After trying to eat only local foods awhile back, I have rekindled my love affair with farmers’ markets. I totally dig the idea of cutting out the middle man {grocery stores} and eating what is available and in season. I love the artisan baked goods. I love the varieties of veggies that you simple can’t find in a grocery store. I. Love. Them.
I have noticed that a couple of farmers’ markets I’ve been to lately are starting to sell goods that have been trucked in, though. I refuse to buy non local {trucked in} produce at a farmers’ market. It should be totally local. Otherwise, what’s the point? Turns out, it’s not just me that has noticed the changes in farmers’ markets, though. According to an article on Treehugger, there has been a national shift in the nature of farmers’ markets. They have evolved from necessity {grocery stores did not carry a very impressive fresh produce selection} to a non-essential social gathering. With the shift, sales in fresh produce have declined.
Some good things have come from the shift–more artisan prepared foods are available. Breads, jams, even full meals are available at a lot of markets these days. Treehugger suggests that people are not cooking as much as they were a couple of decades ago, so the sales of prepared goods are on the rise.
On the flip side, though, this shift to more prepared goods means that people aren’t buying as many fresh fruits and veggies that require prepping, canning, etc. I totally believe fewer people are cooking these days, in fact, hardly anyone I know preserves fruits and vegetables.
Treehugger also suggests that grocery stores are jumping on the local bandwagon, offering organic and local options. I guess that means that people with busy schedules can still support local agriculture without having to make additional stops.
Maybe it’s nostalgia on my part, but I am sad to see farmers’ market suffer in any way. I love the idea of handing my cash straight over to the farmer who grew the food. Just another reason I think I might have been born in the wrong era. 🙂
~Mavis
Michele says
My town had a nice little farmers market with small farm produce. The produce was a little more expensive than the grocery store sales but it was homegrown. Then they stopped and opened up a lovely looking tent with tons of produce. Pineapples (I live near Chicago) were cheap but I wondered how local that could be. Then one day I saw bagged lettuce with trader Joe’s logo. I found out the stand was setup by a produce distributor. It was NOT a farmers market at all.
Vicki B. says
I sell hand-sculpted items at a farmers market an hour and a half away, where mostly Amish farmers are the vegetable vendors. There’s one vendor who has been selling tomatoes for several weeks – which are barely ripe in our area. Turns out he buys them at a farm auction every week and brings them in. I’m not sure where they’re coming from, but they definitely aren’t local. Many customers aren’t buying from him because of this – at least not the tomatoes. He grows everything else he brings.
Our market has such an eclectic group of vendors, and I just love being there with them!
Delores says
One of my favorite memories:
I was in the car with my mom when she pulled over to a grassy area in the middle of traffic. There was an old farmer selling corn out of the back of his old pick up truck. My mom said she always felt like she should stop for local farmers (she grew up on a farm, her dad was a farmer). When we pulled up, we were the first ones. When we left, there were about 3 more cars pulled up with people getting out.
I agree with you: I want to hand my money to the people who grew the food I am buying, not to the middle man.
Sue R. says
Lots of us–your readers–preserve fruits and vegetables 🙂 I have 24 quarts of applesauce on my counter right now!
Jen Young says
I don’t think any of our little local farmer’s market is doing well financially. I honestly do not know how they can afford to put so much time into it & come out with less than they put in.
The markets are intimidating to me as well. Just walking through I feel so much pressure to buy, much more than I do at the grocery store.
Kathy says
I live in an area with a year-round farmer’s market, and I drive 22 miles in each direction at least once a month to shop there. It is a treat to me. I love supporting the local farmers. During the colder months, it is smaller but I still enjoy going.
Lisa Millar says
Our local farmers market closed a long time ago due to lack of support.
But really the local bricabrac market is a hodgepodge of stalls which includes a lot of home grown fruit & vegies plus amazing home cooked cakes, jams relishes etc etc.
When the weather is on form its really really popular – if you are not into food, then there are plants or books or bricabrac or handcrafts or bunny rabbits etc etc Something for everyone!
Small town and I suspect most people are legit home grown/made when it comes to vegies and cooked stuff
Interesting comment of Jen’s saying she feels pressure to buy. I think I see a lot of that with people who approach my stall. Perhaps its not wanting to hurt someones feelings when you don’t buy their jam and you don’t get that from leaving a known brand of the supermarket shelf!!
Personally I am happy if someone buys my stuff, but I love chatting and I don’t think less of someone who stops to look or talk but doesn’t buy! I am just happy they at least spent a bit of time checking things out.
I wish people would buy more of the market fruit and vegetables tho – its WAY cheaper and better than the supermarket around here!
Cheri says
Colorado has been bringing more and more local produce and meats to the grocery stores, and I regret to say that I am compelled to buy that instead of from farmers directly. Last year, I tried shopping at farmer’s markets several times during the summer, and I was compelled to give it up. The prices were astronomical–$6/lb for tomatoes, $25 for a single roasting chicken that wasn’t even very big, and so on. In the end there was only one farm that really had reasonable deals that I could afford–they offered a plastic bag that you could fill to the brim with whatever you wanted for $10. I want very much to help the farmers, but it’s just not possible.
Shannon says
Out local farmers market is very expensive. I know some of the stuff is brought in, but it’s also very little fresh produce. We have lots of strange things such as jewelry being sold there! We do also have a few farm stands just over the border in the next county, but the one guy is not a local farmer. I used to work Aldi some years back and he would come in for whatever was on sale and buy carts of it to resell! Like watermelons on sale for $1.99 he would buy 3 carts full and then resell them for $4.99 at his stand. Needless to say, we are now trying to grow our own stuff and not buy so much from anyone else now.
