Consumers finding what they like

BOISE -- It was a busy Saturday in Downtown Boise as vendors and their customers packed 8th Street for the weekly farmer’s market.

It’s a popular spot for many looking to buy homegrown food.

The recent salmonella scare with tomatoes has more people scouting out the market.

This farmer's market is a hot spot for many to come buy produce, but one thing they're buying in particular here is the tomatoes because many feel they're safe to eat.

Every Saturday throughout the summer you can find 8th Street packed with goods either grown or raised right here in Idaho. 

For many, it's a pleasant afternoon filled with street music and specialty items not available in stores.

But for others like Dorothy Smerz come for the fresh produce.

"I prefer to get it local, if possible," said Dorothy Smerz.

Dorothy says she feels the produce she buys here is safe to eat.

Today she bought tomatoes from local grower H & H Farms.

Since the salmonella scare, Dorothy has stayed away from tomatoes.  But she wants to eat them again and feels more comfortable buying them from local vendors.

"I did, I did for about three weeks, and my friends were buying them and I thought ‘you know how do you not eat tomatoes,’" said Smerz.

"It's just nice to know you are getting a product right where you're at rather than cross country or overseas even," said Jaron Hathaway, H & H Farms.

Hathaway says the nationwide salmonella scare has actually helped increase his local sales.

“Business started going up, like quite a bit, because we were all they could buy from," said Hathaway.

Jaron's competitor down the street feels the same way.

"People are always looking for local tomatoes," said Lee Rice, Rice Family Farms.

Farmer Lee Rice says his family grown produce is a big seller in Downtown Boise for many reasons - not just the salmonella scare.

"We've noticed an increase of people looking for local or organic in the last two years, we are at the point this year, some of the crops that we grow we aren't sure if we are going to meet the market demand this year," said Lee Rice.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration deemed tomatoes safe to eat again. 

While tomatoes were originally blamed for the outbreak of salmonella -- it is still unknown what actually caused it.