By Lindsay Street
Staff Writer

Part sustainability movement and part fresh-food initiative, eating locally grown and produced food is gaining momentum in the region even as the practice continues to grow in popularity nationally.

Eating local foods has always appealed to people tuned into taste and nutrition, said Brian Halweil, a food researcher for New York-based environmental research group Worldwatch Institute.

But some new consumers are joining the movement. The trend also appeals to people who want to cut down on gasoline consumption and to environmentalists who are concerned about greenhouse gases emitted during transport, Halweil said.

Recent food scares also have helped to enlist new local food consumers, Halweil said.

“The food recalls are the latest example of a food scare with people rushing out to the farmers’ market,” he said.

At the Marion Square Farmers Market in downtown Charleston, farmers have begun offering more varied products to accommodate the new trend, said Sarah Cothran, coordinator for the farmers’ market. Goat milk and, soon, meat products will be available to local consumers, she added.

At the Mount Pleasant’s Farmers Market, dairy and meat products are already available, Cothran said.

A study by Packaged Facts, a Maryland-based researcher of consumer trends, estimated local food will be a $5 billion industry nationwide this year and predicted the industry will grow to $7 billion by 2011.

The trend of eating local food began in the 1970s and built up steam in the 1980s, but faded somewhat in the 1990s.

Now it is making a comeback on the heels of a brighter spotlight on local and national culinary chefs, said Amanda Dew Manning, a Charleston area food expert.

Nationwide, serving up local is the second most popular, long-term trend in the restaurant industry, according to the National Restaurant Association’s list of food trends. 

In Charleston, many chefs have jumped on the bandwagon. Restaurants that serve mostly local food include Fig, Cypress, Carolina’s and McCrady’s, Manning said.

“People are a lot more interested in local food (now),” Manning said. “Local food is fresh food. It’s more nutritious.”

Comparing local food to imported food is like comparing apples and oranges, Halweil said.

Local food is freshly picked and bred for taste, and imported food is ripened on a transporter and bred to withstand the bumps along the road. Local food is also desirable because its purchase helps support the local economy, he said.

“Communities in rural areas are stressed economically and if we spend our money on local food, that dollar recirculates throughout the community,” Manning said.

Most consumers buy food that comes from thousands of miles away from their residence, Halweil said.

In Charleston, the trend was encouraged by natives and transplants alike.

“There’s definitely a trend in Charleston because we have lots of people who have moved here from other places who have been exposed to this … (and) locals have been eating local for a very long time,” Manning said.

In May, the South Carolina commissioner of agriculture started Certified South Carolina, a certification program, to help consumers identify locally produced foods.

Much like the Wild American Shrimp or Angus certification, the label could prove to set local foods one tier above other imported goods.

The Certified South Carolina program was spawned after a survey showed 90% of shoppers would purchase a South Carolina-grown product if they could identify it.

“If given a choice, South Carolinians would prefer their state’s product over any other,” said Hugh Weathers, commissioner of agriculture.

Almost 80% of consumers had been unable to identify South Carolina products before the certification program began, Weathers said.

Membership in the program is application-based with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. All farm producers, food manufacturers, specialty food producers, packing facilities and others engaged in the production or manufacture of agricultural products in South Carolina are eligible.

The Certified SC program plans to expand beyond produce and eventually include meat products and more, Weathers said. In the future, the program also may include alternative fuels produced in the state.

“Food is our launching point but we’re talking about all of agriculture,” Weathers said.

In July, the Certified SC program met with the Maverick Restaurant Group, owner of Slightly North of Broad, to discuss the challenges of implementing the program among restaurateurs.

Even prior to the certification program, large supermarkets have kept up with the local-food trend over the years. In Mount Pleasant, a large yellow sign at the local Piggly Wiggly proclaims that the market supports local farmers.

“It’s become almost a given that a supermarket has to carve out a place for local produce,” Halweil said.

Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co., based in Charleston, has been actively promoting local foods for five years, said Rita Postell, spokeswoman for the company. The active promotion was in response to the increase in customer demand for fresh, local foods.

“We wanted to make it known that we do promote local produce. We always have,” Postell said.

Mepkin Abbey eggs, shrimp from Lowcountry waters and Johns Island tomatoes are some of the foods from the Charleston area sold at Piggly Wiggly.

“We try to buy as much local as we can,” she said. “It’s just a shame we can’t have (local food) all year round.”

Foods like tomatoes and peaches go out of season in South Carolina, but customer demand is year round, Postell said. Piggly Wiggly uses imports to compensate for seasonal products, she added.

Although mostly associated with the organic trend, Whole Foods Market hasn’t overlooked the local trend, either.

“In the grocery business, we’re hearing a lot from our customers they want more local food,” said Darrah Horgan, south regional public relations specialist for Whole Foods.

Whole Foods was attracted to the local-food trend since it emphasizes greener, healthier choices, she added.

“(The local trend) is not something that’s going to go away,” Horgan said.

Eating local may be a healthy, green choice, but is this another expensive trend for posh foodies, such as eating organic?

“If you’re sort of shopping in season and you’re shopping wisely, it isn’t going to be any more expensive to eat locally,” Halweil said, and then added: “A lot of people say ‘I willingly pay more.’”

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