Farmer's Markets - is the food any better than in supermarkets?

The roadside stands and shacks are always extremely good; better than supermarkets by far. However, the produce does not last as long once we get it home as that from the supermarket. None of it is treated in any way (such as being coated, or packed with inert gas, or refrigerated, etc.).
No Bluestone still in use over there then?
 
I've got mixed opinions about farmer's markets. I've been to some which have excellent produce - but it often comes at a price. Others I've been to don't seem to have vegetables that are any fresher than supermarkets. I've never really found them to be cheaper. I think its different in the USA perhaps? I recall @buckytom commenting something about farmer's markets a while back.
Depends on the "farmer's market". Some have good produce and good prices. Others have grocery store produce and outrageous prices. We ran across a stand one time that had high quality prices but the culls for the produce. Culls are what everyone else had rejected.

Buckytom probably has better farmer's markets.
@buckytom can you shop at Hunt's point or is that only for restaurants?
 
Depends on the "farmer's market". Some have good produce and good prices. Others have grocery store produce and outrageous prices. We ran across a stand one time that had high quality prices but the culls for the produce. Culls are what everyone else had rejected.

Buckytom probably has better farmer's markets.
@buckytom can you shop at Hunt's point or is that only for restaurants?


I don't know. You probably can if you have a business tax ID, like most wholesale type markets. I'd love to go there for fish.
 
What is Bluestone?
An old fungiside, more often used on spuds. In some cases better than modern ones.

You mentioned the Amish earlier, and their methods. They may still use it, put out either by knapsack sprayer or horse drawn sprayer. The latter usually worked by the younger family members(Less weight on the trailer).

Used both methods, they'll let you know you've worked until you get used to them.
 
An old fungiside, more often used on spuds. In some cases better than modern ones.

You mentioned the Amish earlier, and their methods. They may still use it, put out either by knapsack sprayer or horse drawn sprayer. The latter usually worked by the younger family members(Less weight on the trailer).

Used both methods, they'll let you know you've worked until you get used to them.
The Amish just eschew power but not modern products. So they probably use newer icides, if any.
 
I don't know. You probably can if you have a business tax ID, like most wholesale type markets. I'd love to go there for fish.
I had forgotten HP was wholesale, it has been 28 years since I was in NYC.
 
My understanding, the original rationale behind farmer's markets was not that the produce was particularly better or fresher - though that might have been a secondary effect, but the primary idea was to take back some of the profits for those who have put in all the hard work to produce it, from the overly dominant supermarkets who have too much power to control the price and leave the hard working farmers with insufficient reward for their efforts. Understand, I am not necessarily saying that I believe that view, only that I thought it was the stated philosophy behind the basic idea.
A friend of mine used to supply mushrooms to Tesco. The amount of money he got for a whole tray was about the same as Tesco charged for 1 pack in their stores, and if any were found to be not up to the standard that Tesco required the whole lot could be returned, and of course the contract could be cancelled at very short notice.
 
I've never been to a farmer's market, although there is one once a month at our local market place, and they do from time to time sell Italian foods there. I used to go to a local farm to buy produce, but this was mainly confined to sacks of vegetables, far too large a quantity for us (5) unless it was something that kept well. The farm shop used to sell very fresh eggs and you could also order meat from their cattle (although they could not sell it in the shop - no fridges), but they used to make most of their money from selling animal food, straw and hay, and some pet food. Their own vegetables used to go to shops in the West End of London rather than be sold locally (hence the sacks!). There are a couple of meat and poultry farms about 3 miles away which do sell their own meat and poultry but I've yet to investigate these, mainly because of the limited days and hours their shops are open.

I do, however, get most of my food shopping from an organic supplier (Riverford - a collection of farms and part of a co-operative, including some farms abroad). I find their food is a lot fresher and keeps longer than that which is sold in my local supermarket (Tesco). Their prices are usually (but not always) a bit higher than Tesco charge for the same organic produce (when they have it), but the cost of food in their pre-packed boxes is not a lot different overall. Plus, of course, they also sell foods which the supermarket does not (wild garlic springs to mind immediatelt). Also, if I do have any problems with anything in the delivery, a quick phone call sorts it, which is much better than a four bus journey or braving horrendous traffic jams in the car due to a three trunk road, two main road intersection within sniffing distance of my house, and a motorway literally just up the road, to take stuff back to the supermarket, which I would add is so close as the crow flies when it was first built, we could see into the staff restaurant from our house!

I get most of my milk from them too (they are cheaper than the milkman). The only supermarket in the area which sells the milk I buy (unhomogenised - I can't tolerate homogenised milk and cannot have UHT etc) is Waitrose, which is a ten-mile round trip (or a horrendous four+ bus journey there and back). Waitrose milk is 81.5 pence per litre [whereas I pay £1.10 per litre delivered (or 95 pence a pint from the milkman - but they have to recoup their delivery charges somehow)], but as far as I am concerned, the cost of petrol or the time waiting for and catching four buses (fares are free), just make it not worthwhile.

I've also noticed where some of the so-called fresh food they sell in supermarkets actually comes from. There is very little in Tesco that actually comes from anywhere I would call local (someone once remarked on another site, why is it that nearly all the fresh UK veg he buys from the supermarket comes from Essex when he lives in Lincolnshire and can see field upon field of veg from his window. I replied that I live in Essex and most of the fresh UK veg in my local supermarket comes from Lincolnshire - doesn't make sense.), and lot of the so-called fresh food they sell which would normally be associated with the UK or Europe actually comes from as far afield as Africa or India.

