Last year, 11,350 acres of vegetables were harvested in Maryland, with a total value of $23.6 million, according to the state Department of Agriculture. Those numbers were up from 10,180 acres and $16.6 million in 2003.
Gov. Martin O’Malley gave the state’s farm economy a boost on Thursday.
Speaking at an Agriculture Day luncheon at the state fair in Timonium, O’Malley (D) cited a ‘‘next generation farmland preservation program and entrepreneurial grants and loans” as part of the state’s plans to promote farming.
The agriculture department’s national marketing office helps state farmers and other agricultural producers sell their products directly to supermarkets, hotels, food service businesses and other wholesale buyers, as well as consumers.
The agency has also been instrumental in developing farmers markets in all 23 of Maryland’s counties and the city of Baltimore. These markets are an important source of direct sales for farmers, estimated at $2.1 million last year.
It tastes ‘better’
Opportunities to buy locally vary around the state, with several farmers markets available in Frederick County, and farms, farmstands and farmers markets plentiful in Southern Maryland.
Upper Montgomery County residents got more opportunities to buy locally with the opening in December of the Green Earth Goods organic store in the Clarksburg Historic District.
Green Earth Goods, as well as similar purveyors of locally grown foods in the county, try to spotlight local products, such as goat cheese from Cherry Glen Farm in Boyds.
Store owner Niki Lewis said that as many as 100 residents have come to her store in recent weeks looking for local cheeses and produce. The store sells locally produced meat, lettuce, mozzarella cheese, honey and soap. The local merchandise accounts for about 20 percent of the store’s products.
‘‘More money goes to the farmers so that they can actually make a living,” Lewis said.
Farmers make more from locally sold goods by circumventing a distributor, Lewis said.
An emphasis on local products takes on greater importance in light of recent food security problems, Zawitoski said. A mad cow disease outbreak in Canada temporarily stifled the importation of meat from that country last summer. An outbreak of E. coli was found in California last fall, pushing people to buy locally grown spinach.
Eating locally produced food gives the community some security because consumers aren’t depending depend on unknown food suppliers from across the country or overseas, he said.
Generally, consumers pay a little bit more for locally produced food, Zawitoski said.
Farmers markets abound
When seeking freshly sliced ham or the juiciest strawberries, most people go to the grocery store, but shoppers in Frederick County can skip the middleman and go directly to the source. The five towns in the county have farmers markets.
Dorsey Meats, established as a family business in 1859, has had a booth at farmers markets for more than 30 years.
In 1975, Ray Dorsey took over the company from his brother and was offered an opportunity to sell his products at the farmers market at the Frederick Fairgrounds. Dorsey had been to markets in Randallstown and Washington, D.C., but the Frederick market was closer to his home in Woodsboro, and he jumped at the opportunity.
Dorsey Meats sells most of its products wholesale to businesses and restaurants, but about 30 percent of its sales comes from selling meat at the market.
Dorsey’s son Mike and his parents also continue to go to the market because they like interacting with customers.
‘‘I enjoy going to the fair because it is more one-on-one,” said Mike Dorsey, who took over the company from his father in 1999. ‘‘I enjoy talking to the customers and helping them choose exactly what they want.”
Richard Calimer takes fresh fruits and vegetables from Scenic View Orchards in Sabillasville to farmers markets. The Calimers are one of four families who own Scenic View Orchards, which since 1987 has expanded its wholesale business to include farmers markets, roadside stands and a national grocery chain.
‘‘You take what you raise,” Calimer said. ‘‘We have gotten a lot better with keeping up” with the demand.
‘Buy local challenge’
The ‘‘Buy Local Challenge” was created by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, and is designed to boost the local agricultural economy.
The commission held a ‘‘Buy Local Week” in July, and encouraged residents in Charles, St. Mary’s and Calvert counties to eat one item from a local farm every day, by going to farms, farmstands, farmers markets, wineries, groceries and markets that offer local products, or eating at restaurants that serve local farm food and wine.
DeMarr Farm Family Produce in St. Charles features produce from the family farm, on land purchased by George DeMarr in 1946, after he returned from serving in World War II.
‘‘Lots of people make sure it’s grown here before they buy it,” said DeMarr’s grandson Billy Atkinson. ‘‘We’ve always sold our own produce.”
Dee Jameson, owner of the Royal Tea Room in La Plata, said she wants to support the businesspeople who are trying to make a living in Southern Maryland.
Jameson said she buys apples, pears, strawberries and melons at the farmers market in Charlotte Hall on Wednesdays. She also visits the Amish market in the parking lot of the Charlotte Hall library, picking up fruits and vegetables for her customers.
Jameson said she also visits the market behind the Charles County courthouse on Saturdays and anywhere else she can find that sells local produce, including stores for the items she can’t find at the markets. She wants to make sure she gets the best of everything.
‘‘I go all over just to get the freshest and the right things I need,” she said. And fresh is important to her. ‘‘It’s like buying fresh bread and stale bread. Why would you buy stale bread?”
Freelancers Josh Shaw and Kathryn Young also contributed to this report.
