A few weeks ago, I was rummaging through the produce section at the grocery store, looking for organic tomatoes. A pile of good-looking salad tomatoes caught my eye. The bags were labeled "Locally Grown". Intrigued, I picked one up for further inspection, hoping against hope that someone might actually be growing wintertime greenhouse tomatoes in Indiana. I should have known better.

The tomatoes were grown in Ontario, and the catchy name was nothing more than a marketing ploy capitalizing on increasing consumer demand for fresh food grown closer to home. I wondered how many other customers were fooled. Much as I like Ontario, those tomatoes had travelled so far that they didn't even fit the USDA's absurd definition, which considers anything shipped within a 400 mile radius from its point of origin to be locally grown. I put the tomatoes back in the cooler, and bemoaned once again that words like "local" are completely meaningless unless they've been defined. Even then, definitions have to make sense, and can't be stretched to the breaking point to meet a marketing agenda.

At our market, we've always defined "local" as products that are grown or produced within Indiana's borders. It may not be a perfect definition, but it is defensible and practical. It has meaning in terms of the seasonal eating that our market encourages. Even with the volatile weather we've had in recent years, we can still predict with some certainty when asparagus will sprout, apples will ripen, and cantaloupe will appear on vendor tables.

A narrower local radius also means that farmers tend to know each other. We form a community of support, and we keep each other honest. It's good for me as a market manager, because it allows me to visit and inspect my vendor's farms and products without extraordinary travel times. That makes it easier for all of us to stay accountable to you, our customers and supporters.

Finally, a smaller travel distance from farm to market means you get fresher produce that doesn't carry the baggage of a large carbon footprint. That's good for the small beleaguered planet we all share. 

Your favorite vendors await you with their spring bounty. See you all Friday from 4-7 PM under the not-yet-shady shade trees.