On-Island Vs. Off-Island: Keeping It Local on Martha’s Vineyard

One look inside the market at Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard and you’ll see the crux of a food movement gaining ground here. Beets, baby squash, wax beans, corn and many more vegetables and fruit that come from this large working farm are labeled with a yellow “on-island” sign; anything shipped in from “off-island” gets a generic-looking white sign.

The local, sustainable food movement is nothing new, but on this vacation destination off the Cape it takes on a particularly political spin. As chain stores like the Super Stop & Shop on Main Street land on the island and suck in summer people and locals alike, farmers markets and local specialty food shops have lobbied to keep money on-island, not moving offshore towards some far-flung corporate entity. But can even the most well-intentioned consumer ever buy mostly local?

In Edible Vineyard (yes, there’s an “Edible” magazine for this locale too), some even argue that you should not use credit cards to pay for purchases here, since the fees all go “off-island.” Many Martha’s Vineyard businesses do not take American Express, and some don’t take credit cards at all.

For all the fierce pride in the island’s bounty of seafood, sustainable meat, eggs and produce, and the desire to keep all the money spent on the island “on-island,” the Vineyard’s on-island/off-island debate also highlights the limitations of buying local. In the most recent Fodor’s guide to the island, Morning Glory Farm is listed as a cafe, not a grocery market. Vacationers are liable to buy a week’s worth of groceries at Super Stop & Shop on the main drag before they even discover this place.

It’s also infinitely possible to spend one’s entire time on the island without seeing a single farmer’s market. You may end up riding a bike down the dirt road to the massive Katama Farm as I did, wondering where to buy all the vegetables you see around you, with no answer in sight. The West Tisbury Farmers Market, one of the largest on the Cape, has some good offerings – more of those local squash, onions and potatoes – but get there five minutes after the church bells strike noon on Wednesday and you’ll be waiting until the next Wednesday to buy local. And a farmer’s market in Edgartown, also open only from 9am to 12pm one day a week, had four booths selling vegetables, flowers or locally made goods and two booths selling…scarves and jewelry? Given the choice between this and Stop & Shop, it’s no wonder that consumers choose variety.

Independently-owned grocery stores used to be much more prevalent on the island, and Cronig’s is still drawing loyal customers to Vineyard Haven. Unfortunately, in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs as in much bigger towns on the mainland, an onslaught of clothing boutiques, take-out shops and banks has taken over all the available real estate where mom-and-pop grocery stores used to be.

But slow-food activists who want consumers to buy local, sustainable goods could learn a few things from Stop & Shop. Consider the customer, and consider convenience – and consider that we won’t necessarily patronize big box or “industrial organic” stores if given another option. Would it kill any semblance of authenticity to stock aluminum foil or trash bags, or stay open past the end of the work day? As long as specialty markets are so specialized they’re the exception instead of the rule, shoppers will have to keep going to big chain grocery stores – whether we want to or not.

Morning Glory Farm
290 West Tisbury Road
Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard
508-627-9003‎
morninggloryfarm.com

West Tisbury Farmers Market
1067 State Road
West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard
508-693-9561
westtisburyfarmersmarket.com