Mixed salad of food-safety rules ripe for confusion at farmers markets

Michaele Blakely stuffed her hand into a plastic bag, then plunged it into a plastic cooler filled with purple and green lettuce. The Columbia City Farmers Market was almost open, and she had to hustle to ready her stand.

Her salad mix may have looked innocent enough, but these greens have caused the latest of many battles among the state's farmers, county health departments and the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

"It depends on who you talk to," said Blakely, a farmer from Carnation. "If you talk to the state of Washington, it's a processed food. If you talk to me, it's a fresh-cut vegetable."

But as farmers markets grow in popularity, health inspectors are scrutinizing market traditions, especially free samples, homemade goods and tossed salads.

Farmers and health inspectors hope to resolve any disputes by creating a uniform set of food-safety rules so that farmers can continue growing fresh produce and selling specialty goods.

They've created a task force to develop comprehensive laws that will help them figure out what they can sell at market, how they can sell it, and whether consumers can chomp as they shop.

"I don't know of anybody saying, 'OK, we're going to crack down on farmers markets,' but they were more under the radar before," said Leslie Zenz, manager of the small farms and direct-marketing program for the state Department of Agriculture.

"Food safety is such a tricky thing, and nobody is willing to negotiate when it comes to public health."

The state Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health have their own rules, and health inspectors in each of the state's more than 30 county health districts have different ways of interpreting and enforcing state and federal laws.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforces federal laws, which were strengthened recently due to bioterrorism and homeland-security concerns.

Therein lies some of the concern — and confusion.

When Chrys Ostrander, an organic farmer from Eastern Washington, and other Spokane-area farmers planned a potluck last fall, a county health-department employee warned it was illegal to encourage the public to attend because certified commercial kitchens were not used to prepare food.

The farmers promptly began a "decriminalize the potluck" picketing campaign to enlist public sympathy. The potluck was kept private.

"There is something of a food-safety hysteria," said Ostrander. "It's different county by county. But some of the discussions have been bordering on the absurd."

Despite farmers' battles with health inspectors, the markets are becoming increasingly popular. There are now about 75 markets throughout the state. Each faces several sets of rules and regulations.

Many shoppers are glad food inspectors are paying attention.

Pulling a red wagon her 2-year-old daughter shared with market produce, Angie Kantola of Seattle said she loves picking up produce and bread at the Columbia City market but has been wary of specialty items.

"I'm glad somebody's checking," Kantola said. "This year there are more foods, eggs, cheese and meat, and I don't know what the regulations are."

Food inspectors say their top priority is to prevent illness, but they also want to help farmers bring safe food to market. Claudia Coles, manager of the Department of Agriculture's food-safety program, said she's helped bring frozen meat, fish, and eggs to markets.

"Now, we've been trying to meet and clarify the rules," Coles said. She added that some laws, like those about dairy items, have always been consistent statewide. But she believes others need to be standardized.

Farmers worry that the new rules, due in 2005, will make it even harder for them to stay in business.

Some inspectors, for instance, want to regulate how farmers cut and give out free samples.

"It's much more real, it's much more like Europe, to taste your food," chef Becky Selengut said, shortly after sampling a small yellow tomato from Rockridge Orchards' stand at the Columbia City market last week. "It's part of the experience, and I don't think it needs to be regulated."

Washington is one of many states trying to develop a food code based on a national model. The federal government recommends new food codes every two years.

But now, with concerns about diseases like E. coli, "mad cow" disease and salmonella, some states are having a tougher time setting regulations that industry and food-safety inspectors can agree on. Until the new rules are decided, farmers and inspectors are struggling — county by county — to work it out.

Jim Lawrence, a San Juan Island farmer, inspired the recent mixed-greens battle this spring, after a local health inspector told him he needed a license to sell his Thirsty Goose Farm's salad mix.

County workers said that by putting different types of lettuce in a bag, he created a processed food.

Lawrence appealed to the San Juan County Health & Community Services Department and state Department of Agriculture. "They're acting like Third World cops, and we are just trying to provide food," he said.

After a meeting with state agriculture officials last week, county inspectors decided his salad was actually a "raw agricultural salad product" not requiring a special sales license.

Blakely, the Carnation farmer, said Lawrence's run-in with inspectors is becoming typical as farmers try to sell a wider variety of homemade foods.

She said she hopes the new rules will make it easier for farmers to stay in business but that the task force is prepared to fight the new code if it's not farmer friendly.

Mary Spicuzza: 206-464-3192 or mspicuzza@seattletimes.com