Episode 150
Farmer’s Market: Keep it in Town
Many of us love the idea of a Farmer’s Market in our town or city. Yet, so many markets fail. Why is that?
Have you heard people say that they can’t afford to shop at a Farmer’s Market? Or maybe that is what you are thinking as well.
It is true that produce is more expensive than what can be found in a dollar store. And many Farmer’s markets have way more prepared food than farm fresh produce. Many areas do not have a lot of farmers, at least not the kind that grow a variety of fruit and vegetables that people are looking to buy.
Hardly anyone is looking for large amounts of soybeans, wheat or corn at the local Farmer’s Market which seems to be the most common crop. A market farmer usually has a small operation and due to the large variety of produce they grow, mechanization is not possible.
The higher labor costs are reflected in the prices. As is the fact that small farmers are usually not receiving subsidies and we pay for the cost of producing the food directly – not through our taxes.
Even I, a die-hard supporter of Farmer’s Markets have to admit that it often costs more to shop at the market than going to a store.
But is that really true?
Last week, I picked up a delicious organic yellow watermelon and paid about $ 2 per pound. The melon was picked that day, it was ripe, and it was delicious. I do think that it would cost me at least that much at a market – if I could find it there. For sure, it wouldn’t have been picked that day.
Did you know that most veggies lose nutrients the minute they are picked? All produce at a store is several days old.
Not so at the Farmer’s Market. Everything is freshly picked and often way riper than you can find that fruit or vegetable at the market. After all, ripe produce does not ship or store well.
That fact alone makes it worth it to go and support the local Farmer’s Market.
This Episode
This episode is an experiment. Emily and I have started to have a regular live session on Facebook. For the first time, we used the recording of our conversation for the podcast. The sound is not the greatest – we had kids playing in the background, but we shared a lot of information.
We talked about
- Farmer’s Markets
- Natural Cleaning Products
- Co-ops and more
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