Farmer's Market Prices, why so much cheaper in Italy?
Today at our local market in Umbria, I filled my basket for under ten dollars. I bought: tomatoes, red peppers, green friggere peppers, a string of Tropea onions, a cantaloupe, peaches, zucchini flowers, figs, and a pound of little crabs, oh and some broad beans.
Why are US farmer markets so much expensive? I do not believe US farmers are secretly hiding Jaguars in the barn or that Italian farmers like to give away their food. So, why such a difference?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
9 Comments:
Because, in the US, farmer's markets have elitist, trendy air to them. Paying extra for food is a status symbol.
engmcmuffin at 11:18AM on 07/22/09
Actually, that has nothing to do with it. But keep deluding yourself with stupidity, it's working well for you. And produce at farmers' markets isn't really more expensive than supermarket produce, and the quality is much higher. In many cases, the produce is cheaper. What's more expensive is prepared food, because it's done by hand, in small batches.
American farmers' markets are more expensive than ones in Italy because over there,more people growing food, they didn't lose their agricultural tradition to industry the way we have. It's also a much smaller country. Even here in NY state, farmers are coming from a hundred miles away in some cases. In Italy, the stuff you buy was grown much closer to the market where it's sold. That makes a big difference too.
simon at 12:26PM on 07/22/09
The market sets the price. if nobody were willing to pay these prices, then the farmers markets would either have to lower their prices or they would go away altogether. It's not just snobby rich people shopping at the farmers markets - restaurants shop there too, as do people who simply want to support local farmers.
Also, small farmers are not subsidized by the federal government the way that huge industrial farmers are - thus they are probably making a smaller margin to begin with - the prices most likely reflect a combination of production cost, travel, taxes, fees for having a stand, paying employees and paying for their own health insurance. They are small businesses and have to overcome a lot more than big corporations do because they do not have the benefit of economies of scale on their side. The agricultural structure in the US is not set up to benefit smaller farmers who are the ones who supply farmers markets - it's like comparing apples to oranges to compare costs in Italy to the US - they are entirely separate markets with many different economic factors at play.
laurelie at 12:44PM on 07/22/09
Gee, I got a big honkin' bag of produce for a flat $10 and that included anything and everything that the farmer was selling. As much as I could stuff into a bag. If I bought the artisinal cheeses from a different farmer, I could have carried $10 worth in the palm of my hand.
Every farmer's market is different, so comparing your particular farmer's market to all the ones in the US as a unit is a bit silly.
For example, Simon pointed out that farmers at his market might travel a great distance to get to the market. At my local market, all the farms are within this county and all the produce has to be grown on their farms (so no co-op stuff or reselling from other farms). And it's not that big of a county. The ONLY exception is for produce that doesn't grow in this county. So there are a couple vendors who sell stone fruits. If they happen to grow other produce, they can't bring it to the local market, though, if local farmers are growing the same crops.
And of course, the value of a dollar varies as well.
dbcurrie at 5:06PM on 07/22/09
italy has subsidized everything ... healthcare, on down.... it doesn't cost $8000 a year to have medical benefits .... that's even if the farmer or producer can afford health care.
regular people are not like walmart. they are individuals who must bust their ass to make an honest living on their own sweat and imagination.
i love people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
pooch at 5:41PM on 07/22/09
i would have to agree that it depends on the area and the expectations of the people shopping there. in my area the grocery stores have such expensive produce. the farmers markets are generally cheaper.
sure $3.50 for a dozen eggs is hefty... but its farm fresh and you can know the cage conditions of the chickens if you ask around. in the store its $1.30 for a dozen regular or $3.69 for free range.
as for veggies, i bought 6 small zuchinni the other day for $1.50. seemed like an excellent deal to me! the grocery store doesnt actually carry that shape. im pretty sure the time i got 3 lbs of parsnips it was $2. the scallions were also a better price than our grocery store.
blizcheetah at 11:30PM on 07/22/09
The federal government doesn't subsidize fruit and vegetable growers, but it does give large agriculture conglomerates big tax breaks for transporting food. Combined with the lower wages paid by huge farms (both by growing in other countries with different labor policies, and by exploiting undocumented workers in the US), that adds up to a pint of strawberries grown in Chile or California being about half the price of a pint of strawberries grown here in NY state. (Of course, the California strawberries taste like nothing and NY strawberries are perfect).
Shopping at farmer's markets is certainly in vogue at the moment - and thank goodness! People are finally waking up and realizing that if we don't support local farms, they'll go away, and that local food is almost always more tasty. And this is not just yuppies - folks from all walks of life shop at NYC's greenmarkets. I'm there twice a week.
The idea that caring about one's health and the local economy is elitist is ridiculous. That's the kind of logic someone uses when they are too lazy to participate, but want to justify their decision. Small farmers work insanely hard (for example, to get to the greenmarket in NYC, most of them drive at least a couple of hours - and they arrive at 6 a.m. to start setting up), and they don't make much money. Farmers don't price their food to try to get whatever they can so they can put one over on us suckers. They price it based on their costs to raise it, and enough profit that they can sustain, generally just barely. E.g., this year, cherries were really expensive - $6/lb - but that's because the cherry crop was largely ruined by the rain. Peaches, on the other hand, are cheaper this year than last.
Most office workers take home a higher salary than even the most successful small farmer. And I wonder who works harder?
producestories at 9:29AM on 07/23/09
I went to the KC rivermarket last saturday and filled my bag for about $12.. the two most expensive things I bought were peaches and heirloom cherry tomatoes.. both $3 a pint. I also got okra, kholorabi, radishes,baby bok choy, yellow squash and one other thing I'm blanking on.
I also know the Minneapolis Farmer's market, which i shopped at for years, has prices very similar to the ones here in KC.
Alm25 at 10:43AM on 07/23/09
Yeah, from my experience, the farmers need to subsidize their costs and make it worth the effort of hauling things into the city. It's still generally cheaper than local grocery stores in Manhattan (Queens is a different story), but even if it was more expensive, people would generally rather support a "local" farm than a super corp or large importer/distributor.
All of that said, I once saw bundles of twigs sold at the Union Square greenmarket for $15 a pop. So.
savecara at 10:58AM on 07/23/09