Methinks "The Farmers' Market Myth" is a Myth

[StanSherman]

Nopales,

I'm not quite as pessimistic as you. In the future will patrons of the Ferry Plaza Market sip on $85 lattes while munching on their organic soylent green biscuits?

Do you think we should open a thread on "food policy" to keep this thread from further drift? I believe it's a valuable discussion.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I think it's a great idea, Stan - especially since food policy is what determines, by and large, our food prices and many of the attitudes towards growers/growing.

[SobaAddict70]

Spent a little under $35 today at USGM.

Spinach: a giant bag for $3 (Miglorelli had a special of two for $5). And when I say "giant", I mean it looked like this:

That bag is bigger than it looks, because it's lying on its side. My local Associated had spinach for $1.99 per bunch.

Garlic chives: $2 per bunch

Wild arugula: $2 a bunch

Dried cannellini beans from Cayuga Organics: $6

Shiitake and crimini mushrooms: $5 for 1 lb.

Free-range chicken eggs from Quattro: $1.75 for half a dozen

Mixed asparagus from Lani: $4 for a hefty bunch, like so:

Easily enough for 2-3 meals.

Pea shoots: $4 for a lb.

Organic cheese biscuits: two for $5

Loose onions (yellow/red): @ $1 a lb., 6 for $2

I think I came out ahead, as opposed to if I were shopping at a supermarket.

Edited May 14, 2011 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[kryptos1]

Kansas City River Market

Normal Produce (imported):

• Lime and Lemon 7/$1
  
• Grapes large bundle $1.50
  
• Oranges 4/$4
  
• Spices $1 per scoop (not sure how many ounces but its a lot)
  
• English Cucumbers $1/ea (individually wrapped, way cheaper than Grocery store)
  
• Melon 3 for $5
  
• Pineapple (whole) 3 for $5
  

Local Green House Herbs: $1 per bundle....huge variety

Local Asparagus: $3 for 10 stocks

Local Eggs:

• Medium $3
  
• Large $3.50
  
• Extra Large $4
  
• Jumbo $4.50
  
• Super Jumbo (poor chicken) $5.00
  

Local Chickens (these are great..much more expensive):

• Whole 3-5lb $3.50/lb
  
• Whole Cut up $3.75/lb
  
• 6 piece (2 breast, 2 legs, 2 thies) $4.50/lb
  
• Boneless Breasts $6.95/lb
  
• Leg Quarters $3.50/lb
  
• Wings $3.25/lb
  
• Backs and Necks $1.25/lb
  
• Liver $2.25/lb
  
• Hearts $1.00/lb
  

Local Pork (per pound):

• Liver $1
  
• Jowl Bacon $3 (this is great for Italian dishes)
  
• Bacon Ends $3
  
• Bacon $6
  
• Brats $4.25
  
• Breakfast Sausage $4.95
  
• Italian Sausage Hot or Med $4.95
  
• Pork Burgers $4.50
  
• Ground $4.25
  
• Loin Roast $4
  
• Shoulder Roast $4
  
• Ribs $4
  

Edited May 15, 2011 by kryptos1 (log)

[annachan]

From what I saw at my farmer's market yesterday, I wonder if the farmers check supermarket prices when pricing their good.

Last week, this one stand had cauliflower for $2 a head. I was the same week that a local supermarket has them on sale for the same price. That's been the cheapest I've seen for the past few months. I just thought that maybe cauliflower is coming into season (I have no idea) and the prices were going down. This week, no more sale at the supermarkets and this same stall is selling the cauliflower for $4.50 a head! No crazy weather, natural disaster or a hike in gas/energy prices this past week that should have affected the price that greatly. Was the farmer trying to be competitive with the supermarkets?

[rlibkind]

I just thought that maybe cauliflower is coming into season (I have no idea)...

Brassicas like cauliflower are an autumnal crop, so they should be in season on the far side of the earth about now

[Chris Amirault]

Lime and Lemon 7/$1

Has Kansas City suddenly experienced accelerated climate change? Or are those limes and lemons coming from, you know, elsewhere?

[SobaAddict70]

Lime and Lemon 7/$1

Has Kansas City suddenly experienced accelerated climate change? Or are those limes and lemons coming from, you know, elsewhere?

They were.

Normal Produce (imported):

Lime and Lemon 7/$1

[Chris Amirault]

Doh! Thanks.

