Buying produce directly from farmers can give shoppers a clearer connection to who grew their food, but it doesn’t guarantee the food is safer.
Food recalls can leave shoppers wondering where their produce came from and how it was handled. At the Old Town Newhall Farmers Market in Santa Clarita, some shoppers say buying directly from growers helps answer part of that question.
Market manager Larry McClements says produce sold at the market passes through fewer hands. He describes lettuce changing hands once: when the farmer gives it to the customer.
For longtime Santa Clarita resident Valerie Day, that direct connection is part of her regular shopping routine. She says she buys most produce and all her fruit at farmers markets because she trusts the growers.
That trust doesn’t mean farmers market produce is automatically safer. The FDA says contamination can happen during growing, harvesting or handling, regardless of where produce is sold.
For McClements, buying directly also lets shoppers learn who is responsible for growing their food.
