Farmers kickoff new market season with foods low in fossil fuels.

Many a belly on Bainbridge has spent the winter gallivanting far and wide, digesting apples from New Zealand, tomatoes from Mexico, garlic from China.

Its time you and your belly came home to eat, say the growers of the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market.

“When you come to our market, you’re going right to the source,” said Betsey Wittick, one of 15 local growers featured in this year’s market lineup. Kicking off this Saturday, the 2007 market season boasts two new growers and a host of veterans.

While many of the same favorites are on the market menu – heirloom potatoes, organic tomatoes, exotic lettuces, fresh berries – it comes with a new sales pitch.

Locally grown produce, they say, is not only fresher and healthier – it’s also far less tainted with fossil fuels.

“Our produce travels a few miles from our farm on the back of our truck to the market at City Hall, offering more than a hundred-fold reduction in the use of fossil fuels from reduced mileage, refrigeration and packaging,” said island grower Brian MacWhorter, whose Butler Green Farms offers a variety of specialty tomatoes and other produce.

The foods Americans eat are more worldly and well-traveled than ever before. According to a recent study, most fruits and vegetables sold in the United States log about 2,000 miles between farm to store.

At the island’s farmers market, trips range from as far as Poulsbo or as near as Lovgreen Road, where MacWhorter grows much of his produce.

“When our fruits and vegetables come into season at our local farms, it makes total sense to buy this produce from our local farmers rather than buying it at grocery stores that import the very same produce from long distances,” said Linda Owens, the market’s new manager. “When you go direct from the farm to the table…you put less strain on the environment.”

The U.S. food industry uses over 10 quadrillion BTUs of energy each year, which amounts to France’s total annual energy consumption, according to the Earth Policy Institute. Growing accounts for only one fifth of the industry’s energy use. The other four-fifths are used to move, process, package, store and sell food after it leaves the field.

While eating local foods cuts energy use and air pollution, it also bolsters the island’s economy, said Owens.

“Shopping at the market benefits our downtown,” she said. “Folks who come out to shop at the farmers market also end up shopping locally.”

Shopping at the market provides an obvious financial boost to farmers. But for Wittick, who owns Laughing Crow Farms on Day Road, handing the fruits of her labor directly to customers comes with emotional payoffs as well.

“It’s kind of like a reunion every April,” she said. “I get to see the people who eat what I grow. It reminds of why I want to do this, because there’s not a whole lot of money for the amount of work I do. It’s the feel of it, of being part of a community, of an extended family.

“That feels really good.”

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Goin’ to market

Opening day of the 2007 Bainbridge Island Farmers Market begins Saturday morning at the green near City Hall.

Mayor Darlene Kordonowy will throw goat cheese into the crowd, officially opening the market at 9 a.m. In addition to 15 growers from Bainbridge and North Kitsap, the market features many craftspeople and artists.

Strings du Jour, featuring fiddle, banjo and guitar, will provide free music.

The market runs until late October and is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.bainbridgefarmersmarket.com.