[kryptos1]

Lime and Lemon 7/$1

Has Kansas City suddenly experienced accelerated climate change? Or are those limes and lemons coming from, you know, elsewhere?

Things have been strange here!

Image showing pricing....and people who don't want me to take their photo judging by the looks on their face.

[mrsadm]

I must comment on the fad point.... before farmers' markets there were farmer stands. My grandparents made their entire living farming for a stand that sold fruits, veg, and eggs most of the year, on eastern Long Island. (and I'm OLD...)

My local recent experience shopping at the Ithaca NY farmers' market is that prices vary all over the place. The produce can be gorgeous and expensive. Eggs can be wonderful or not so great, but always less than organic eggs at the supermarket. Last year corn in season was at 3 or 4 different prices on the same weekend, with some farmers claiming to be more organic than the next.

No matter the prices, they are fun to shop.

[JakeClaro]

Hi Chris,

As the author of the NOFA study that Barry cites, I feel compelled to chime in here. From reading comments around the web, and reading your own introduction to the topic, I am somewhat discouraged that people are using Estabrook's commentary on the issue as the jumping off point without actually reading the complete study. I would encourage everyone to do so, as I am overall much more cautious in my conclusions, and touch upon many of the points that are raised here. Indeed, part of my frustration is to read comments that express a degree of incredulousness when in fact many of the points raised are directly addressed in the study. Yet, I am more than pleased by the discussion that the study has generated, particularly here, and am more than happy to answer any questions that anyone may have.

Additionally, our study took many painstaking steps to ensure that the comparison was as close to apples-to-apples as possible, falling short however in actually making an apples-to-apples comparison : ). For instance, all items compared had to be exactly the same varieties and had to be priced per pound in order to be considered an observable data point. Furthermore, despite vendors claiming organic practices, only those who had verifiable certification were considered organic, with all other producers being treated as conventional. We actually intentionally avoided comparing meat prices because many vendors in Vermont raise grass-fed beef, which often does not have a direct analog at grocery stores. Will meat prices be higher at farmers' markets, particularly in Vermont, most likely, but what you are buying is not identical to what you are buying at the grocery store and unless it is, the comparison is not helpful nor ultimately worth making. The difficulties that these issues pose to getting an exact comparison are thoroughly discussed in the study. The point is, many people are comparing prices of items that aren't necessarilly the same, and yes, this leads to the myth that prices at farmers' markets are higher. When one looks at items that are the clearly the same, the myth begins to loose its pull, and as many have highlighted, the differences between the venues also becomes clear. In other words, the product mix at farmers' markets is many times very differnent than what it is at grocery stores, but for the mix of items that are shared between the two, prices are actually competitive.

Furthermore, we aggregated the prices of every instance of an item, such that if there were two options at the grocery store, for example, both offerings of the item were recorded. We were not looking to observe the lowest price instance of an item at the farmers' markets or grocery store, but rather determine what the prices were for items on average; That is, if a customer were to enter either venue and choose a particular item at random, what would the price of that item likely be--and I should add that prices for items on sale were included in this calculation.

I could go on, but I raise these points because your informal attempt to gauge price differences is precisely what we wanted to avoid when addressing this issue, and is an effective way for propagating misnomers. Anecdotal evidence, as evidenced here, is highly variable and imprecise when trying to assess the question at fine resolution. As many comments here reveal, prices by region and market vary. The way that we addressed this in Vermont was to collect at markets across the state that varied in the number of vendors present and the population characteristics of the surrounding area--and I should add that we broke down the price variation for each item in each respective region that we collected from. Vermont is unique in many respects, particularly in the amount of organic offerings that you can find at farmers' markets. The conclusions one can draw from our study may not have what economists might call a direct benefit transfer to other areas. However, our results overall were similar in nature to an extensive study done by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Iowa, so there is reason to believe that our results are not an egregious outlier. More work needs to be done, but research progress on the issue is gaining steam. I pleased to say that an economics student at the University of Chicago will be doing an analysis on some of our data to characterize how pricing decisions are made at markets and possibly determine if these pricing decisions are economically optimal.

I also cover the issue of willingness to pay in the later sections of the study, an issue that was at some point indirectly raised. I hope this helps to clarify things at the very least, between my own dispositions and those of Mr. Estabrook, and would welcome further questions or thoughts.

best,

Jake Claro