The grocery stores offer these products because they can sell them to people such as yourself.
People are used to buying things that are "perfect" looking but full of pesticides (especially from other countries with less laws than we have), that are out of season (and therefore can't be available locally year round), and that don't care about the price as long as they have what they want when they want it (too much discretionary money and no sense of where their food comes from or how it is grown or what season it can be grown locally).
At farmers markets where I vend in NE Pennsylvania, people want tomatoes and peppers and corn even before we can put them in the ground.
The general population is so removed from our agricultural heritage that we no longer respect Mother Nature's timing in different localities.
Although health food enthusiasts and organic consumers may be growing, it is such a small minority that most retail markets sell/grow for the masses who are utterly uneducated in agricultural matters.
I hope your article goes well. As an agricultural writer (and previous editor of a grower publication), I would be happy to look at your article before publication to make sure your facts (regarding growing) are accurate.
Ann

I am currently competing with Chinese garlic being sold in our farmer's market. I distinguish mine by selling with top leaves attached.

I've caught one seller heading back from the supermarket with boxes of produce to sell, 'new' potatoes and corn. Our market allows resellers, with which I disagree. Yes, many customers don't know the difference and some of these 'hucksters' lie. One was asked last week if her tomatoes were homegrown, she said they were "vine-ripe"(forty days after last frost). Under the table she obviously had four more cases of the same Florida tomatoes. A few resellers grow a little bit to legitimize their stuff, and buy some produce locally for resale.

The biggest problem I see with these at my market is that we have a limited customer base, and real growers here have reached a saturation point such that it is becoming difficult to expand our sales and make a decent living with four large stands stocked with produce shipped in from all over the country and the world.

My problems are similar; the large chains will not buy locally as they need all to come from the central warehouse. Since we cannot supply the whole chain they will not talk to you. I go to the little Mom and Pops and really try to work something out with them. If we can both agree on a price and we both make money then I cut the deal. I see the same thing stands that are selling stuff out of season and telling me to my face that they grew it. The public needs to wake up!

Yes countries would benefit from growing their own but the multinational agribusiness corporations who control about 99% of the USA's food supply would not benefit and since they have the control they call the shots and so we have food consumers who have have never eaten fresh food. We have food that on average travels 3500 miles before it is eaten.

The rural infrastructure that the USA once had is gone so it is very very hard for small farmers to grow and process foods locally when there are no abbitoirs, no grain mills, few year round venues where farmers can sell their items, etc.. This infrastructure is being rebuilt but the rebuilding is haphazard-some parts of the USA have done a lot to rebuild their rural infrastucture other places have next to nothing. there is little to no government money (most goes for farmers' markets) for this project so it is done by the farmers and customers who desire to grow, sell and eat local foods

Lucy goodman

yeah. no kidding! this is a problem that WE farmers have been complaing about for years. the average suburbanite has no clue about anything agricultural and could not care less. most town folk don`t really know what a ripe tomato taste like `cause they aint never ate one. the have only experienced "red" ones, but not ripe. it`s like the school prinipal who accompanied the class to our place several years back on a feild trip. we let the kids milk a cow, and they were fascinated. when the principal`s turn came to pull the udder, he jumped back with an atonished look on his face and said "this stuff is warm", duh! NO CLUE. its all about going to the mall and the movies and stuff like that, yet they demand to be fed. they have the best stuff they could possibly get at the local markets but are too lazy to make the effort to get up and go get it.

BUT - health advisors tell us to eat more fruits and vegetables! and to eat them year round! how ya gonna do that in the winter? So our government has cut a deal with foreign nations that either don't have a winter season or are in the southern hemisphere where the seasons are reversed from ours. I personally know people that travel to those countries to inspect the operations and they do have to meet our countries laws governing chemical use - so don't believe everything you hear. This is the way things are today, throw a fit if you want to but it isn't gonna change anything.

A bigger problem is the loss of farm land. Cities were built and are spreading into the most fertile real estate in the country - forcing farmers to move to less productive areas or quit. The world needs fewer people.

There is a man around our area who sets up his pickup and table on the side of the road a few times a week. I saw him setting up tons of tomatoes and melons the other day and I find it hard to believe that he has a greenhouse set up that he is growing all of this in. I know that he probably buys all of his stuff at a wholesaler down the road but the majority of the people think that he grew this stuff. At least they are supporting a neighbor by buying from him and not Food Lion.

I buy things from the grocery store when they are not in season all the time -I love grapes- but when they are available locally I will always get them instead. A lot of times if you see a sign at a grocery that says "locally grown" they could mean up to a couple of states away...

