Home
Login
Register
Practice Listening
Practice Listening
/
Video
/
VOX
/
Is the food at the farmers market safer?
Is the food at the farmers market safer?
Select learning mode:
View subtitles
Pick word
Rewrite word
Highlight:
3000 Oxford Words
4000 IELTS Words
5000 Oxford Words
3000 Common Words
1000 TOEIC Words
5000 TOEFL Words
Subtitles (232)
0:00
What we eat and where it comes from is a
0:02
critical part of human health. In fact,
0:04
59% of Americans think it's a top factor
0:08
to know where their food comes from, and
0:10
54% prioritize food that is consistently
0:13
available locally. And one of the best
0:16
places to get that locally sourced food,
0:18
small family farms and farmers markets.
0:21
I love a good farmers market, and I'm
0:23
not alone. There are over 8,700 farmers
0:26
markets in the US, where roughly 40,000
0:29
farmers sell their products. And they
0:31
seem to be getting a bit more attention
0:33
thanks to a certain lettuce-related
0:35
issue.
0:35
>> Americans are growing weary of the
0:37
rising number of recalls related to
0:39
those stomach-churning cyclospora and
0:42
salmonella outbreaks.
0:43
>> With only 55% of Americans feeling very
0:46
or somewhat confident in the safety of
0:48
the food supply, buying direct from your
0:50
local farm could be the answer. But how
0:53
does a small family farm business
0:55
compete with major grocery stores for
0:56
customers? And what's behind their sales
0:59
pitch for safer and fresher food?
1:03
I came out here to Camarillo,
1:04
California, to check out McGrath Family
1:07
Farms.
1:07
>> This farm has a pretty unique model.
1:10
It's a collective of a few smaller
1:11
farmers working land that's been a
1:13
Southern California staple for
1:15
generations.
1:16
>> Phil McGrath, who's my mentor, he's the
1:19
uh fourth-generation McGrath on this
1:21
same land. Him and his siblings, they
1:23
started some of the first farmers
1:25
markets in our area. A group of us that
1:27
were apprentices here were carrying on
1:29
that legacy.
1:30
>> We are 35 acres of certified organic
1:33
land. We grow a lot of different crops,
1:36
over 20 different varieties of produce
1:39
and vegetables, as well as over 20
1:41
different varieties of flowers.
1:43
>> McGrath Family Farms practices
1:45
regenerative and organic farming,
1:47
[music] which means fewer chemicals and
1:48
machinery. But this more natural
1:50
approach also means they're frequently
1:52
adjusting to Mother Nature.
1:54
>> I would say uh farmers, uh especially
1:56
smaller farmers or mid-size farmers,
1:58
were some of the best problem solvers
1:59
around cuz they were dealing with
2:00
problems constantly. You plant those
2:02
seeds, you're investing all your upfront
2:03
capital, right, in all this. And you're
2:05
hoping those seeds come up, that the
2:07
conditions are right for those seeds to
2:08
germinate.
2:09
>> My whole family does work here. So, my
2:11
mom, my dad, my grandpa, my uncles, and
2:14
then my siblings and I, with another 10
2:17
to 15 [music] workers here at the farm
2:20
that do an assortment of things, whether
2:23
it's packing, weeding, harvesting,
2:26
washing the produce.
2:28
>> Growing crops organically, uh there's
2:30
going to naturally be uh challenges.
2:32
Weeding is one [music] of the biggest
2:33
costs of organic farming. We spend all
2:35
our time weeding. Then you have pest
2:37
pressure that comes in. You might have
2:38
some kind of soil pathogen you got to
2:40
figure out. And the second you harvest
2:42
that crop, it needs to get to our end
2:44
customer immediately, as quickly as
2:46
possible to have all that viability, to
2:48
have all that nutrient density.
2:49
>> So, how do only a couple dozen people
2:52
maintain food freshness and availability
2:54
while keeping the business afloat?
2:56
>> Everything is harvested for the markets
2:58
the day before.
2:59
>> Then, everybody packs up the produce and
3:02
fans out to several farmers markets in
3:04
Southern California each week. All of
3:06
them about 50 miles or less from the
3:08
farm.
3:09
>> Our whole family, especially on Sunday,
3:11
where when we have two farmers markets,
3:13
everyone's away at a market.
3:16
>> That's a lot of ground to cover, and the
3:18
cycle restarts again every week. If
3:20
there's any disruption, it can be
3:22
costly.
3:23
>> We can't miss the market because we're
3:25
expecting the money that's made
3:26
throughout the week to be able to re-
3:28
reinvest it into uh our seeds and our
3:31
employees. I think for the most part our
3:34
pricing has been the same for the last
3:36
like 10 years. People will always notice
3:39
when the price goes up, but they tend to
3:41
not notice when the price goes down.
