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market-farming - Re: Peddlers at Markets

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  • From: mckemie AT inetport.com
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Peddlers at Markets
  • Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2001 09:28:25 -0600


On Sun, Feb 11, 2001 at 08:08:10AM -0600, Del Williams wrote:
> Sell-what-you-grow is just as unenforceable as resell only local.

INCORRECT! Though you do have a point, albeit a minor one, on
in-season situation. It is entirely feasible to periodically inspect
farms of market sellers to determine near term production potential.
It is not at all feasible to inspect all possible sources, even local
ones, of market re-sellers. Here is a hypothetical situation: In a
market that allows re-selling of "local" produce, a suspicious seller
tells the authorities that he got his <product a> from <grower a> who
is 50 miles to the north and he got his <product b> from <grower b> who
is 50 miles to the south, ad infinitum; you get the idea. This is
repeated by <re-seller b>, ad infinitum. All the dishonest re-sellers
need do is send the inspectors on a few wild goose chases to legal
sources and soon the illegal sources will go un-inspected. It is many
times more difficult to inspect all the sources of re-sellers than it
is to inspect the farms of the sellers.

You do correctly point out that a legitimate producer may go undetected
if he arguments his legal crop with illegal product during the product's
season. All of the suspected abuses that I have dealt with involve
out-of-season sales. That is, someone selling tomatoes, cantaloupes,
etc a few weeks before the local ones come in or a few weeks after the
local season ends. This type of abuse, I believe, is the predominate
one and it can be detected and corrected. It is in the off-peak-season
when an otherwise legitimate grower has the time and opportunity to
cheat.

I also agree with you that presence or absence of proof of seed
purchase is without significance. I have never advocated examining
proof of seed purchase as a way to separate the crooks from the others.

>
> For example, nothing stops a tomato grower from selling tomatoes from
> another source as well. The farmer can show you the seed and the field and
> you would have no way to argue otherwise. Maybe the farmer can't show you a
> seed purchase because the seed was saved from heirloom varieties. Are you
> going to call the farmer a liar because there is no sales receipt for seed?
> You can't enforce sell what you grow. It's not possible to verify the
> source of 100% of the produce at a market with a sell what you grow only
> rule.

You seem to be making the argument that no market rule can be enforced
and, therefore, all markets will eventually be full of cheats. Or, are
you arguing that no enforcement is necessary because all the sellers
can be relied upon to behave honorably?

--
Onward! Through the Fog!
Willie
http://austinfarm.org/homegrown




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