In an era of killer spinach, meat recalls and questions about just what that chicken or your dog has been fed, it is no wonder "clean food" grown locally is gaining a following.

Whether it is "community supported agriculture" where families make a deal with local farmers for regular deliveries, co-ops that allow farmers to pool their products for marketing purposes or the traditional, and now trendy, farmer's markets, less conventional farming is gaining a toehold in North Alabama.

Dove Stackhouse and her husband, Russell, who live in Albertville, are committed to growing and selling and sharing what they call "clean food" free of pesticides or chemicals, grown in good soil and not so hybridized that the crops can't reproduce.

There is a bit of puzzle in the natural foods world today related to organic standards. The certification process has gotten expensive, Stackhouse said, with lots of paperwork.

She said it's simpler for the couple's small farm to do things naturally, but just not use the term "organic" which has a specific legal meaning these days, and carries fines if the term is misapplied.

The couple's latest effort began Saturday in downtown Madison with the opening, or re-opening really, of the Garner Street Farmers Market. The effort is supported by the Madison Chamber of Commerce and the city of Madison and features six growers, including the Stackhouses, and two soapmakers.

Sallie Wagner, the chamber's managing director, said the goal is to support local farmers and encourage area residents to shop Madison first. Wagner said the chamber will feature the market and a flyer touting it will be included in welcome bags the chamber provides to new residents.

The Stackhouses live quite simply and stress the importance of having a healthy connection to the Earth and what it provides. Chambers of Commerce tend to have a little different focus, but Wagner said a farmer's market stressing natural food makes perfect sense for Madison.

"In my opinion, it kind of brings the atmosphere of Madison," Wagner said. "It's a quaint town but very progressive. Having organically grown food downtown adds to that quaintness we have."

The Stackhouses community-supported agriculture, or CSA, program gives families the chance to have farm-fresh produce delivered weekly, for a flat up-front fee. The couple has customers all over North Alabama, she said, with a solid number in Hampton Cove.

Health motivation

While organic food sales have grown significantly in the U.S., there is still a pattern that correlates education and affluence with many of the modern natural foods customers.

Barbara Haumann, press secretary for the Masschusetts-based Organic Trade Association, said the pattern seems to connect people with a certain view of the world, considering things like food production and its impact on the environment and on human health.

She said family health questions also will motivate organic food shoppers, whether concerns about what children are eating or sensitivity levels to chemicals and other concerns.

Haumann said surveys of consumer behavior found that 16 percent of primary shoppers, dubbed "devoteds," will spend a lot of money on organic foods and see a decided value in it; 22 percent, dubbed "temperates," will buy organic food occasionally, regarding it as a kind of reward, but will also buy mainstream products; the largest group, 44 percent, are "dabblers" and will sometimes buy organics, but with no real pattern; and the last group, 18 percent, the "reluctants," have no interest in organic food and see no particular value in it, the survey found.

Growing market

Regardless of the style, it's a growing market. The Organic Trade Association's manufacturers survey covering 2006 found U.S. organic food and beverage sales totaled $17 billion, up from $13.8 billion in 2005, and does not include an estimated nearly $1 billion, Haumann said, for non-food items, like cotton and fiber, pet foods and personal care products.

The growth has been fueled by growing consumer awareness, but more importantly, retailers adding more and more organic products to their shelves, she said.

The Stackhouses' ambition is much smaller. They want to help get people connected with their food and help insure it is good food.

"We want people to have high quality, nutritious food, grown in good soil," Dove Stackhouse said.

"Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people."