Just behind the Minnetrista service building, shoppers stroll leisurely from tent to tent in the golden September dusk. There are no shopping carts and no fluorescent lights here. With each stop at the various tents, the shoppers' plastic sacks sag more and more visibly under the strain of newly acquired tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and squash.
A blonde woman dressed in red linen comes to Roger Ritchie's tent.
"Are the potatoes $1 a pound?" she asks.
"They're $1 a pound," he replies, shaking open a small plastic bag and handing it to her. "I'll let you pick 'em out and I'll weigh 'em up here for you."
This is Muncie's farmers' market.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, today there are 4,685 farmers markets. That's almost double the number from 10 years ago.
Perhaps the influx can be attributed to a new force in the food industry: the Slow Food Movement.
In the 2009 book "Food, Inc.," farmer Joel Salatin challenges readers to imagine what it would be like to remove from the supermarket shelves all items that would not have been available in 1900. No artificial additives. No pesticides. No chemical fertilizers.
"The shelves would be bare indeed," he writes.
For example, if people visit Marla Shirey's table at the Muncie farmers market they can sample and buy homemade salsa verde. The only ingredients are tomatillos, cilantro, clove, jalapenos and salt.
"It's a little bit spicier or a little bit weaker each time, depending on how Grandma makes it," beamed an apron-clad, 13-year-old Lacy Shirey from behind the table.
In contrast, a jar of La Victoria salsa verde sold at Walmart also includes dehydrated cilantro, benzoate of soda, xanthan gum and citric acid.
The idea behind the Slow Food Movement is to "opt-out" of the commercial, processed food industry and to buy local and organic food items instead.
The organization Slow Food USA lists the reasons for opting out as ranging from health issues ("...Nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies," they said.) to human rights issues ("Food... accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.")
Dave Ring, co-owner of The Downtown Farm Stand in downtown Muncie said slow food is more aptly described as authentic food.
"The term 'organic' has kind of been high-jacked by the USDA," Ring said. "We have higher standards than organic standards. And authentic food means it's food that's produced authentically, the way it's supposed to be produced - it's real food."
The Downtown Farm Stand, which Ring runs with his wife Sara, carries a strictly sustainable and largely local inventory, purchasing from more than 40 local farms.
The Rings opened the store in May 2007 as an extension of the organic farm they have operated since the fall of 1999. Prior to opening the sore, the Rings sold their organic produce and eggs at farmers markets and to various Muncie institutions.
"At farmers markets you can have weather problems, people don't show up or chefs can change at restaurants and no longer buy from you, so we decided to try the tried-and-true having a store," Ring said.
"We wanted to have place where farmers could drop off their products and know they were going to be sold and they could get back to the business of farming," he added. "They have enough to do without spending 50 percent of their time trying to sell their product."
Ring said they also wanted to start changing the way Muncie eats. He said sustainable local foods are essential because they are better for your health, as well as the environment, and the money is kept in the community.
"When you support your organic grower, you're voting for that type of agriculture," Ring said.
Minnetrista Farmers MarketFeatures more than 80 vendors selling locally grown produce, meats, eggs, cheeses, fresh flowers, baked goods and honey
Address: 311 W. Saint Joseph St.
Hours: June-October: 4-6 p.m. Wed, 8 a.m.-noon Sat
December-April: 9 a.m.-noon on the third Saturday of the month, located inside Minnetrista
May: 8 a.m.-noon Sat
For more information visit minnetrista.net/Experience/Shopping/FarmersMarket/index.html
Downtown Farm StandAddress: 125 E. Main St., located on the corner of Main and Mulberry streets
Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon-Sat, noon-5 p.m. Sun
Call (765)288-3775 to be added to the Downtown Farm Stand e-mail list or contact Ring at dlring88@sbcglobal.net
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