Organic Food

Farmers Markets'

Berkeley Farmers' Market, an all organic local farmers market in Fuji, where apples cost $2 a pound - which is twice as much as apples cost in traditional supermarkets. The residents of berkeley are opting for organic foods, and think that nutrition is worth the price.

In Berkeley there are three weekly farmers' markets, all organised and administered by the Ecology Centre which is a local non-profit organisation that promotes environmentally friendly behaviour. The Thursday market is for organic producers only.

Berkeley has an affinity for organic foods, and as the farmers' market celebrates National Nutrition Month in March, it hopes to draw more attention to this.

For food to be considered as organic it has to abide by the many organic rules and regulations. These rules consist of things such as minimal use of pesticides, preservatives and other artificial ingredients.

Berkeley Farmers' Market has put lots of emphasis on organic production of food, and has been doing so since its inception 20 years ago, said Rosalie Fanshel, the markets operations manager.

Some of the producers have said that they became organic because of the location, which is near both their farms and a receptive consumer base. The only-organic market on Shattuck Avenue was started because of the community members, they insisted that they had one. Fanshel said, "There are a lot of people who really, really care about food here,"

The majority of organic farmers use an artisanal approach and on a smaller scale to other food producers. The local consumers and merchants say that organic produce has less chemical residues and therefore is fresher and tastes better.

A merchant of organic bread, Sabine Heise said that the consumers have grown more and more cautious about processed foods with long ingredients lists, "they just don't like that" she said.

A sales associate for the Berkeley-based organic bread company Vital Vittles said that doctors have been recommending organic whole-grain breads within the last three years.

The organic industry has been growing at a rate of 15 percent annually in the last several years, where as the conventional produce industry has grown at 1.5 percent every year.

President of Living Tree Community Foods, Jesse Schwartz, said that the next wave of nutrition has already begun in Berkeley, and the new wave is raw foods, which are both organic and uncooked.

"Organic is passe," he said. "The world is going raw."