By MONICA SPRINGER

Click Photo to Purchase Photo Reprints!

Click Photo to Purchase Photo Reprints!

mspringer@gctelegram.com

¬ 

Producers at the Farmers Market in Garden City received more than just compliments from area shoppers Saturday.

They received word from a state inspector that, as of this week, the state will be making sure that vendors are following state law as far as what items can and can't be sold.

Producers were reminded that meats and certain canned items and pies are prohibited from being sold at the farmers market.

Mike Heideman, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said the the KDHE and the Kansas Department of Agriculture routinely inspect farmers markets throughout the state.

"It's a service we provide to protect the public's health," Heideman said. "It's a safeguard to make sure proper practices are being followed."

Heideman said KDHE inspects any food that is served to the public, including those items sold at farmers markets.

According to the KDHE, unless the producer has a license the sale of potentially hazardous foods are restricted at farmers markets because of the risk of food-borne illnesses. Milk products, eggs, meat, poultry and fish are prohibited. Also included are creme and meringue pies, hamburgers, hot dogs, burritos, egg rolls, jerky and summer sausage.

Home canned products, with the exception of jams and jellies, also are prohibited.

The Finney County Extension Office sponsors Garden City's Farmers Market. When producers are interested in obtaining a booth, the extension office gives them information on what is and isn't allowed at the farmers market, said Whitey Whitehill, Finney County Extension agent. A list of items allowed at farmers markets also is available at kdheks.gov.

Some producers said the rules have been in place, but just not enforced until now. Other producers said the announcement came as a surprise.

Margie Hubbard, Kalvesta, had help from her daughter, Sarah, 12, on Saturday. The pair was selling canned jalapeños, dill pickles, and an assortment of jams and butters. The pickles were a significant part of her sales last year, Hubbard said, and she can no longer sell them now.

Diane Harding, Holcomb, said, "I knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when."

Producers and consumers said sales at the market have gone up.

Carlene Goddard, Garden City, said she bought honey, jam and coffee at the farmer's market. She stopped to talk to friends as she shopped.

The tamales sold out quickly, she said. Many of the other items go early, so it helps to get to the Farmers Market early in the morning, she said.

Todd Savolt, 14, Garden City, mans a stand at the market and said sales were pretty good on Saturday. He sells kettle corn, cantaloupe, squash and cucumbers. Several customers stopped at his booth late in the day to smell the cantaloupe.

"We've been selling a little bit more," Savolt said.

With the latest scare of salmonella that came to no definitive source but cast suspicion at tomatoes, peppers and cilantro, several producers at the Farmers Market said area residents have grown to appreciate locally grown food. Keith O'Neil, Satanta, sells breakfast burritos, bierocks, fresh eggs and cherry cheesecakes at his stand, which is licensed by the state to sell meat.

Three of his kids helped him run the stand: Adam, 17; Gary, 13; and Emily, 5.

"As the food scare becomes more real, the local food will be more in demand," Keith O'Neil said. "I think local food will benefit the community."

Hubbard and her daughter get up at 5:30 a.m. on Friday to start cooking. They get up again at 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays to make it to the Farmers Market by 7 a.m.

"It's a family endeavor," Hubbard said.

The farmers market is held from June to August every year. The hours are from 7 a.m. to noon every Saturday at the parking lot of Westlake Ace Hardware, 1210 Fleming St.