Kingfield Farmers Market - the tomatoes are in!

[dreamshark]

Still gaping in shock at the assertion by a poster in somebody else's LJ comments that farmers markets are a very expensive place to buy produce. This poster stated that prices at farmers markets are two to three times the cost of the same food in grocery stores, adding "They've even done studies on the prices you pay at Farmer's Markets and determined that for people on a budget, they're just not feasible."  Not sure who "they" are, but I'm guessing that neither the poster nor the researchers live in the Midwest. Sure, there are downsides to farmers markets, the big one being that produce is available on nature's schedule, not yours. Well, late July is when nature finally catches up.  There's still a surfeit of cukes and beets, but finally a few of the stalls have tomatoes and sweet corn!  It just gets better and better from this point forward.

As I usually do, I wandered around the various stalls with a $20 bill, buying stuff until my bag was almost too heavy to carry. At this point I still had $8 left.  Here's what I got for my $12:  4 ears of sweet corn, 2 bunches of young onions (halfway between green onions and full-sized), a vast quantity of cucumbers, and the large bowl of ripening tomatoes shown below. We still have a few pattypan squash and a lot of lettuce from last week, plus some foolishly purchased store bought vegetables.  So the food goal for this week?  Lots of meals based around vegetables!  I'm going to go chop up vegies right now. I'm thinking of a big skillet of sauteed squash, green onions, peppers and tomatoes with olive oil, garlic and sliced chicken bratwurst from Trader Joe's.  Then I have a ton of cucumber to freeze. 

Apres moi, le deluge (July 25, 2010) The very first local tomatoes from the Kingfield Farmers Market.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

We'll be home for tomatoes and corn! I am soooooo glad!!

K.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

When will you be home?

Sorry but this is a hot button for me, I don't mean to be annoying

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with the poster about the pricing at most farmers markets I've been to, including Mpls.(which I do visit every time I come to town almost).

Sweet corn costs 50 cents an ear at our market and something like 6 for a dollar at the Jewel(our local store like a rainbow). A pint of blueberries cost 5 dollars at the local farmers market and only 1.99 at the grocery store or some times recently 2 for 3 dollars. Strawberries when last I looked were 4 dollars a pint and 1.99 for a quart at Jewel. Pricing of substantive fruits and veggies is usually quite a bit higher at the farmers market. I can't fathom buying broccoli when one small box costs 3 or 4 dollars. Oh and potatoes were 4 dollars a pound, I can get an entire 8 lb. bag for under a dollar at the store! I shop at three markets here in Chicagoland and none of them come remotely close to pricing at any of the grocery stores besides Whole Foods (which is nicknamed whole paycheck for a reason).

I try to do a lot of our shopping at the farmers market because I love them and want to support the family farms we get our stuff from but it's not cheap and when I was on a budget (and single) I never went unless my mom was buying.:P

Re: Sorry but this is a hot button for me, I don't mean to be annoying

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I suppose it depends on the item. The sweet corn and tomatoes were not particularly cheap this weekend because they are just coming into season, but they were a million times better than the supermarket ones. We just had the corn for dinner, and it was orgasmically delicious.

The lettuce and green onions that I bought last week were way cheaper than supermarket prices. I'm pretty sure the cukes are cheaper, although I don't actually remember because I don't usually buy a lot of cucumbers.

The prices you are quoting for Jewel seem really cheap to me. Maybe the farmers market prices seem good because Cub and Rainbow are unusually expensive? Or maybe you're quoting special sale prices? I buy a lot of fresh blueberries, and I don't remember ever paying under $2.99 a pint for them in a supermarket. Same for quarts of strawberries.

I agree about Whole Foods. Mind-blowingly expensive, even compared to Kowalski's.

Re: Sorry but this is a hot button for me, I don't mean to be annoying

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

It's blueberry season which is why they're cheaper at the store than normally, but if it wasn't in season they wouldn't have them at all at the Farmers Market. Also we are closer to Michigan and that is where a lot of our fruit comes from here. But blueberries I can quote a price on at almost any time of year where ever we are. They are one of Nico's only foods. So when they cost 3.99 for a 4.4 oz box I'm still buying them, and that will get us through one day.:P

Lettuce is nowhere near cheaper at the Farmers Market here but green onions I haven't checked and last time I got them at Jewel they were not reasonably priced.

Believe me, Jewel is not cheaper than Rainbow nor Cub. Our Jewel is in fact annoyingly expensive and unusually crappy. I almost had a heart attack when we moved here.

The real key is the potato price was from something referred to as a green grocer, which is funny since it's so inappropriate. They are a grocery store with produce at or close to past it's peak (think Eisenstein in St. Paul), but normally at Jewel it's still around 99cents a pound not 4 dollars. The rest of those prices are from Jewel, which may be loss leaders(a draw to get customers in the door at reduced price but not sale) but not by much. To give you an idea of scale, Whole Foods seems downright reasonable on some stuff in comparison to Jewel. I would kill for a Kowalskis because if it costs more it looks nicer too there.:)

My point is that with very limited exceptions (green onions)the prices at the market are far higher than the store. It really doesn't matter if it's from a sale price or not. The cost is the cost to the consumer and if you can't afford it, you can't afford it. When you have 35 dollars(federal food allowance 2010 from a nutrition class last semester) for a week of food you will never buy 5 dollar blueberries, regardless of how they are produced or what they may taste like.

I'm coming up in September and I'll check the differences between MN and IL. When we moved here everything cost at least 10% more, some stuff was astronomically more expensive like cereal, milk, coconut milk and rice. Maybe it's different now. I shopped at the Wedge the last time I was in town cause I was at Laura's, and I think we can all agree that that costs more than most places.:)

Re: Sorry but this is a hot button for me

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Interesting data points. It occurs to me that whoever did the study showing Farmers Market (hereinafter referred to as FM) prices to be astronomically high probably followed a methodology where they started with a non-negotiable list of items to buy. That's not how you save money at a FM. You save money by buying the crops that are peaking and avoiding the ones that are in short supply. That means that you may not know what you are going to buy until you get to the market. And it makes it hard to compare to supermarket food because the list is always changing.

If the only thing your child will eat is blueberries you would be completely out of luck in Minnesota right now. There were no berries at the local FM this week. Last week one vendor had some, but yes they were $4/pint. On the other hand, they weren't a lot cheaper in the grocery store, where they are usually $2.99 or $3.99 even in the summer. So even if the overall grocery prices are higher in Chicago, apparently you are well-positioned for blueberries. :-)

As for potatoes - they are such a cheap food that I literally pay no attention to the price. 8 pounds for $1 or 8 pounds for $3 - what's the difference, really? We're talking pennies per serving. I generally don't buy potatoes at the FM anyway - I'd rather have the steam-cleaned variety that you get in the grocery store.

Re: Wedge - it's really startling how expensive co-op food has gotten. Oy. I remember when you really could save a lot of money by buying in bulk at the co-op. Fresh produce was never a bargain, but at least flour and rice and cooking oil cost a lot less. No longer true. I mostly go there for things I can't find elsewhere, like sea salt.

Do you have a Trader Joe's in your area? They have some genuine bargains in anything that can be packaged as a store brand without sacrificing quality. Produce prices are reasonably competitive with occasional startling bargains in organic fruits and vegies. Again, their stock varies because their forte is shopping around for the best supplier.