Farmers markets are overated

[Anonymous]

It's a friggin farmers market not the Geneva convention. Just go and have fun and if you don't like dogs and expensive tomatoes don't effing go.

[Anonymous]

The farmer's market is for people who look at cooking as a form of entertainment. That's not been me since I had kids. I cannot be in line behind someone who wants to have a conversation about how to prepare a fruit or vegetable. I can't wait forever for one item. I don't live close to a WF. Now most of our produce comes from Hungry Harvest--it's delivered and it has a tremendous organic selection.

[Anonymous]

The Fresh Farm markets and Takoma Market are producer only.

https://www.freshfarm.org/farmers
https://takomaparkmarket.com/market-info/

[Anonymous]

Farmers markets are not all alike. My most convenient Whole Foods market has just okay produce, and more conventional produce than organic.

Try the Baltimore Farmers Market under the JFX, on Sundays. It’s quite wonderful.



https://farmersmarketbaltimore.org/

[Anonymous]

Great fresh corn from my farmers market today!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a friggin farmers market not the Geneva convention. Just go and have fun and if you don't like dogs and expensive tomatoes don't effing go.

Oh, honey. You have no idea what the Geneva Convention is, do you?

[Anonymous]

Farmers markets are like what wine tasting became 30 years ago: people pay for an experience. Eventually you buy one too many cases of wine - or in this case, tomatoes- and you realize what it is. Fun if thT is what you want, but the only way fo sustain it is not spend on other things most people do. All choices in the end, not better or worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a friggin farmers market not the Geneva convention. Just go and have fun and if you don't like dogs and expensive tomatoes don't effing go.

Oh, honey. You have no idea what the Geneva Convention is, do you?

Well if memory serves it's that big giant thing you've got stuck up your ...........

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only good thing at Eastern Market was the pickle stand. RIP.

Wow, just realized that I haven't seen them at Brookland. Anyone know what happened to them?? That was the 1 guilty pleasure I enjoyed after dropping off my food scraps for compost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only good thing at Eastern Market was the pickle stand. RIP.

Wow, just realized that I haven't seen them at Brookland. Anyone know what happened to them?? That was the 1 guilty pleasure I enjoyed after dropping off my food scraps for compost.

No 1 Sons? IIRC they shut down last summer bcs they lost their kitchen lease

[Anonymous]

If your while Whole Foods have better produce, please tell me which ones. WF has gone way downhill in the District.

The farmers markets often (but not always) cost more but in my experience the quality is leagues better. I like the Fresh Farm producer only markets. Eastern Market is tricky, not all the vendors are farms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a friggin farmers market not the Geneva convention. Just go and have fun and if you don't like dogs and expensive tomatoes don't effing go.

What does the Geneva Convention have to do with a farmer’s market? Are the vegetables being held prisoner?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Farmers markets are not all alike. My most convenient Whole Foods market has just okay produce, and more conventional produce than organic.

Try the Baltimore Farmers Market under the JFX, on Sundays. It’s quite wonderful.



https://farmersmarketbaltimore.org/

Cheaper than bethesda too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question - how can you tell when the farmer grew the produce themself vs reselling something they bought from elsewhere?

Look at the fingernails of the person ringing you up.

I'm a market manager and farmer who sells at our exurb farmers market. I had to laugh at this because, man, is it true. In the summer I have no fingernails. My jeans are also dirty and I may have mud on my boots and maybe even on my shirt. Getting our truck ready for market days is a huge lift and I may or may not have time to clean myself up in time for opening.

The best way to approach a farmers market is to know what is in season in your growing zone and look for what are called "producer only" markets. Nothing annoys me (and other farmers) more than someone coming to our tent in May, looking for peaches, tomatoes, or sweet corn. Seriously, every year this happens. We joke that we should put up a "swear jar" and every time someone asks for X when it's out of season, they have to put a quarter in the jar. It's amazing to me how so many people are out of touch with how/where/why their food is grown.

