchards and rolling farms, the city remains home to several local growers. Last year, city officials tried to revive the tradition of having a farmers' market. A local development group called Marlborough 2010 advertised it in newspapers and found a prime location for the market in an airy, newly renovated fire station in the city's downtown.
Two farmers showed up.
Former mayor Michael Hogan, who led the effort, said local farmers didn't have the time or resources to come.
"There's still a lot of farms and farmers. The problem is, if they're at the farmers' markets, they're not at the farms," Hogan said.
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State officials at the Department of Agriculture said there is no state or federal grant money that helps small farmers recruit and train workers to sell their goods. That irks Cole, who runs his own farm in Sutton. He said the federal farm bill being debated in Congress would probably send billions in federal subsidies to corporate farms. Local farmers' markets could use grant money for advertising and promotion to fill the need.
"People want farmers' markets," he said.
Janice Berns, director of the Needham Health Department, said she routinely gets phone calls and e-mails from residents who ask her to open a farmers' market in that city. "They think it's a great thing that brings a lot of spirit and activity to the center of town," Berns said.
Needham residents will have to travel to other communities farmers' markets for now. Berns said the city doesn't have the staff to track down farmers and organize a market.
Watertown also went without a farmers' market, at least technically, until this year. Judy Dore, who runs Newton's two farmers' markets for the city's Parks Department, said one of the reasons she expanded the city's program was to serve Watertown residents who clamored for one. Newton started its second market at the American Legion Post 440 at 295 California St. in Nonantum on Fridays this year.
Dore said she knows how to draw farmers because Newton's original market is one of the most established, and now in its 28th year. (She even has a waiting list of four or five farmers looking for space.)
"It's still a lot of work," she added.
Jim Geoghegan, owner of Sunshine Farm in Sherborn, stopped taking his strawberries, corn, and other vegetables to farmers' markets several years ago. He said it was difficult to get away from his 100-acre farm, where he works seven days a week. Just finding labor to work on his farm is a challenge. When weather ruined his strawberry crop last year, he had to let go of Jamaican workers he had hired through an agency. He said he relies on teenagers and part-time workers for his harvesting.
Last spring, he met a Framingham State College student willing to work part-time to take produce to farmers' markets in Milford, Norwood, and Hopkinton. He called it "pure luck."
"Customers today want what we grow, and that puts a lot of pressure on us," he said. "We're still struggling, but at least the consumer has been educated."
Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com. 
