Interest in natural foods grows in SW Idaho

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) - Vendors at farmers markets across southwest Idaho say they are seeing more customers interested in produce grown locally without chemicals.

“There’s a huge demand for this, and it’s just growing,” Sharon Johnson of Dragon Fly Farms told the Idaho Press-Tribune.

Lori Goettesche, who operates Martin Family Produce and has sold produce and crafts at the Nampa Farmers’ Market for years, said farmers benefited from greater enthusiasm for locally grown crops after a salmonella outbreak this summer.

“I think there are more people getting serious about buying local produce or produce from people they trust have good growing habits,” Goettesche said. “Because of the salmonella scare, people are realizing that their food could be harmful for them and they’re thinking about that more and more.”

Federal agencies reported Thursday that the largest outbreak of food-borne illness in a decade appears to be over after sickening at least 1,440 people, but the source may never be known, partly because of shortcomings in the food safety system.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration found strong evidence to implicate jalapeno and serrano peppers, as well as a farm in Mexico, but investigators were unable to clear domestic and imported tomatoes although the evidence against tomatoes is weaker.

Sellers also tout locally grown produce as fresher and better for the environment because it doesn’t take as much energy to ship as products that grown farther away.

“It’s right out of the field, it’s fresh and there’s no chemicals on it,” said Johnson, who specializes in growing hard-to-find Mexican peppers.

To be certified as organic, growers must go through a three-year process. Many local farmers said that it isn’t worth the time and expense.

“We grow naturally, but we’re not certified organic and we haven’t had any problems selling our produce this way,” Goettesche said. “I don’t think it would necessarily be beneficial at the Nampa Farmers’ Market, because unlike Boise, there’s not enough people here demanding organic.”

Information from: Idaho Press-Tribune, http://www.idahopress.com