Produce auction helps shoppers, farmers in Appalachia

What a great idea. Would love to see this expand throughout Appalachia.

The Columbus Dispatch
Produce auction helps shoppers, farmers in Appalachia

june 18, 2014

CHESTERHILL, Ohio — Amanda Gilliland waited to make her move as auctioneer Mike Nichols rattled off spinach prices to bidders gathered around crates of fresh peas, potatoes and strawberries.

A slight lift of her hand on Thursday signaled a bid of $2, and when no other bids followed from the crowd of about 50 potential buyers, Gilliland took home the six bunches of spinach from the Chesterhill Produce Auction.

“It’s locally grown, and I know where it comes from,” said Gilliland, 28, of Bartlett in Washington County. “That’s why I like to come here instead of buying at the grocery.”

Since the first bidders gathered under a small tent in 2005, the Chesterhill Produce Auction has expanded in both size and the ways it helps growers in economically disadvantaged Appalachian Ohio....

MORE at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/06/16/produce-auction-helps-shoppers-farmers-in-appalachia.html