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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Vineland, NJ

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: Pat Meadows <pat AT meadows.pair.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Vineland, NJ
  • Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 10:39:31 -0500

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 09:13:59 -0600, you wrote:

>
>Bob
>
> Your comment is interesting to me. I wonder if you think that will begin
>to change. In the Chicago area, I don't think produce in mainline stores has
>ever been worse. They even bother to make sure it looks good anymore. Local
>produce is so superior, I can't imagine consumers not prefering it. And once
>they understand how much more nutrition is in it when it's purchased the
>same day it's picked, I think they'll become serious about sourcing local
>produce. Local independent stores will follow the customers. Once they start
>undercutting the megachains produce departments, the megas will have to
>start changing their ways. It's currently an outragious tragedy. It will
>have to change.
>

Here's the problem, though, as I see it.

1. The produce in the supermarkets is pretty bad (at least
here, in rural northern PA, it is).

2. So people largely stop buying fresh produce - who can
blame them? It's both high-priced and poor quality.

3. Then when a farmers' market or the like opens, people
don't patronize it because they are no longer used to eating
fresh veggies. Especially younger people. They don't
*look* for them.

Heck, even the grocery store clerks don't know what many of
the vegetables are, they don't even know their *names*, much
less how to cook them, what to use them for, etc.

It's a circular process, and feeds on itself. How do you
break the circle?

Or am I all wrong about this?

I might be getting a distorted view because our local
farmers market is only open Friday mornings in summer.
Well, of course people don't patronize it: they're *at
work*, they can't just take an hour's break to shop at a
farmers market. I've no idea *why* that appalling choice of
day/time was made.

Pat




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