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Short of bringing cows to Oakland, the freshest raw milk can be found every Wednesday afternoon at Phipps Conservatory, said Squirrel Hill resident Kimberly Beatty.

Farmer's markets like the one that opened this year at Phipps are an increasingly popular source of food, driven by factors such as shrinking travel and food budgets, growing support for local agriculture and rising interest in organic or natural produce.

The Pittsburgh region and Pennsylvania as a whole are joining a national trend of growing and multiplying farmers markets, with the state Department of Agriculture reporting that at least 300 more opened statewide in the last year, said Frank Jurbala, director of the department's Bureau of Market Development.

"It's one segment of retail sales that's seen growth in a down economy," Jurbala said. "We've seen the biggest jump in the last two years. There's been a slow increase over time, but it really jumped recently."

Within the city of Pittsburgh, two new markets opened in this year alone, in the Beechview neighborhood and at Phipps Conservatory in Oakland, said Tom Driscoll, coordinator for Citiparks, which coordinates seven markets in the city.

"When I started back in '77, in the three-county area there were maybe a half-dozen markets," Driscoll said. "Now there are about 88, and three or four more are in the works for next year."

A growing interest in fresh, healthy food and knowing the farms and farmers producing it has driven the increased attendance and growth over the years, he said. Food scares linked to products imported from other states or countries, such as reports of salmonella contamination in tomatoes, peppers and spinach, drove more people to the markets, Jurbala said.

"We trust the quality and the stuff of the people that are here," said Kevin O'Connor, 50, of Observatory Hill, who was shopping at the North Side Farmer's Market.

Connie Beatty, 52, of Lawrenceville buys fresh food in bulk at area farmer's markets to can and preserve it during the winter. On small lots like hers, it would be impossible to grow vegetables in the quantity she'd need to can it.

"We make jelly, strawberries, peach preserves, salsa — but we could never grow all of it. We'd never have room for that many tomatoes," Beatty said.

More farmers are turning to the markets as a means of selling their products directly to the public, rather than selling to grocery stores, distributors and restaurants, Driscoll said.

Participating in the markets at East Liberty, Bloomfield, Phipps and Sewickley has brought in extra customers and income for the Riverview Dairy of Emlenton since it began selling goat cheeses there two years ago, said Susie Byler. The farm usually sells to grocery stores like Whole Foods, Right by Nature and the East End Food Co-op, but makes twice as much off each unit it sells directly to people at the market, she said.

Some, like the market at Phipps or the Farmers at the Firehouse market in the Strip District, focus on selling organic food.

"We go to a couple of the Citiparks markets, but we like this one better because it's an all-organic, all naturally grown market," said Kristin Johansen, whose Wolf Lake Farm provides organic eggs and pasture-raised chicken, turkey and lamb at the market outside Phipps. "The customers tend to be a little more educated about it as well, so they understand why my eggs cost a little bit more than in the store."

The markets also connect local food pantries and soup kitchens to fresh produce, said Kathryn Robinson, gleaning coordinator for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, which distributes food to smaller aid agencies.

At the beginning of each season, Robinson said she works to introduce representatives of agencies to the farmers at the closest market, and to inquire whether the farmers will donate portions of their leftover inventory that can be incorporated into packages of food or hot meals for the needy.

"At the peak of the season, you could be bringing back 100 pounds of food," she said. "Once farmers get used to that, sometimes they'll even bring extra because they know someone will be there to pick it up."

Some customers are drawn by the prospect of fresh food that hasn't been processed, preserved or stripped of its nutrients, Johansen said.

"It's hard to walk into a grocery store these days and not find something that's been heavily processed, said Connor Sites-Bowen, 25, of Squirrel Hill, a recent Carnegie Mellon University graduate seeking fresh and organic food at Phipps. "I think if my grandmother ... came here she'd find more of what she's used to."

"We sell a lot of heirloom vegetables, so I think some of what draws people is nostalgia," said Carla Baccelli, of DuBois, representing Clarion River Market at Phipps. "People see things here and say 'Oh, my grandmother used to grow those!' It even brings a tear to some people's eyes."

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