http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2010-01-03-67221.113116_Growers_dont_agree_on_quarantine_impacts.html

Growers don't agree on quarantine impacts

By Nick Taborek
January 04, 2010


BETTER SAFE ... Beefsteak tomatoes are displayed under a net at the Main Street Farmers’
Market on Sunday morning. photo by Brandon Wise.

MAIN STREET — Leticia Garcia, who was selling avocados, citrus and persimmons at the Farmers' Market here on Sunday, said she makes between $300 to $400 less per day than she did a couple of months ago.

The bad business isn't because of newly frugal customers or colder weather, she said, it's because of the quarantine intended to curb the spread of Mediterranean fruit flies that's been in effect since shortly after the bugs were discovered in eastern Santa Monica in October.

At least 17 Farmers' Markets, including four in Santa Monica, are affected by the quarantine. Since it began Nov. 16, 2009, farmers selling fruit and some vegetables within the quarantine zone — which includes Santa Monica, Culver City, Venice, Marina del Rey and Westwood — have been required to cover their products with nets and dispose of or donate any produce that is not sold.

Farmers must also keep produce covered during transport. All of the measures are intended to keep larva from the flies from being transported back to areas where food is grown in an effort to prevent widespread damage to crops. Fruit that has been exposed only while being handled briefly and actively is exempt from the rules.

Customers also are not allowed to take produce purchased at the markets out of the quarantine zone.

The quarantine is expected to last at least until summer, but so far growers disagree about how it's being enforced and how it's affecting sales.

Garcia, of Garcia Organic Farm, said U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors are vigilant and require her to get rid of any fruit she puts on display that doesn't sell by the end of the day.

"They make sure that the whole display doesn't come back home" to the farm in San Diego County, she said.

Since the quarantine began, she said she's been keeping more of her fruit in the company truck where there's no risk of contamination. A sparser table display, she said, has led to fewer sales. The nets also deter some customers, she said, prompting her to consider installing fans in her booth to keep the bugs away.

But at another nearby booth, Marin Martinez said the impact of the quarantine have been minimal. He said inspectors talked about requiring growers to dispose of unsold fruit the first week of the quarantine but never bothered to enforce the rule. He said he would be taking his leftover avocados and citrus home to the farm in northern San Diego County.

If the quarantine were aggressively enforced, he said it would be a big drag on business.

"If you can't take anything back, that really affects us," he said. "You lose a lot of money if they just throw it away."

Jodi Low, City Hall's representative who coordinates the Main Street market, acknowledged inspectors are still in the process of educating growers about the rules and said sometimes enforcement has been uneven.

"It has been a bit confusing because you have some very different inspectors," Low said.

She said on days when the weather is cooler and it's less likely the flies could contaminate produce, inspectors have been more lax about requiring growers to leave fruits and vegetables behind.

Low said at this point it's difficult to say whether the quarantine has caused a significant drop off in business for markets.

"It has an impact in that a lot of customers don't understand what the netting is about," she said. Some, she said, think it's a new sanitation rule implemented by City Hall.

Other growers at the Main Street market had different views on the quarantine's business impacts.

Lucia Del Valle, who was selling dragon fruit on Sunday, said she thinks the nets she's required to use have reduced business by about 30 percent.

"We feel we sell less if it's covered," she said.

But she also claimed she wasn't required to dispose of her fruit, so long as she kept it under the nets while it was on display.

"If I have it covered there's no problem," she said.

Evelin Tamayo, who was selling tomatoes — another at-risk vegetable — said the nets don't bother anyone.

"It looks nice and it keeps it clean," she said. "[Customers] just think it's part of our display."

County, state and federal officials are working to combat the infestation by releasing sterile male fruit flies, and are confident they can beat the bug.

Produce covered by the quarantine includes major fruit crops: citrus, apples, pears, stone fruit, grapes, blueberries, avocados, guavas, cherimoyas and kiwis. Some vegetables such as tomatoes and eggplants are included. Flowers and most veggies, such as lettuce, carrots and cucumbers, are not affected.