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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Scammers at the Farmers' Market: How to Make Sure You're Supporting Local Farmers
  • Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 07:46:35 -0600


This is a problem we've seen ourselves. People don't go to markets to get the
same stuff in the supermarket. It can destroy a market permanently for
everybody.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scammers at the Farmers' Market: How to Make Sure You're Supporting Local
Farmers
Be educated, be vigilant, know what's in season!
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/scammers-at-the-farmers-market---and-how-to-make-sure-youre-supporting-local-farmers.html
By Colleen Vanderlinden Wed Sep 29, 2010 07:48
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/scammers-at-the-farmers-market---and-how-to-make-sure-youre-supporting-local-farmers.html

Apparently, the popularity of farmers' markets is just too much temptation
for some unscrupulous vendors.

NBC Los Angeles' news team decided to do some checking around at local
farmer's markets, and paid visits to the farms where the vendors claimed they
grew the food they were selling. In some cases, they found fields full of
weeds or dry, empty fields. The vendors were selling vegetables and fruit
they had bought wholesale, and were selling it at premium prices at local
farmer's markets, claiming it was locally grown and organic.

As to the "organic" claim, NBCLA also sent several items purchased from
vendors who claimed not to use pesticides to labs for testing, and the
results came back positive for pesticides. One of the "farmers" claimed that
the pesticides found on their produce was the result of overspray from nearby
farms, but the levels found on the tested produce were too high for it have
been mere "drift."

This particular story was reported in California, but there's no doubt that
it's happening all over the country. Near my home, for example, there is a
"farmer's market" in a church parking lot every weekend during the summer.
How they managed to have perfect-looking "locally grown" watermelons in early
May in Detroit is beyond me. Needless to say, I don't shop there.

How To Make Sure You're Supporting Local Farmers Rather than Slimy
Opportunists

* Research, research, research. Try to get to know a few vendors really
well. Ask where their farm is located, how long they've been farming, how
they handle pest and disease issues. See if they're listed on sites like
LocalHarvest -- not all farmers are, but it doesn't hurt to check. Ask them
the specific variety of whatever produce they're selling. If they really grew
it, they should be able to tell you that those are 'Emerite' filet beans, not
just "green beans."

* Look over the display. Really look. This is a great tip from Homegrown
Evolution. Are all of the tomatoes the exact same shape and size? Do the
apples have that waxy supermarket look? Are the cucumbers all perfectly
uniform? Are they selling "local" watermelon in Detroit during the first week
of May? If so, they probably went to the warehouse club and bought produce to
sell at a premium at the farmer's market. Steer clear.

* Know what's in season! If you see watermelon in April or peppers in
December in Minnesota or Michigan, chances are good that they have not been
grown locally. While some farmers have large heated greenhouses to grow
produce year-round, not all do, and it pays to ask questions if the vendor is
displaying a lot of out-of-season produce.

As with many things when you're trying to live a more sustainable life, we
need to be vigilant and educated. Don't trust that just because the sign says
"farmers' market," you're supporting nothing but local farmers. While the
majority of vendors are legitimate, it's unfortunately up to us to make sure
that we're buying from them, and not some crook who's trying to take
advantage of the situation.






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