Ranting About Farmer's Markets

My goodies after a very thoughtful trip the Farmer's Market

It should come as no surprise that I have something to rant about, but Farmers' Markets can really make me cranky sometimes.  It is nice having so many markets to choose from, I mean there is one for every neighborhood in the PNW pretty much. Even so most areas now have at least a few going on. My parents have one to go to at their neighborhood park back in Tucson, Arizona for pete's sake! Due to a different climates you will see different things wherever you are and the PNW has an abundance compared to some areas which is amazing. I love walking down the market pathways and seeing so many colors of delicious. What I don't love is how trendy they have gotten which means a lot of the stalls charge premium for lower quality goods.

Now not all stalls are this way, but gosh darnit you better do a lap first before you commit to buying anything. Today I saw the grungiest leeks ever plucked from the ground for $2/lb and then two stalls down there were some gorgeous leeks at $2 for a huge bunch of four. If I hadn't waited I would have been very sad indeed when I laid eyes on those second leeks. And unfortunately, there are probably many who buy from the first stall, because they expect a little gouging at a Farmer's Market. To me this defeats the purpose of cutting out the middle man and the whole reasoning for why you want to go to the FM instead of the Grocery.

I am not advocating a FM boycott or anything and I know that there are a lot of factors that might go into why a farmer charges what they do. I also know that there are some bad apples who really are taking advantage. I am just hoping that more of us might take a little extra time so we can find those farmer's that are truly excited about providing fresh locally grown goods and who believe that it is the right thing to do to charge a fair price. And maybe the bad apples will take note and rethink their prices when their goods go unsold.