3:43
>> Speaking of small businesses, this video
3:45
is presented by Verizon Business.
3:47
Verizon Small Business Days are
3:48
happening now. If you're a small
3:50
business owner, Verizon Business experts
3:52
are ready to meet with you one-on-one.
3:54
They'll act as extra support to give you
3:56
the best tech, plans, and give special
3:58
offers to help your business succeed.
4:00
Score a meeting with a Verizon business
4:02
expert during small business days from
4:04
August 17th to August 30th. Go to
4:06
verizon.com/smallbusiness
4:09
to learn more. Verizon business has no
4:11
say in the editorial content of this
4:13
video, but their support makes videos
4:15
like this possible.
4:16
>> Farmers markets are a main driver of
4:18
this farm's business, but not just
4:20
because that's where they see the most
4:22
sales. It's also where they form direct
4:24
relationships with customers, which
4:26
means that farmers like Mike and Tony
4:28
also have a pulse on their customers
4:30
anxieties when food safety issues
4:32
happen.
4:33
>> When anything happens like this on
4:34
[snorts] the news, automatically
4:35
customers are concerned. You're
4:37
rightfully so, they want to now know,
4:39
where does the food come from?
4:40
>> People start to come more to the markets
4:42
and buy stuff directly from the farm to
4:45
prevent being affected by any sort of
4:47
outbreak that's through the supply
4:48
chain.
4:49
>> We don't want the food to travel far.
4:50
It's alive, it needs to get enjoyed
4:52
immediately. It'll be harvested today,
4:55
washed, and packed, and then you go to
4:57
market. These hands grew it, these hands
4:59
wash it, and these hands brought it
5:00
here.
5:01
>> An operation like Taylor Farms, the
5:03
lettuce distributor linked to the
5:04
Cyclospora outbreak, is massive by
5:07
comparison. It has over 25,000
5:09
employees, 30 processing facilities, and
5:12
produces over 265 million servings of
5:15
produce weekly that makes its way into
5:18
chain restaurants, major grocery
5:20
retailers, and big box stores. And
5:22
generally speaking, buying food from
5:24
grocery stores is highly regulated and
5:27
safe. But its supply chain does have
5:29
more potential contamination points.
5:31
Some produce travels hundreds or
5:33
thousands of miles from where it's grown
5:35
to where it's sold, passing through
5:37
processing, storage, and distribution
5:40
facilities.
5:41
>> People will come to the farmers markets
5:42
and sometimes be like, the produce at
5:44
the at the stores is a lot cheaper, but
5:47
one thing that I tried to explain to
5:49
them, the produce in the grocery stores
5:52
most of the times is coming from another
5:53
country. And also, the produce that
5:56
we're providing to them is most of the
5:58
time just a day old.
5:59
>> The ultimate advantage of a small local
6:01
farm is how direct the journey of their
6:03
produce from the fields to their
6:05
customers is.
6:06
>> You're getting a more nutrient dense and
6:08
flavor dense produce, and more than
6:10
anything it's going to last longer and
6:12
be safer for you because it's being
6:15
transferred from less hands and stuff.
6:17
>> We grow the food in the greater Los
6:18
Angeles area here, and we bring it into
6:20
the city and our, you know, local areas
6:22
well here. So, that direct feedback
6:24
informs our growing decision.
6:26
>> We'll have people that ask us grow
6:28
beets, or they'll ask us to grow like a
6:30
specific variety tomato. And we're
6:33
always willing to try new things, too.
6:34
It's a small community that supports
6:36
each other. The farmers and our
6:38
customers at the farmers market, we all
6:40
come together to make this possible.
6:42
>> Even with thousands of farmers markets
6:44
and farms across the country, there are
6:46
still areas known as food deserts,
6:48
places with limited access to
6:50
affordable, nutritious food because of
6:52
geography or economics. The farmers I
6:55
met with had some advice for people who
6:56
live there, too.
6:57
>> national and a global food system, it's
6:59
a miracle that humans created this. We
7:01
were able to figure out how to grow food
7:03
and ship it all over the world. Do your
7:05
due diligence when you get your produce
7:06
home, you make sure you wash it, you you
7:08
store it safely. We never take anything
7:10
for granted.
7:10
>> And these small farmers are always
7:13
looking for creative ways to reach more
7:15
people with healthy, safe food.
7:17
>> When we have a surplus of produce,
7:19
especially after the farmers market, we
7:21
donate it to food forward and they give
7:23
it to food banks.
7:24
>> Where I spend a lot of my time today is
7:26
in farm to school. Today, we're in six
7:28
school districts reaching around 60,000
7:30
students in just Ventura County.
7:32
>> So, if you have a local farmers market
7:34
and it's within your budget, consider
7:36
buying a few fruits or veggies. Your
7:38
local farmer and your taste buds will
7:40
thank you.
