Getting Fresh

It was a humid mid-morning at the Immokalee State Farmers' Market, before lunch and therefore quiet - one worker napped behind boxes of tomatoes; festive music drifted from somewhere along the curved path of vendors.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO EVAN WILLIAMST Fort Myers Downtown Market is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Thursday with an abundance of fresh produce.

A white van inched through the sparse crowd, the driver eating a mango. That is the essence of a farmers' markets appeal to many: it is generally the most direct route from vine to mouth.

"The reason they've grown so popular in the last 15 years is people want to buy something fresher," said Carl Penn, development representative for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "They want to deal with the farmers who can tell them exactly how they grew their produce and not have it trucked in from 1,000 miles away."

It's also often less expensive than store-bought produce, he added.

The growing popularity of farmers' markets was not lost on companies like Wal-Mart, who developed smaller outlets that give a nod to the idea of local, fresh foods. The stores are located near residential areas and called a "Neighborhood Market." But almost all of the produce sold there is shipped from a distribution center in Arcadia, said produce department lead David Smith in Fort Myers - not directly from a farm.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO Shoppers congregate at the Cape Harbour Farmers' Market near some of vendor Rod Fritschie's lychee fruit (red, in the foreground.)

"I think people are nostalgic," said Terry Dean, owner of Tamiami Produce in San Carlos Park. "They want to know where their produce comes from."

A truck bed full of Georgia peppers at the Immokalee market represented where most local produce comes from now, vendors say: northern Florida and southern Georgia. That's because itinerant growers travel north, followed by the withering summer heat and humidity that make it harder to grow successfully. They get as far as Michigan before coming back when cooler, dryer days resume.

That's why some markets, like Ritchey's Produce in Fort Myers and Naples, are closed until the fall. Others like the one in Immokalee are scaled back - it is one of 13 markets regulated by the state, which rent space to local vendors as well as large scale distributors like Sysco.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO : It's too hot and humid to grow many items during the summer in Florida, but these peppers were shipped straight from the next best place, Georgia, and unloaded at the Immokalee State Farmers' Market.

The Department of Agriculture counts at least 80 to 100 more local open-air venues, like Oakes Brothers Produce on McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers.

But myriad others dot the countryside, in parking lots and along the road. Some are as simple as watermelons sold from the back of a pickup truck. Others, like James Stewart's cart on McGregor Boulevard and School Street in Fort Myers, are organized and established. He's been there 11 years and is open seven days per week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Last Friday he sold goods including Georgia peaches, tomatoes and Florida sweet corn.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO : Peaches from Georgia are sold to a customer Thursday morning at the Fort Myers Downtown Farmers' Market. The market temporarily moved to Edison Avenue across from Harborside Event Center because of street construction.

And some local flea markets, like the ones on Ortiz Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Fort Myers, specialize in not only fresh, local produce, but egg-producing fowl and vast arrays of other odds and ends.

Downtown Fort Myers

Like a handful of downtown business people, Jim Sherron said he likes to hit the Fort Myers Downtown Farmer's Market early, before going to work at an office a few blocks away. The market is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Thursday.

"My wife and I like the fresh, dirty produce we can wash off ourselves," he said. "Plus I get to ask questions."

He feels free to inspect fresh tomatoes intimately without fear of reproach, in a way not possible at the grocery store a few blocks away; and he has an owner or farmer right there to answer questions.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO Come fall, the Immokalee State Farmers' Market will be bustling with vendors and customers. In the summer, however, there is still a lot of good produce, such as new potatoes and mangos, to be had at the New Market Road market.

For most, coming to the market is also a community event, or a chance to get fresh air and check out the produce, fresh flowers and baked goods.

"It's fun," said Brenda Hanak, who brought palm and fruit trees from D & B Nursery in Port Charlotte. "You meet a lot of nice people at farmers' markets."

Some customers meandered in flipflops or on bikes, eyeing Ralph's Seafood, with coolers full of fresh gulf shrimp, grouper, snapper and more; or they discovered fragrant bouquets of flowers at Al "the flower guy" Niemczyk's tent.

