SUNNYSIDE -- After 20 years of environmental work, Merritt Mitchell Wajeeh moved to the Yakima Valley with the goal of starting a small farm.

In the three years since, she's cultivated her skills at her 91-acre farm along the Yakima River south of Sunnyside.

Mostly she grows hay, but two acres are full of vegetables, from Swiss chard to heirloom varieties of tomatoes that are delivered directly to buyers.

Welcome to Heavenly Hills Harvest, a community supported agriculture (CSA) program now in its second season. Through the program, customers purchase subscriptions for the entire growing season of 20 to 22 weeks. In return, they get a recyclable grocery bag of produce every week. The selection varies depending on what's in season.

She's not looking to be a big-production grower -- she is accepting just 20 customers this year -- but it helps pay for the investments she's made on the farm.

Heavenly Hills Harvest is one of the newer options available to Yakima Valley consumers who are part of the growing movement of locavores -- a term coined for people who want to eat produce grown locally.

The movement also has focused more attention on other local long-available direct market options, including farmers markets, U-pick facilities and fruit stands, which will begin operations in the next few weeks.

What eating locally means varies from person to person, but those who support the practice share several core values. They want to know where the food comes from, reduce their environmental impact, and support the local economy and build relationships with local growers.

Such interest may open more options for small and mid-size growers who might not produce enough to sell through the conventional agricultural distribution system, said Patrice Barrentine, direct marketing manager for the state Department of Agriculture.

"Those mid-size farms have had to compete by getting bigger or drop out of the game," she said.

The 2007 Census of Agriculture showed that 13.8 percent of Washington farms used some form of direct marketing.

Running a CSA has also given Mitchell Wajeeh a chance to meet people who share her values.

Among them are Mindy and Andrew Jones of Yakima, who subscribed to the Heavenly Hills Harvest CSA last year.

They knew Mitchell Wajeeh from church. But other factors, such as wanting to limit their environmental impact, prompted them to sign up for the CSA.

"And (the fact) we were getting food from someone we knew made it so much better," said Andrew Jones, 31.

The couple also worked on the farm as a way to reduce the subscription fee of $500.

"It's a very community-type feel," Andrew Jones said. "There were times after we finished with our work we would stay and have lunch or an early supper (with Mitchell Wajeeh) ... It's not something you can do when you buy all your stuff from Safeway."

Creating a food co-op locally

Local communities of locavores have sprung up throughout the Valley.

A group of about 30 Yakima households is in the infant stages of creating a food cooperative, an outlet run by those who buy from it.

The group is starting out as a members-only buying club that splits bulk produce orders and other food products.

"Basically it's a group of natives and professional transplants to Yakima ...with a strong desire to buy food from local producers who use sustainable and ethical practices," said Erin Malland, a member of the group.

The group is working to set up a cooperative, establishing by-laws and building relationships with local farmers. Its long-term goal is a permanent storefront.

"We're really lucky to have a good farmers market during the summer and fall," Malland said. "But we're looking for something that's yearlong and (provides) weeklong access."

But even with these newer options, farmers markets, which are opening up for the next season, remain a popular option.

The Yakima Farmers Market, which will begin Sunday, has 10 new vendors this year.

"I know a lot more people are trying to eat local," said Don Eastridge, market manager for the Yakima Farmers Market. "I know a lot more people are trying to eat organic."

That's equaled stronger traffic and sales.

Eastridge once guessed that about 4,000 people browsed through the market on any given day. A Washington State University study done last year showed that count was in the 5,000 range.

Sales during the 2008 Yakima Farmers Market were about $435,000, an increase of 11.5 percent from 2007.

Down the Valley, there's a waiting list for vendors at the Prosser Farmers Market, which began May 1 and will continue through the end of October.

Even though she is running a CSA, Mitchell Wajeeh continues to be a vendor at the Prosser Farmers Market.

The market also allows her to shop for products that she doesn't grow.

"It's an opportunity to see the wealth of things that are available locally," she said. "It's also an opportunity for me to talk to individuals who are buying."

A possible downside

While there are advantages with buying locally, there can be a downside.

Many growers depend on the global market, said Desmond O'Rourke, a retired Washington State University economics professor and owner of Belrose Inc., an agricultural economics firm.

The French apple industry, for example, lost a lot of business from England, a key customer, because of a growing movement to buy local apples there.

"Essentially the Yakima ag economy would die unless you have people all over the world buying the products," O'Rourke said.

Some consumers may still want the choices offered at a supermarket rather then commit to a CSA subscription or spend hours browsing at a farmer's market, O'Rourke said.

But he believes that options such as CSA programs and farmers markets serve a niche.

"I'm a good believer in free choice," he said. "If a direct market or farmer can get consumers to buy his or her product, great."

Buying local doesn't necessarily mean eliminating traditional food retail options.

Mitchell Wajeeh said while she tries to get most of her food from her garden or the farmers market, she still has to go to the store once in a while.

"Unfortunately you can't grow coffee in Washington state," she said with a laugh.

When she's at the grocery store, she tries to keep her values intact by looking for such things as organically grown products.

Her CSA subscribers, the Jones family, take a similar approach when they need to shop at the grocery store. During one trip they opted to buy almonds from the Tri-Cities rather than ones from California.

"You don't have to be super radical," Andrew Jones said. "Just make small choices here and there. It will add up."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 509-577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.