Serious Eats
Farmers Sustain Each Other and Us
Micheline Maynard's fascinating piece today in the New York Times about the daily Benton Harbor, Michigan, truck market reveals so much about the state of local produce markets in America. We tend to romanticize farmers' markets in this country in the name of authenticity and honesty. We love the idea that we're buying fruits and vegetables from the very people who grew them, and that one-on-one interaction makes us feel we are nourishing our bodies and souls with each transaction.
And we are. But as Maynard points out, many of the people buying produce at the daily market in Benton Harbor are farmers themselves: "By and large, the biggest customers at the cash market are other growers who buy for their own roadside stands or fruit and vegetable markets, which are plentiful in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio."
That's perfectly OK with me. Family farms in a given area are an intertwined, complex, and fragile ecosystem that depends on consumers and each other to sustain themselves. And if those of us who can afford it have to pay a little bit more to insure the survival of farms that grow the ripe, juicy peaches and tomatoes we all love to eat in season, so be it. As one Ann Arbor, Michigan, shopper told Maynard, "Honestly, I would pay more for it. But don't tell them."
In the end it doesn't matter if the person selling us our produce grew it on the land we see behind the farmstand. What really matters is that farmers (and their employees) in a given area can make a decent living growing delicious fruits and vegetables in a responsible, sustainable way.