Nope, fresh, good-tasting food is my priority, even if it does cost a few pennies more, and more to the point I know, or can certainly easily find out, where it comes from.
 
A friend of mine used to supply mushrooms to Tesco. The amount of money he got for a whole tray was about the same as Tesco charged for 1 pack in their stores, and if any were found to be not up to the standard that Tesco required the whole lot could be returned, and of course the contract could be cancelled at very short notice.
It's been 28 years ago but my husband and I once had to deliver a truckload of cantaloupes to a warehouse. It hadn't been loaded correctly. The load shifted and luckily we only lost 15 cantaloupes. That cost us $45. Cantaloupes were selling at the time for $1 each.
Oh and that was the same load that was incorrectly weighed at the load site. We got a $200 ticket at one state's weigh station.
 
I've never been to a farmer's market, although there is one once a month at our local market place, and they do from time to time sell Italian foods there. I used to go to a local farm to buy produce, but this was mainly confined to sacks of vegetables, far too large a quantity for us (5) unless it was something that kept well. The farm shop used to sell very fresh eggs and you could also order meat from their cattle (although they could not sell it in the shop - no fridges), but they used to make most of their money from selling animal food, straw and hay, and some pet food. Their own vegetables used to go to shops in the West End of London rather than be sold locally (hence the sacks!). There are a couple of meat and poultry farms about 3 miles away which do sell their own meat and poultry but I've yet to investigate these, mainly because of the limited days and hours their shops are open.

I do, however, get most of my food shopping from an organic supplier (Riverford - a collection of farms and part of a co-operative, including some farms abroad). I find their food is a lot fresher and keeps longer than that which is sold in my local supermarket (Tesco). Their prices are usually (but not always) a bit higher than Tesco charge for the same organic produce (when they have it), but the cost of food in their pre-packed boxes is not a lot different overall. Plus, of course, they also sell foods which the supermarket does not (wild garlic springs to mind immediatelt). Also, if I do have any problems with anything in the delivery, a quick phone call sorts it, which is much better than a four bus journey or braving horrendous traffic jams in the car due to a three trunk road, two main road intersection within sniffing distance of my house, and a motorway literally just up the road, to take stuff back to the supermarket, which I would add is so close as the crow flies when it was first built, we could see into the staff restaurant from our house!

I get most of my milk from them too (they are cheaper than the milkman). The only supermarket in the area which sells the milk I buy (unhomogenised - I can't tolerate homogenised milk and cannot have UHT etc) is Waitrose, which is a ten-mile round trip (or a horrendous four+ bus journey there and back). Waitrose milk is 81.5 pence per litre [whereas I pay £1.10 per litre delivered (or 95 pence a pint from the milkman - but they have to recoup their delivery charges somehow)], but as far as I am concerned, the cost of petrol or the time waiting for and catching four buses (fares are free), just make it not worthwhile.

I've also noticed where some of the so-called fresh food they sell in supermarkets actually comes from. There is very little in Tesco that actually comes from anywhere I would call local (someone once remarked on another site, why is it that nearly all the fresh UK veg he buys from the supermarket comes from Essex when he lives in Lincolnshire and can see field upon field of veg from his window. I replied that I live in Essex and most of the fresh UK veg in my local supermarket comes from Lincolnshire - doesn't make sense.), and lot of the so-called fresh food they sell which would normally be associated with the UK or Europe actually comes from as far afield as Africa or India.

Nope, fresh, good-tasting food is my priority, even if it does cost a few pennies more, and more to the point I know, or can certainly easily find out, where it comes from.
Most of our produce comes from Central America.
 
It's been 28 years ago but my husband and I once had to deliver a truckload of cantaloupes to a warehouse. It hadn't been loaded correctly. The load shifted and luckily we only lost 15 cantaloupes. That cost us $45. Cantaloupes were selling at the time for $1 each.
Oh and that was the same load that was incorrectly weighed at the load site. We got a $200 ticket at one state's weigh station.
When I worked for a trailer company many years ago, we brought over a trailer load of melons from Greece. They took a week to arrive because of various delays. The weather was very hot at the time, and the melons literally flowed out of the back of the trailer when they got to our depot.
On another occasion, we brought a container load of grapefruit over. It was not a refrigerated container, and it got stuck in Hamburg for two months during a dock strike. When they arrived, the grapefruit were mouldy, and the original importer rejected the load. A certain well-known British chain of corner restaurants bought them off of us.....:sick:
 
I do, however, get most of my food shopping from an organic supplier (Riverford
I've not tried them. I do a lot of my shopping with Ocado - they have excellent 'hard to find' veg - wild garlic, purple potatoes etc. I have an annual delivery pass which means I can order as often as I like for no extra charge (next day service).
 
I love farmers markets. We are very lucky to have quite a few nearby - all pop up once a week/month affairs. Artisan food is a big thing in our county so a huge selection of locally produced food is available, cheese, honey, cured meats, pies, veg, chocolate, even wine, all produced within 30 miles. Not necessarily the cheapest produce, but good quality and the money stays in the local community.
 
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