His wife Kate Niemczyk said moving the market out from under the U.S. 41 bridge by Centennial Park, and into the parking lot on Edwards Drive a few blocks away, hurt business.

"A lot of people can't walk as far down here on their lunch breaks," she said.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO A farmers' market on Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers will reopen when cooler, dryer days resume.

They also are more likely to get rained out. Market manager Michaelene Beaudin said they relocated due to the downtown street beautification project, and are looking forward to reclaiming the spot under the bridge.

"During season, there are a lot more vendors," she said. "I have about eight vendors right now…I can't wait to get them back under the bridge, too."

She said the morning is usually the best time to come now, "because the heat actually affects the flowers and the veggies."

Another vendor, Joanne Matonak, sold peanut butter cookies for dogs, which she bakes at home in North Fort Myers. Matonak and her husband only appear at local markets like those in Fort Myers and Cape Coral, but sometimes get calls from out-of-state buyers who went north for the summer.

Along with radishes, cabbages, plums and much more, okra was on display under farmer Horace Brittain's tent last Thursday. It's one of the only summer crops aside from black beans and swiss chard, that he harvests on a 40-acre spread near Alva.

Brittain gets up at 4 a.m. to make it downtown, and has been coming since the market opened there 14 years ago; he is also found at the Fort Myers State Farmers' Market. With a worn, red complexion, white hair and frozen blue eyes, he might have come from the novel, "The Grapes of Wrath."

"This country is in a depression," he said. "Call it what you want, but it's here…I did not get back what I had in my eggplant crop this spring."

Cape Harbour

The Cape Coral Farmers' Market at Cape Harbour draws crowds of all ages each Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (A children's storytelling hour commences from 11 a.m. to noon)

The Cape Coral Market will re-open in October in its old spot on 47th Terrace, said vendor Rod Fritschie, owner of Au Natural produce; but for the summer he helped bring many fellow vendors to the Harbour at the south end of Chiquita Boulevard, which includes other retail shops and a tiki bar.

"You've got 150,000 residents in Cape Coral that live here year round," he said. "You need a farmers' market."

Fritschie owns 56-acres of groveland and manages more than 300 acres of farmland divided throughout Port Charlotte, Bonita Springs and Lehigh Acres. Some of his acreage is reserved for organic farming. And he's always there for specific questioning about growing method.

He sells what he can in the summer and likes to bring "odd stuff" to the market in the winter. Some of his crops include yellow and white peppers, tropical fruits such as guava, passion and lychee; four types of banana; onions, potatoes and jicama. Mangos and avocados just came in recently, he said.

Yulia Romanova was at the Harbour visiting friends, and got the opportunity to sample the sweet, fragrant lychee fruit for the first time. Her verdict: "I like it."

Fort Myers State Farmers' Market

At the Fort Myers State Farmers' Market on Edison Avenue, The City Fish Market and Seafood Connection still offer the day's fresh catch. And farmer Brittain with his produce, plus other items like pickled eggs and big jars of candy, has had a space at the State Market for 29 years.

Senior market manager Lee Crews took command of the property two years ago, and Brittain, who was not pleased with former management, called Crews "the best thing that ever happened to this market."

Crews, formerly a federal probation officer, has been working to clean up the grounds, in some cases with inmate labor, repair aging signage and repaint a new building.

It replaces the one built in 1945 that was ravaged by Hurricane Charley. The space was given its certificate of occupancy in May and will house wholesale vendors, who supply local stores with goods like flowers, produce and ice cream. Some of them sell to the public, too.

"It's getting to the point where I like to start showing off what we've got," Crews said.

At the Connection, "Whistling" Bill and "Catfish" Bob will either steam your blue crabs Baltimore style or Cajun hot n' spicy; or wrap them up live. The male crabs are known for their claw meat, while the females are known for the body meat, Bill said.

