At Iowa City farmers market, a case of questionable cauliflower

IOWA CITY - You won't find many investigations where the smoking gun is cauliflower, berries and asparagus. Then again, not many probes center on produce from a farmers market.

Gordy's Goodies, a Shellsburg vendor well-known at markets in Eastern Iowa, including Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha, is at the heart of the flap. Gordy's returned to the Iowa City Farmer's Market this week after a monthlong suspension, a rare punishment in the realm of farmers markets.

The offense? Gordy's allegedly sold produce it hadn't grown. That's a big no-no at many farmers markets.

'I have more produce than I know what to do with,” said Gordon Spurgeon, owner of Gordy's, who denies the allegations. He declined further comment.

Farmers markets are casual affairs for socializing and eating, but strict when it comes to credibility. Assuring produce is homegrown is a cardinal rule, particularly with more demand for locally-grown goods and an expanding waitlist of sellers wanting to join a market.

'If you don't monitor it, people could be going to Costco, buying vegetables and selling them as local,” said Iowa City Market Manager Cassidy Bell. 'People have the perception the produce is grown by hand in small batches. It is our job to assure this is true.”

Bell was caught in the middle of this case, which climbed the procedural ladder at City Hall.

Three fellow vendors filed formal complaints with the city against Gordy's, doubting the quality and quantity of its produce.

'Unlimited asparagus when it should have frozen. Cauliflower already. Unlimited amounts of all produce before it should be available. They are at markets every day and have piles of everything. Always first,” wrote Paul McClain, of McClain's Garden.

'Cauliflower already? All their produce has been very early, not possible,” wrote Cindy Cary, of Sweet Treats and Heirloom Veggies by Cindy.

Karen Wasson, of Wasson Produce, wrote, 'Boughten (sic) produce. Berries are large after three weeks. My size is going down.”

Three complaints triggers an investigation, said Mike Moran, Iowa City parks and recreation director.

Moran, Bell and farmer Jason Grimm toured Spurgeon's farm in June to evaluate the claims. Moran told Spurgeon he didn't buy his explanation. The farm had the produce, but it couldn't support the volume he was selling, Moran said.

'It has been brought to my attention that you are currently selling at more than the four markets you indicated at our visit, which only heightens my concerns that you cannot sustain all of these markets with the amount of produce we saw on your farm,” Moran wrote in a suspension notice. 'It has to be supplemented with another source.”

Spurgeon appealed, saying the allegation had 'no footing.” He has more than 20 acres devoted to gardening and 65 years of gardening and farming experience, he said.

'I find the allegations being brought on me to be nothing more than speculation,” he wrote.

Anne Duggan, a market patron, wrote to the city after not finding one of her favorite vendors.

'Seeing their operation, we can only disagree with your decision,” she wrote after visiting the farm herself. 'We saw in the field that they grow a huge range of vegetables, just the kind of produce that is happily bought by consumers.”

City Manager Tom Markus had the final say and upheld the suspension, citing a preponderance of evidence.

Moran said he hasn't suspended any other vendor there in his five-year tenure.

Pam Hinman, a spokeswoman for the Economic Alliance, which manages the downtown Cedar Rapids Farmers Market, said suspensions have been 'very infrequent” and three have been expelled in the last 10 years, although not produce-related. Gordy's has not received any complaints there, she said.

McClain said supplementing produce from bulk suppliers happens more than you might think, and it is an affront to other growers.

'There's always a few that do it,” McClain said. 'It's been going on for a while, but others might not be as blatant about it.”