Ilona says
The comments are a great cross-section of what i see so many experiencing … this past Saturday i went to our local farmer’s market (small, eclectic and wonderful) where a gentleman was selling eggs for $5 a dozen … when i questioned why they were so high, he said it was “fair market value” and people pay it … my thought about that is, “how would he know if people didn’t pay it if they just pass them up because they can get a better price elsewhere OR simply cannot afford it?” and i wonder if he noticed that i didn’t buy them … i can get 30 eggs for $4 at the Spanish Market and i know the hens personally … as far as stuff being shipped in, i guess we just have to be observant and perhaps ask the sponsors or committees who control the rules of the market why this is happening. I am also signed up for emails from several of the local farms who sell straight from their locations; however, if they do not give their prices in the email, i request them … i refuse to drive 20 or 30 or more miles to purchase something which is overpriced … so far, one has honored my request.
Lisa Millar says
Here in Australia free range eggs are expensive – but people want them.
For the time and $$ put into food for the chickens I can’t imagine selling ours for only $4 per 30!!!
I guess costs around the world vary considerably and it was interesting reading the prices above.
In the supermarket the price on free range eggs are about $7 – $8 dozen
Of course cage eggs cheaper
I sell mine really cheap to friends and relatives for $4/dozen but would have no hesitation selling them for $5 to strangers. When all is said and done there isn’t much profit but we do come out ahead.
We only have 12 birds, so we don’t have massive amounts of eggs to sell, but the girls are fed well on a good variety of food and our customers LOVE the very tasty eggs!! 🙂
Lisa MTB says
Hey, this looks like it may be helpful on the topic of “finding local farms/farmers to buy from”: http://www.eatwild.com
I *just* came across that website, but it looks promising so far.
Rebecca says
I agree with you, Mavis. I want to buy LOCAL produce at the farm stands, not something trucked in from somewhere else. I do appreciate the homemade, specialty items like fresh bread, salsas, jams.
Charleen says
The closest street markets to me are held during the work day and in tiny neighborhoods with little parking. The produce isn’t always local, even though we live in an area surrounded by farms. The few markets held on Saturdays have the same issues and the prices…I can’t afford to spend $6 per pound on the same tomatoes that I can get at Winco for $0.89 per pound just because someone is selling them at the “farmer’s market”.
When I was a kid, the farmer’s market was the best thing to do on Saturdays. The farms would bring in their trucks or vans and sell the produce that the packing sheds and corporate buyers wouldn’t take. I miss that so very much!
There is one upside to our area. We have a grower’s association in another small area and they have u-pick orchards and fields. My mom and I love going up there, getting what we want and bringing it home to preserve.
Mandy Mascaro says
At the beginning of May I started to feel sick all the time. I had a cough that wouldn’t go away and I was having a lot of trouble breathing. I had the typical “mother” mindset that I would eventually get better. I didn’t have time to go to the doctor, I had to take care of my family and my home. Everything else was more important than worrying about a silly little cough. One day in June things got really bad. I couldn’t breath and my husband didn’t give me a choice, he took me to the ER. It was the best thing he could have done. After spending the evening in the ER and the next 4 days at the hospital at 33 years old, I was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and Type 2 Diabetes. I had so much fluid built up in my body that I had caused damage to my heart. The doctor’s told me that if I had waited just a few more days, I probably would have had a massive heart attack.
Overnight everything changed. I had to completely change my diet. I couldn’t eat out anymore, couldn’t have prepared foods, EVERYTHING had to change. I had to cut all sodium from my diet as much as I could. I’m only allowed to drink a certain amount of water per day. And I had to cut out sugar because of the diabetes. I had always loved to go to farmer’s markets, but when the majority of your meals now consist of fresh fruits and vegetables and not easy, cheap convenience foods, farmer’s markets just weren’t going to cut it price wise. We are a one salary household, I’m a SAHM and I had to learn to eat healthy on just my husband’s paycheck. Everyone knows that groceries are expensive, but eating completely healthy is seriously expensive. Thankfully I found a good alternative.
I found an open air produce market in my area. They are open 7 days a week from 7am to 7pm. And they have some really good prices on fruits and vegetables. It’s been a Godsend finding this place. They buy their produce from local farmers and sell it in store. If anyone is in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana and looking for a good place to buy produce you should check out Fresh Pickin’s Produce Market on Coursey Blvd.
Brenda says
Our farmer’s market has both: farmer and re-sellers. I try to stop at only the farmers. Or I talk to them to find out where it was grown. Some of them grow tomatoes, but went and picked the strawberries (themselves) at the local you-pick. I use Facebook to do some background work. Look for pictures of the people you are buying from in the fields. Most of the farmers are proud of the fact that they picked it themselves and want everyone to know. I also have a CSA share, so i know that those items were grown locally. (But, I agree, our farmers market is full of other people selling lots of other stuff: jewelry, baked goods, food trucks, artisan underwear {for real! $26 each!})
Leslie says
Same thing here in PDX. Bagged bread that I can pick up at Winco (for cheaper)? Fast food? No thanks. Plus the crowds. It’s not for me.
Even a couple popular farm stores (on Sauvie Isand) sell stuff they processed elsewhere (their brand of cider brewed several hours away, from fruit grown who knows where), tropical fruit, honey sticks from out of the country, etc.
Luckily, there are other farms where you can only find what they are actually growing themselves. I’m so glad these farms are still doing business directly with consumers. I give them as much business as I can because I want them to stay open and available to me!