City Fish also has one of the best lunch deals in town, Crews bragged: $5 for two fried fish sandwiches. Try the flavorful mullet, or opt for one of many other "safer" choices like cod; it's served on a white bun with tartar sauce. You order inside, but it's a cramped space, so wait for it at the pickup window.

(Tip: the lemonade is great with the fish.)

Fort Myers resident Londa Williams was at the market with her son Brylon, and friend Ezekiel Burger, for blue crabs. Williams said she buys seasoning at City Fish and steams the crabs at home. She came because of the "very nice people." Her son likes the crabs and the price is low.

The market also boasts the State Farmers' Market Restaurant, a full-service diner, which has been open more than 50 years. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days per week.

The opposite of fast food

An international organization called Slow Food, dedicated to raising awareness about fresh, local ingredients, has been growing in Southwest Florida, said the group's Southwest Florida president Rose O'Dell King.

Local farmers, along with chefs like Harold Balink, owner of H2, and Shannon Yates, a veteran restaurateur and currently owner of Bacchus, have been enlisted since the program began in the area more than two years ago.

"Think of it as a community food movement," King said. "Because eating is a community act.

"In order to do this, you have to link everybody together into a circle, from the farmers, to you and I, to the restaurateur."

King added that because farmers' market offerings are generally fresher, they are not only tastier but more nutritious.

"There's no question that farmers' markets promote healthy eating especially when they are in low income places," she said.

Lee County agriculture extension agent Roy Beckford agreed.

"Nothing beats fresh," he said. "And of course if you can produce it locally and there is a market for the chefs…that connection between the two groups will be really vital to stimulating small farm development in this area."

Although farmers can't produce as much during the summer in Southwest Florida, King pointed out you can still find plenty of local offerings including some produce, gulf shrimp, locally produced honeys, and artisanal breads and pastries. And Beckford is helping teach local growers how to produce more in the summer: varietals of tomatoes and peppers, for example, hydroponic strawberries, blueberries, prunes, micro-greens and especially fresh herbs.

Ultimately, he said it's a benefit to just about everyone who eats, grows food or sells food.

"You have a constant weekly supplier who understands you, understands your needs," he said. "People who have certain diets looking for specialty items can get those commodities at farmers' markets… and if you look at the large picture, too, some people are very conscious about lessening their carbon footprint."

It's easy to see why, when you consider that an orange from California traveled a few thousand miles, while one from Florida might be from just down the street.

"Having people just think about where their food comes from, that's a big step forward," King said.

If you go

>>What: Taste of Lee, an exhibition of commodities by chefs, farmers and other local food producers.

>>Where: Riverside Community Center at 3061E. Riverside Drive in Fort Myers.

>>When: August 9 from 9a.m. to 2 p.m.

>>Cost: Free admission and parking

>>Info: Door prizes, free samples of fresh tropical fruits and vegetables from Lee County farmers and creations by local chefs, produce on sale. Call (239) 533-7514.

AREA MARKETS

(as of July 6)

>> Oakes Brothers Produce
16758 McGregor Blvd.
Fort Myers
Open daily
>> Immokalee State Farmers' Market
424 New Market Road East
Immokalee
Open daily
>> Bayshore Market
5800 Bayshore Rd.
North Fort Myers
Open Saturdays
>> Fort Myers State Farmer's Market
2744 Edison Avenue
Fort Myers
Open daily
>> Cape Coral Farmer's Market
Cape Harbour At the far South end of Chiquita Blvd
Cape Coral
Open Saturdays
>> Ritchey's Produce
1550 Palm Beach Blvd.
Alva
Closed until the fall, then open daily
>> Sarasota Downtown Farmers' Market
Lemon Avenue from1st Street
to Pineapple Avenue
Sarasota
Open Saturdays
>> Tamiami Produce in San Carlos Park
19133 Tamiami Trail
Fort Myers
Open daily
>> James Stewart
McGregor and School Street
Fort Myers
Open daily
>> Fleamasters Flea Market
4135 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Fort Myers
Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday
>> Ortiz Flea Market
1501 Ortiz Avenue
Fort Myers
Open Saturday and Sunday