A record Cyclospora season and a nationwide iceberg lettuce recall have left a lot of shoppers looking at the supermarket produce aisle differently, and some are heading to farmers' markets instead. The instinct is understandable. The evidence supporting it is more complicated.
Buying from a nearby grower changes several things about how produce reaches you. It shortens the supply chain, reduces the number of handling steps, and often lets you ask questions of the person who grew the food. What it does not do is remove the biological pathways through which produce becomes contaminated, and in one important respect it can reduce the regulatory oversight applied to that food rather than increase it.
