By Chiara Canzi
Special to the Daily Press

DOWNTOWN With gas prices peaking at $4 a gallon and a looming recession at hand, Southern California farmers are becoming increasingly concerned about their livelihood.

Every Wednesday, Jim Brantley of Pritchett Farms packs up his truck with fruits and vegetable and travels 190 miles to the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market, sets up shop and begins his day. But in the last few weeks, Brantley’s journey has become more and more problematic.

“The last round trip I have made at the ranch two weeks ago cost about $120 in fuel and today’s about $150 in fuel,” he said. “With prices going up we are going to have to raise our prices and there is no way around it.”

Brantley is not alone. Laura Avery, the market’s manager, has heard about farmers facing tough times across the country.

“There is one farmer that said that her diesel truck costs hundreds of dollars to fill up every day,” she said.

California’s average price for regular gasoline increased 13.1 cents from last week. According to the Energy Information Administration, this week’s average price is $3.45, an increase of 56.2 cents over last year. The increase is attributed to the price of crude oil, which reached $102.45 per barrel early this week.

Despite the hike, farmers are reluctant to raise their own prices.

“We haven’t yet,” Brantley said. “So far we have been able to hold our prices, but we are going to eventually raise them and it’s just going to have to happen.”

Avery hasn’t heard anything on the matter from farmers yet, but she knows how committed to their customers they are.

“They hate to raise prices,” she said. “They have set prices and their customers expect it and I really don’t know how they are going to deal with it.”

Santa Monica resident Gosia Probosz has been buying locally grown produce for the past 20 years and has seen a steady increase in the cost of her favorite foods.

“Everything is more expensive,” she said. “It’s going to affect me, I will be very selective in what I buy, and I’ll be buying in less quantity.”

Probosz has noticed the price of certain items skyrocket in the last few weeks. Cauliflower used to be $1 and today’s standard has risen to $3 each; celery used to be one of the cheapest veggies, she said, going for an average of $1.50 and now it has topped $3 per bunch.

Even federally funded land trusts are having a hard time surviving. Representatives from the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, in Goleta, have seen their small enterprise shrink in staff and profit.

“We try to remain local,” the representative said. “We are trying to transport our produce as little as possible in order to make money.”

The farthest they travel is the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market and even that trip has seen changes.

“With gas prices so high we are using our small van instead of our more convenient truck that is also refrigerated,” the representative said.

The 12-acre property grows a diversity of crops and they rely mostly on the Community Supported Agriculture Initiative in Santa Barbara, where people come to farms and buy their weekly share of produce. But they make the trip to Santa Monica because they think it is important to support organic, chemical-free eating as a way of life.

Local farmers’ market shoppers share the philosophy of healthy eating, so much so, that they would be willing to pay more for their organic produce than going to chain grocery stores.

“I like the fact that my fruits and vegetables didn’t travel 700 miles and they are not frozen,” Probosz said. “I am willing to pay more as long as I get organically grown foods and I like to support the farmers.”

Longtime resident and shopper Vida Bowling has been coming to the Wednesday market since it started.

“I have seen a big increase in the prices,” she said. “But we’ve got to support our farmers. They are trying so hard traveling long distances and working with expensive machinery and they never give up.”

Even with the commitment of shoppers, some farmers are eventually forced to go against their will and raise prices.

“We are seeing a lower profit margin,” Brantley said. “If it gets to cost more to get the stuff down here, than you are going to see a slacking in profits.”

Pritchett Farms is currently near the end of their fall season and they are trying to keep the same prices they have had for the past six months.

“But when we start our summer fruits and vegetable, then we will have to go up in prices,” Brantley said.

While gas prices may be a current obstacle for farmers, the 2007 winter freeze has cost many people the chance to even show up.

“Today is not as busy as it usually is,” Bowling said. “There are a lot of empty spaces where there used to be farmers that had all their crop freeze.”

According to reports done by the California Citrus Mutual, the below freezing temperature of last winter destroyed more than $480 million worth of California citrus and damaged at least 50 percent of the total citrus crop throughout the state.

Looking toward the future, farmers like Brantley have no idea what it will take to raise prices and keep a constant profit.

“We will look at what the price for gas is, and we will look at what the trend is, because at some point it is going to top out,” he said. “If it’s going to become so expensive that people will stop buying produce and a surplus will be created, then prices will have to come down a bit or at least level off, and only then we can set our prices accordingly.”

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