
DATE: Sunday, June 22, 1997                 TAG: 9706200319

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY SCOTT MCCASKEY, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  160 lines

A GROWING BUSINESS ROADSIDE FARMERS' MARKETS BRING TASTY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES TO CITY FOLK CRAVING THAT FRESH FEELING.

THE FRUITS AND vegetables are not only fresh out of the earth, the roadside buying experience is now trendy as well as tasty.

In the past several years, local farmers have expanded what they call ``direct marketing,'' selling produce direct from the fields. David S. Vandergriff, associate agent for horticulture with Chesapeake's Cooperative Extension Service, says that roadside sales are following a worldwide rise.

``Direct marketing is growing here and internationally,'' Vandergriff said. ``As people in the urban culture get farther away from the farm, there has been a mystique about getting back to rural life. And the only real way nowadays is going to the farm and buying fresh. The quality is much better. The food hasn't been in a warehouse or treated with ethylene gas to ripen it.''

Now that summer weather has finally arrived, crowds are growing at area stands. John H. Clarke Jr. has a farm in Western Branch where he sells a variety of fruits and vegetables, including watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, butter beans, cabbage, sweet corn and asparagus.

``Buying direct from the farm has become

the thing to do and is definitely an expanding business,'' said Clarke, 45, whose dad was a farmer. ``Sales have picked up about 10 or 15 percent a year for the last few years. We'll get two to three hundred people here a day once it really gets going in mid-summer.''

To enhance the farm experience, Clarke has added animals to the produce.

``We have kind of like a petting zoo for the kids,'' he said. ``There are goats, pigs and turkeys. We have pumpkin rides in the fall.''

Vandergriff said the proliferation of petting zoos with roadside stands also is an international trend, capitalizing further on ``people's need to get back to the farm.''

According to Extension Service figures, more local farmers are switching over to growing produce, instead of such crops as wheat and soy beans. Vandergriff cites the increasing cost of equipment and fuel used in traditional farming, while the prices of the crops have not risen. There also is more global competition.

Clarke said that selling direct eliminates transportation costs and that the demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is growing as Americans become more diet conscious.

Amelia B. Williams and her son, Henry F. Williams Jr., have a farm behind the family home in the Sunray section of Chesapeake. They once sold only corn, wheat and soybeans, but the profit margins were diminishing, so they added produce about 10 years ago.

``We get more business every year,'' said Henry Williams, 41. ``People are looking for freshness and taste, and you can't find it any fresher than from the back yard.''

F.W. ``Billy'' Culpepper Jr. has two stands, one on Buskey Road and one on Johnstown Road. He switched from grain to produce over the past several years, selling a lot of strawberries, peas, watermelons and tomatoes.

``It takes less land and equipment to grow fruits and vegetables, and you get way more money per crop,'' said Culpepper, 60.

While the demand for fresh-off-the-farm is increasing, the chilly spring weather stalled the growth of many fruits and vegetables and delayed the public's visits to area farms and stands.

``We had to replant the snap beans and squash,'' Henry Williams said. ``And the cold nights slowed growth for a lot of the other produce.''

Now, with the arrival of more normal weather, farmers hope the crops will recover, but they anticipate a longer wait than usual.

``It's warmed up nicely lately, and we've seen the crops respond,'' said Culpepper, ``but I think the harvests will be coming in later, and we need some rain.''

In addition to meeting roadside demand, some local farmers also sell to area grocery stores. Although the number of large supermarket chains buying locally has diminished in recent years, primarily due to more regional buying practices, several area stores still purchase locally.

Both the Clarke and Williams farms sell a sizable quantity of their produce to stores such as Farm Fresh, Farmer Jack, Be-Lo and Rack & Sack.

``The big stores keep us plenty busy,'' said Amelia Williams, 78. ``We've got produce going out to them all the time.''

Randy D. Brittain, a senior produce buyer for Farm Fresh, says that company has increased its purchases of locally grown fruits and vegetables.

``We're buying more local produce, especially in the last five years,'' said Brittain. ``People want the freshness and taste, and we like to support local farmers. Our main sweet-corn supply comes out of Chesapeake.''

Mike L. Morgan, assistant produce manager at Farmer Jack, also gets produce from nearby growers.

``Our customers like buying local,'' he says. ``It's fresher and often cheaper.''

In light of the expanding fresh produce market, farmers are planning to propose changing some city laws they say are holding back their business. Culpepper, along with other local growers, plan to ask City Council to change codes that now limit their signage to a 1-by-2-foot display to allow them to advertise according to standard commercial regulations. Farmers also want to be able to sell produce bought from out of the area. At present, they can only sell locally raised crops.

``If we have a bad year for something, we should be able to purchase from out-of-state farmers that have had a good year,'' Culpepper said. ``We need to be able to sell to meet demand.''

Dalton S. Edge, a city councilman and farmer, is a spokesman for the agriculture community.

``As a farmer, I represent those interests,'' Edge said. ``These are reasonable requests, and I think City Council will look favorably upon them. We also need to look at ways to help farmers keep their land, instead of often giving in to developers.''

Expanding urbanization in the city is not the only pattern that may limit the availability of buying fresh-off-the-farm in the future. There may be fewer local farmers.

``The average age of a Virginia farmer is 59,'' Vandergriff said. ``Farming is a seven-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year job, and some of the young people are not into making that commitment. It's a scary thought, but unfortunately, things are moving toward more corporate farming.''

Amelia Williams shares the concern: ``There are only a few small farmers still left, and a lot of them are old'' she says. ``Once they're gone, I don't know if the young ones will carry on. You better enjoy the local fruits and vegetables while you can.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos including color cover by MORT FRYMAN

Henry Williams Jr., who grows fruits and vegetables and sells them

from the shed on his farm in Bowers Hill, shows off a huge Chinese

cabbage.

``People are looking for freshness and taste,'' says Henry Williams,

41, whose farm is in the Sunray section, ``and you can't find it any

fresher than from the back yard.''

Diana Newnam says she likes to get her fill of strawberries and

broccoli from the Williams farm, especially since they are

organically grown.

Staff photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON

John H. Clarke Jr., owner of Clarke Farms in Western Branch,

displays a mound of ripe tomatoes.