I had the pleasure of going to St. Jacob's Market last weekend. This place is part farmer's market, part flea market, part craft show. It's really something!
First of all it was still packed at 11am, which is unusual for most of the markets I've been to, except this one closes at 3pm so that probably relieves the urgency to get there asap for those who prefer a leisurely pace on Saturday mornings, like myself.
I had a great time experiencing St. Jacob's. I bought a bag-load of pears, ate a taco from a food truck (another love of mine) and relished in all the sights and smells of our food culture. As I meandered around the outdoor produce vendors I noticed a few recurrent things: first off, lots of signs proudly boasted where the food had come from. One banner strung above a vendor's table said something along the lines of their food being from within a '100 mile' source. Interesting. This may be a good marketing point, all moral and economic issues aside. People can fondly identify with a location they are familiar with. Another trend was in the pricing, most were in even dollar amounts (no change) and many were more expensive than you'd find in any grocery store. Here's an example:
That's $5.50 for a 'quart' of apples! What is there, six apples in that container? That's almost a dollar an apple! I can get a 3lb bag of Ontario apples at the grocery store for $2.99. Sure, these ones do look great and they're huge, but that's a steep price to pay for a humble apple. If the point is to support your local farmers, is this inflated cost a charitable donation? Can I get a tax rebate for that?
Of course there's also the issue of chain grocery stores underpaying farmers for their produce which enables them to sell it to us at a lesser cost. This not fair either, of course. I hear both sides of this conundrum, I do.
I didn't talk with any of the vendors about their pricing and I suppose I should have done so. It could be an issue of quality, as all of the items I saw looked absolutely gorgeous and fresh.
My beef with the steep prices common to these venues is a matter of exclusivity. Higher prices make it quite difficult for those on a reduced or restricted income to shop at the farmer's market. Are these vendors only catering to the middle and upper class? That's not very sustainable.
To summarize, a passerby posed a pretty great question as I was on my way out. She said: "what's the difference if I buy my oranges here or at the grocery store?"
Oranges? No farmer around here is producing oranges, that's for sure. But there they were on the table. What's up with that?
I went to St.Jacobs market and definitely was a fun experience. When I went there were horses and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I had a cinnamon sugar soft pretzel in one of the shops (yum) Definitely the apples are quite pricy, but I remember that there were some good deals when I went. I bought some very small and narrow carrots and they tasted amazingly crunchy and sweet, sweet peppers, apple butter jam (wasn't as great as I had hoped). But In general, I do find market produce to be more expensive, I guess it's the ensurance of freshness and ripeness of it that we are paying for.
ReplyDeleteHui(Amy) Chen
Hi there.
ReplyDeleteYour post made some really good points. I personally love going to farmers markets but the price difference does become evident, especially when your a student. But at the same time, sometimes the quality is worth the price! I know in the past I have gone to Guelph Farmers Market and split a pack of apples with a friend. These apples were triple the size of any apples I have seen in grocery stores and felt like a full meal themselves. Although, I wouldn't make a habit of buying all my produce from the market it is great when I want to treat myself. Great post, thanks for the insight!