I hear you on prices - but keep in mind it's not free for us to sell at the markets - I know the one at Loudoun and the Eat Loco and Ashburn markets have huge fees for the farmers - like 2k for the season per tent per market (so if you need two tents to cover your space, that's 4k for the season for just one market). That's a LOT of money for the little guy, with no guarantee we'll sell enough to recoup expenses on that. We've quit markets where it wasn't worth our time to go and we lost a big fee, because the management wasn't doing anything to bring in people.

This is part of the reason farmers markets have become "corporatized" only the big resellers can afford to sell at these markets. We are also required to have liability insurance, and any state permits required for what we sell (meat, eggs, honey, etc). It's not like farmers can just show up, pitch a tent and sell. It's a long, expensive process to get to where we can sell at markets. I think the better markets are not in the city but out in the suburbs/exurbs where it's closer to the farms - the city markets attract the resellers because that is where the customers with deep pockets live.

I do love our regular customers who stop by for a visit and talk about what's coming out of our farm in the next few weeks, some have become good friends over the years. I know that they are trying to plan ahead for what we will have each week. We try to put out a weekly social media post with some photos to keep our followers up-to-date and provide a list of stuff that will be on our truck, but that is certainly not the first priority for us every day when we are so busy with what is ready to harvest, and getting it picked and sorted in time for market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question - how can you tell when the farmer grew the produce themself vs reselling something they bought from elsewhere?

Look at the fingernails of the person ringing you up.

I'm a market manager and farmer who sells at our exurb farmers market. I had to laugh at this because, man, is it true. In the summer I have no fingernails. My jeans are also dirty and I may have mud on my boots and maybe even on my shirt. Getting our truck ready for market days is a huge lift and I may or may not have time to clean myself up in time for opening.

The best way to approach a farmers market is to know what is in season in your growing zone and look for what are called "producer only" markets. Nothing annoys me (and other farmers) more than someone coming to our tent in May, looking for peaches, tomatoes, or sweet corn. Seriously, every year this happens. We joke that we should put up a "swear jar" and every time someone asks for X when it's out of season, they have to put a quarter in the jar. It's amazing to me how so many people are out of touch with how/where/why their food is grown.

I hear you on prices - but keep in mind it's not free for us to sell at the markets - I know the one at Loudoun and the Eat Loco and Ashburn markets have huge fees for the farmers - like 2k for the season per tent per market (so if you need two tents to cover your space, that's 4k for the season for just one market). That's a LOT of money for the little guy, with no guarantee we'll sell enough to recoup expenses on that. We've quit markets where it wasn't worth our time to go and we lost a big fee, because the management wasn't doing anything to bring in people.

This is part of the reason farmers markets have become "corporatized" only the big resellers can afford to sell at these markets. We are also required to have liability insurance, and any state permits required for what we sell (meat, eggs, honey, etc). It's not like farmers can just show up, pitch a tent and sell. It's a long, expensive process to get to where we can sell at markets. I think the better markets are not in the city but out in the suburbs/exurbs where it's closer to the farms - the city markets attract the resellers because that is where the customers with deep pockets live.

I do love our regular customers who stop by for a visit and talk about what's coming out of our farm in the next few weeks, some have become good friends over the years. I know that they are trying to plan ahead for what we will have each week. We try to put out a weekly social media post with some photos to keep our followers up-to-date and provide a list of stuff that will be on our truck, but that is certainly not the first priority for us every day when we are so busy with what is ready to harvest, and getting it picked and sorted in time for market.

Thanks for posting! This matches the experience of other farmers I have gotten to know. I appreciate you.

Regarding prices, I mentally set aside part of the payment as a donation for the kind of food production system I want to support. When I've been a CSA member (community supported agriculture), I've been able to take the kids to visit the farm we get our weekly produce from. They get to see how it's run and appreciate the hard work that goes into it. 15 minutes pulling weeds out a half hour picking berries in the hot sun and they understand better that there is a lot of work and love going into our food. They understand the seasons and also understand that if the weather doesn't cooperate, there can be crop failures. To me that's all worth paying more for, plus they love eating vegetables. With the CSA, some great harvest years with the amount of food we've gotten it's actually been cheaper then grocery store, but that's not guaranteed nor expected.

We are on vacation and got grocery store produce this week and it's nowhere near as good as what we get from our favorite farmers.