Farmer's market conundrum.

[postulater]

So I went to buy some beans at the farmer's market.

One grower had some not-so-good-looking beans for $4 a pound. I passed.

Another grower had 3 varieties of beans for $2 a pound. They looked great.

I asked her why her beans were so cheap when everyone else was selling for $3.50 or $4. She said that her growing coop got grants and subsidies and kept their prices low to make food affordable.

So by subsidizing the coop, we have made it more difficult for the local grower to compete.

What to do? Buy cheap or support the local grower?

I bought cheap (excellent beans), told them they were priced too low (the locals can afford higher prices, believe me) and gave her a dollar donation for the coop.

The local grower?.... Oh well.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Well, this may be heresy...

But I shop for quality, not price.

[Tikki]

2. By looking not-so-good you mean...

"It is better to look good than to taste good"? :shrug:


Tikki

[postulater]

5. Sorry. I mean too young, too mature and seedy.

Not necessarily rusty or buggy. I don't mind that, if fact I consider it sign of maybe less better-living-through-chemistry.

[txlibdem]

3. Which ones were organic?

Organically grown produce can sometimes not look as "perfect" as produce that has been pumped full of chemical fertilizers, bug killers, herbicides and then fumigated with ethylene gas (which changes the color of the veggies so they "look" like they're ripe).

Organic produce has blemishes sometimes but you don't get a mega-dose of poison by eating it. Most organic produce is picked when riper than the factory produce so it has higher nutrient count.

Locally grown produce that is also organic is the best of both worlds, of course.

[postulater]

6. I'm pretty sure all were organic.

That was one reason the coop is subsidized

[Warpy]

4. "Not looking good" in snap beans might be an advantage

because it might mean he didn't use herbicides and pesticides. You clip off the parts that look like something might have dined on them and eat the rest.

If, on the other hand, they looked like they'd been harvested last week and kept cool while they dried out, give them a miss. It would be like chewing on old leather boot laces.

My organic garden produce often didn't look as good as the stuff in the markets because it was smaller and some of it had been chewed on, but it was definitely superior because it was harvested exactly at the right time.

[Subdivisions]

7. Good points. Since I can't grow my own stuff and am interested in

getting my food from local sources, when is the best time to visit the farmers' markets?

[Warpy]

10. I go before 10 AM

because it gets hot fast in the high desert and everybody's stuff starts to wilt. People in the Pacific northwest where it's cool and foggy can sleep in.

It's the beginning of green chile season here and the roasters are popping up outside every market in town. There is no fragrance more awesome than roasting green chile. It's better than the childhood memories of burning leaves.

[rucky]

8. What's the problem with subsidized co-ops?

And why wouldn't they be local growers, too?

[postulater]

9. No problem with the coop. And they are local growers.

I just used the term to differentiate the coop from the other grower. Sorry for the confusion.

But the subsidy, while it encourages the coop, also discourages the other grower, making it harder to compete. Not really a 'free market' there.

[rucky]

11. Well, if you look at what IS subsidized compared to what should be subsidized...

this is a step in the right direction:

[Francesca9]

12. Farm subsidies = affordable food

Without agricultural subsidies food is less affordable. This is why the US has always subsidized some farmers.

It is a system that has never been fair to all farmers.

It does make food more affordable.

[Francesca9]

13. This is your health care reform money at work

I'm pretty sure that this subsidy is our health care reform money at work. I know that Farmer;s Market subsidies were among the very highest priorities, most things were deferred until 2014 but Farmer's Markets were among the few immediately funded.

The problem is that obesity costs everyone a lot for health care. Some obese people eat unhealthy processed foods. The theory is that if farmer's markets get billions in subsidies that the obese will then change their eating habitats.

The other subsidy is for bike paths. The idea is to get the obese onto bicycles for more healthy exercise. In theory at least, this will save us billions later with reduced health care costs.

Hopefully these subsidies are increasingly drawing the obese to shop there.