Campbellsburg, KY (WDRB News) -- The growing interest in buying fresh foods is changing the way rural communities market their farm products.
Throughout Kentucky, the chant of the tobacco auctioneer has been replaced with the chant of the produce auctioneer.
David Neville, a Henry County farmer, is also the owner of Capstone Produce Market. Three days a week, area farmers bring their fresh produce here to be sold to the highest bidder.
Growers use these auctions as the primary way of selling their fresh fruits and vegetables. "A grower can drop his product off here at the auction center and then he can go back to the farm and do his work there while we do the work on the marketing end of it," says Neville.
Buyers who regularly attend such auctions include local grocers, restaurants, private citizens and roadside vendors like Rob Cauble.
"I come here to pick up the fresh produce," says Cauble. "We come here to get most of our vegetables, about 100 percent of what we sell comes from this area."
Some of these fresh products make their way into Louisville supermarkets. "That would be the case of the Louisville economy getting fresh fruits and vegetables, that is really good because it supports our rural community and our farmers," says Neville.
Neville is excited about the future and sees the market growing each year. "What we are creating here is our own entrepreneur stimulus package," he adds, "we are on the ground in the dirt creating an economy for our local farmers."
Neville says he is trying to do his small part to help sustain the family farm in Kentucky and at the same time provide healthier foods to more consumers.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
