An unexpected pandemic result: More of us discovered farm-to-table eating

Local farmer Laurie Waltz credits the pandemic for a resurgence in farm-to-table eating.

Grocery chain interruptions and a threat of food insecurity forced many people to find another source for meat and vegetables. That meant shoppers decided to skip the middleman and go directly to the source: farmers.

“People are more aware that some of their food comes from halfway across the world, and they just want to keep it a little closer to home,” she said.

Waltz and her husband, Jay, run Waltz Family Farm in Smithsburg. They raise beef, pork and lamb that they sell at farmers markets in the county, as well as in Washington, D.C.

Today’s consumers are more mindful of what they eat, which Waltz said means they are asking how animals are raised, when it was butchered and what it was fed.

Leslie Hart, agriculture business specialist for the Washington County Department of Business Development, has been touting what local farmers offer for years.

“Farm-to-table is a social movement that promotes local food through direct purchase from local farms and farmers,” she said. “Other terms such as farm-to-fork, the 100-mile diet and supporting locals are all common.”

Like Waltz, Hart credits the pandemic for bringing people back to local farms. Consumers’ eyes were opened when they couldn’t get favorite foods and products at grocery stores, so they turned to local farms and farmers for the same or similar products, she said.

“COVID-19 really brought the ‘all local’ movement to the forefront when national supply chains were interrupted and the local producers had an abundance of products to share,” Hart said. “One of the biggest challenges with fruits and vegetables is that the consumer needs to learn to eat in season and when the product is at its full ripeness.”

Eating farm-to-table

Chef Barbara Damskey, whose catering business is called A Prime Thyme, helps her husband, John, run Diparma Farms in Fairplay. They raise and sell chickens, turkey, ducks and bobwhite quail, as well as eggs.

She was trained at L'Academie de Cuisine, where she was encouraged to use fresh ingredients. When selecting produce, she said consumers should look for foods that are in season. She plants a garden every year.

“I like heirloom tomatoes, but fresh tomatoes out of any garden or from a local farm are going to be so much better. You taste the things at the grocery store and they don't have the same flavor,” she said.

John Damskey said people should not be afraid to ask farmers how they raise their animals or produce. For instance, the term “free-range” is used a lot in reference to poultry, but that only means they have access to the outdoors, he said.

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“If you go to these commercial poultry farms, the bird has access to the outside, which could be only 6 square feet out of a large steel building that's considered free-range,” he said. “We don't look at it like that.”

That’s an advantage to buying from smaller farms.

“We have the luxury of caring for animals," Damskey said. "We do this because it's a passion.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, American farmers have been struggling for decades, but a historic 2012 drought — paired with a peak in commodity prices — hit farms hard across the country. In 2019, farmers faced poor planting conditions. Then the pandemic hit.

COVID-19 could have devastated small farms, but these farmers had the ability to pivot and sell food directly from their farms or in open-air markets — drawing people too fearful to face crowds at grocery stores.

Many supplemented farmers market purchases by gardening. A survey by Bonnie Plants, a leading supplier of plants in the U.S., reported that in 2020, more than 20 million people took up gardening for the first time.

A taste difference

Donna Litton and her husband, Charles, run Litton’s Produce & Berries in Fairplay. They sell seasonal produce from their farm, as well as at farmers markets. Their products include strawberries, blueberries, peppers, eggplant, okra, cantaloupe, watermelon and green beans — on a seasonal basis.

She said farmers markets allow people to meet those who grow their food.

“I think people are just glad to get food that is grown locally. You know, it might be more expensive because what else isn't? But at least you know that fresh means days instead of weeks from wherever, and I think once people start buying food from local people, they can tell a difference in the taste,” Litton said.

That is why Hart said she encourages people to buy locally.

“One of the biggest reasons I encourage people to buy local is because for every $1 you spend with a local farmer, 60 cents stays right here in our county,” Hart said. “Keeping our money circulating within our county makes us economically stronger and sustainable.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Pandemic drove more consumers directly to farmers for foods