If you want the best and freshest locally-grown foods, you’ve got to go to the farmer’s market.
At least, thats what the common wisdom says. Without a doubt, going to your local farmer’s market is almost always a more personable experience than going to a supermarket for groceries. Still, these smaller markets often charge higher prices for both the service and the additional costs for (and benefits of) a local economy.
But are the things you buy at the farmer’s market always as local as they say are?
An investigative journalism team from CBC News set out to see for themselves.
The story ran on Marketplace, a news program which does investigations of local businesses to keep consumers informed of any wrong-doing. The host set out with a team to explore a wide range of farmer’s markets in and around Ontario, Canada to see what each had to offer.
Altogether, these markets are a billion dollar industry—and are largely unregulated.
One of the first vendors they approach is selling chemical free produce.
After asking some questions, they find out some startling facts. Although the man claims to have grown his products himself, the cameramen spot a box under the tables at his stall with different labelling on the packaging. Following the supply line backwards, they discover that the tomatoes he’s selling are from a wholesaler—and did, in fact, use chemicals.
More exploring revealed even more dirt.
Other vendors were asked similar questions about whether they grew their food themselves. One man in particular reported that some of the foods were his, grown at a family farm called Koorneef. Just a little exploring around the market revealed this as a life—many of the stalls had produce labelled Koorneef.
And when the followed up on the lead, Koorneef Farms turned out to be not family-owned at all.
Although consumers might have a problem with this, so do some of the wholesalers.
More exploration of the market showed that Red Sun stickers appeared quite a lot—so the team followed up on that lead as well. The president of Red Sun, Jim DiMenna, said he also didn’t want his own produce misrepresented:
“I have a little trouble with that. We spend a lot of money and time growing our products.”
Though what the team found was frustrating, it doesn’t mean you should stop shopping at farmer’s markets.
Nor should you not shop at the grocery store if that’s what works best for your family. Instead, keep your eye out for produce stickers on otherwise local fruits and vegetables to make sure they’re from where they say they’re from. And be sure to ask lots of questions of local vendors. After all, there’s no reason to pay excessive amounts for the same food that’s at the supermarket.
Catch the full exposé in the video below.
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