Like many of you I have often shopped at farmers markets, and without doubt there are genuine farmers trying to make a living selling at markets, but the amount of scammers selling produce supposedly grown by them is shocking... I've been aware of farmers' market scams for a long time, so now I buy directly from the farm shop on the farm Have a watch of this Video...
I wouldn't have so much of a problem with reselling if they are upfront about it. Of course, even then, it sort of defeats the purpose of a farmers' market. When I was in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, one of the newspapers did a feature on the fish equivalent of farmers' markets. Port Isabel, Texas is a major fishing port, and when you drive into Port Isabel, you find a lot of people selling freshly caught fish from stands. The assumption would be that this was stuff just off the boat. As it turned out, much of this was bought from wholesalers, some of it had been previously frozen, and they even included fish that weren't found in the Gulf of Mexico. Here in Maine, most of the farmers' markets sell their produce for less than what you'd pay in the grocery store, so that probably wouldn't be so lucrative. Of course, that would depend on what they could get it for on wholesale. The one we buy from the most is at the farmers' market area in Millinocket at harvest time, but we know where their farm is and have driven there more than once when they didn't have a stand in town. Then there are the potato stands throughout Aroostook County that are set up alongside the actual potato fields, and often unattended. People take what they want and pay the listed price into a container that is there, on an honor system. Those that have been cheated before might have hidden cameras, however.
I usually don't go to the big farmers markets because it's not cheaper and any better than the supermarket. There are a few stands here and there selling strawberries etc and a fruit stand in front of some guys house on avenue 9 which is a my shortcut through the orchards so I'm sure that stuff is from the orchards but it's really not much cheaper. Ive stopped a couple times, mainly to buy figs.
That figures. Being in California I think much of the food at the farmers market is genuine. You can tell. The fruits and vegetables look home grown. Smaller, more blemishes. But I have no doubt that some items are commercially grown.
There was a farmer's market in my town for several years. I bought veggies there. I knew a lot of the farmers who were selling. They were a little higher than the grocery store but worth the difference. Then I noticed that some of the sellers had wholesale boxes under their tables. I'm not going to pay more for the same veggies that I can get at the grocery store. Besides that, they had been sitting out in the hot sun for hours.
We have a farmer's market here. At the beginning of the season you get commercial tomatos and other Veges. Later on when the local harvest comes around you get the home grown produce. My dad and his cousins had a produce market. They bought local produce to resale, hauled produce out of the Rio Grand valley, and if they could from the San Antonio market, which at that time was a really good market for both retail sellers and wholesale buyers. I've hauled produced out of both places, potatoes from Greeley, Colorado. You can usually tell the home grown from the commercial. I like to shop our market. Can usually find some good chow-chow and tomatoes and okra, sweet corn on the cob. I do think most like to pass their commercial produce off as home grown if they can.