Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Lynnette and Dan Yarnick stand with their son, Joey, 17, in a field of zucchini on their farm in Armstrong Township. They sell produce to Giant Eagle and other supermarkets.

By Anya Sostek
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Lynnette Yarnick is getting used to the phone calls from strangers.

"People will call us and say 'We bought your stuff at a Giant Eagle and you're a real farmer. We're so amazed,' " she said.

The 200-acre Yarnick's Farm in Indiana, Pa., is one of the beneficiaries of a growing movement supporting locally grown food -- and calling into question the ecological cachet of organic farming.

"Local seems to be the old idea that's new again," said David Eson, director of Western Pennsylvania programs for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. He noted that the ongoing crisis over E. coli in the nation's spinach supply reflects problems with our global network of food distribution -- problems that pit the wholesome image of organic goods purveyors such as Whole Foods Markets Inc. against the reality of what organic is becoming.

Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma," has argued that although the Austin, Texas-based chain has raised the profile of organic farming, it also supports large, industrialized organic farms that are far removed from the movement's original intentions. His criticisms, and an e-mail debate with Whole Foods co-founder and Chief Executive Officer John Mackey, led the nation's largest organic and natural goods grocery chain in June to pledge to spend an additional $10 million a year on locally grown foods.

Vern Fisher, Monterey County Herald via AP Bryan Silbermann, president of the Produce Marketing Association, left, holds a hand full of a mix of lettuce as he makes a point at a news conference in Salinas, Calif. Thursday. Mr. Silbermann and Tom Nassif, president and CEO of the Wetern Growers, were addressing the concerns around the E. coli-tainted spinach in the Salinas Valley. Click photo for larger image.

Concerns about the integrity and feasibility of large-scale organic farming also heightened this spring after Wal-Mart announced that it would begin selling organic produce, possibly farmed overseas. Mary Barbercheck, a Penn State agriculture professor, noted in a recent talk to the Pittsburgh chapter of Cafe Scientifique that she found organic produce in Pennsylvania supermarkets shipped in from the Netherlands and South America. At some point, she said, the fossil fuels required to transport the produce cut into the environmental benefits from growing organically.

In many ways, said Mr. Eson, the increased prominence of the local food movement is a reaction to concerns about the industrialization of organic farming and its impact on the environment and consumers.

"[Organics have] gone from being something that was very much a niche market to something that is by far the most rapidly growing segment," he said. "It allowed and brought the attention of corporations."

The best option, he believes, is local food that also is grown organically. Otherwise, choosing food becomes a tricky calculus of competing priorities.

Buying organic from California or Peru vs. buying conventional from a local farm is "a complicated decision," he said. "It relies upon someone's personal values."

Mrs. Yarnick said her farm prefers to use natural biological controls instead of pesticides, but that they have not attempted to "go through a lot of hoops" to become certified organic by the government.

Mr. Eson also noted that although many farms are not certified organic, their growing processes might be just as environmentally friendly as the large scale industrial organic farms, if not more.

Many of the points made by those advocating locally grown food have been lain bare in the ongoing crisis over E. coli in the nation's spinach supply. Spinach grown at large farms in a few California counties has sickened people in at least 24 states -- showing how far American produce travels from the farm to the grocery aisles.

On the one hand, spinach isn't currently an option as local produce in much of the country because it's a cold weather crop. The potent downside of exclusively eating locally is that most fruits and vegetables are only in season for a small part of the year.

Even if her products are seasonal, Mrs. Yarnick has seen business "growing and growing and growing every year" -- both from supermarket orders and at her farm market. Business at her farm market has quadrupled in the past two year and she now sees 500 customers a day during July and August.

"People are very conscious of where their food is coming from," she said. "I think America is trying to be more healthy, more health conscious, and really watch what they're eating."

Mrs. Yarnick also attributes an increase in business to the popularity of the Food Network and other cooking shows, including segments with celebrity chefs on morning television shows.

Those chefs, she said, cook almost exclusively with fresh ingredients. "Instead of eating dried parsley," she said, "they see these people are using fresh stuff."

Pittsburgh supermarkets clearly are paying attention to the trend. Even before shoppers walk in the door of the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle, they encounter a makeshift wooden farm stand labeled with signs saying "Locally Grown Produce" and "Delivered Daily."

At the Whole Foods in East Liberty, an artfully decorated chalkboard outside the main entrance reads "Support Local Farms" above a hand-drawn map of Pittsburgh surrounded by local farm suppliers.

While Mr. Eson applauded the efforts of stores such as Giant Eagle to get local produce on their shelves, he also advocated actually going to a farmer's market, or going to the farm, to develop relationships with farmers and observe first-hand how the food is grown.

Wherever her customers buy her produce, Mrs. Yarnick is grateful for the increased business -- not just in the short term, but also to pass the farm down to future generations.

"Our son is 17, and he eats, sleeps and breathes farm," she said.