Triangle John: we can eat locally all year round. Drying, canning, freezing are options, plus growing things in greenhouse, unheated hoop houses, cold frames, etc. Plus many root crops and winter squashes, potatoes, onions, and garlic store quite well for several months if held in the right temperature conditions.
Could you also verify why you think other countries DO follow our pesticide rules? Our chemical manufacturers continue to produce pesticides that are outlawed here to sell to other countries. Our country does so little testing to verify pesticide residue that our own stuff is unreliable, and out of country stuff is even more so.
Sweet Muse: are you getting an earful, or eyeful?
Ann

Hi to everyone that responded,

I have been reading all the responses and actually coping and pasting them into my computer to help me in my research study. I am very fascinated at the responses especially on the fact that foods at farmer markets may be not grown locally. I have compiled a list of farmers markets and have been calling them to see what their rules are on selling. I also have been talking with local grocery stores to find out where they buy there products and why.

Someone mentioned in their response that they personally know someone that goes out of the country to inspect how the food is cultivated. During my research on the agricultural laws I have found none that state that their methods are inspected. The only law is that a purchaser keep a record of where they purchased the food and in order for food to be imported to the United States the country that is selling the food must keep a record of where it came from. This is only helpful if someone gets sick from the food, these records will help trace where it came from.

I will keep you guys up to date on further news.

Sweet Muse

The definition of a "farmer's market" varies from place to place, and few follow even their own rules. When times are lean they will look the other way and allow re-selling even if their bylaws forbid it. It comes down to keeping the market open and running or shutting it down. Some locations are lucky and have very successful and well attended farmer's markets that actually follow the rules and support local small scale farming. But every market can't be perfect. I wish that they would force the folks reselling produce to simply state that they did not grow it, they bought it wholesale just like the local grocery store. Some markets put all the true farmers in one section and keep all the resellers in another - but every market is different. And having participated in the local scene I can tell you that a majority of the shoppers couldn't care less (sad but true). If you stop them ask them if they really believe that the oranges and bananas they bought came from this state (NC) they just look at you funny. When you point out that the price they just paid is the same price they would pay at the local grocery store their eyes glaze over with bewilderment. I've obviously asked too many questions. Some care. Some care passionately. Some don't care at all. It ain't a perfect world.

I have a wonderful home garden. I live in a state that supports year round gardening. I can and freeze and preserve my produce and have for a long long time. But very few people are like me. Most do not have the space or the time or the interest in doing it the way I do. It would be nice if more people grew their own food but it would also be unrealistic.

The connection I have who travels to foreign countries is a researcher in greenhouse production of crops (everything from pharmaceutical herbs to cut flowers, if it grows in a greenhouse his job is to solve production problems). He tells me that US cut flower growers often claim that South American growers don't have to obey laws governing pesticide or herbicide use. He says that claim is false. If they grow their product specifically for the American market they have to obey American laws. He travels to, and leads US Government tours of, greenhouse facilities throughout Mexico, Central America and South America. I think he knows a little bit about this subject. If he feels like contacting you to prove this point he will but I can't force him to.

Way back in the early 1940's when I was young the only produce we got that wasn't grown at home or from neighboring farms was an orange or tangerine in our Christmas stocking. I don't even know what was available then because we seldom went to town to shop. We lived off the land.

Now, as you all know, grapes, watermelon, strawberries, citrus, tomatoes etc. are for sale all year around in the super market. Shipped in from all over the world and it's amazing to me how people will pay the high price for the stuff. Although "homegrown" is becoming to mean not much more than grown somewhere in the USA the biggest and best super market in my area does make a big effort to buy local produce, and even set up special displays in the stores with the names and pictures of the growers. Some of the growers will grow enough to supply several stores other small growers may bring their produce in to just one or two stores. They have asked me to grow herb plants and vegetables for them.

Like most of you I am also a vendor at a farmers market. One of the biggest, oldest, busiest markets anywhere. There are 300 to 350 vendors and up to 35,000 customers on a Saturday. Many years ago it was started as a farmers market and farmers still get preference for stalls but now there is far more shipped in produce than locally grown. Many vendors are just hucksters. The market is open year round and many farmers have gotten into selling shipped in produce. I've been a vendor at that market for 29 years. Many customers have come to know who really sells locally grown produce and who doesn't. But most people don't seem to care.

There are many real farmers markets. Almost every little town around here now has one in season. And they are good but very small. Great for hobby growers,and for those who have the trucks and people to set up at more than one market. I remember reading that there has been a 79% increase in the number of farmers markets in the last couple years. I hope it's more than a fad, and I hope more people will come to appreciate good fresh locally grown produce.

I also have hope that people will get back to growing some of their own food. I was asked this spring to advise on the setup of a new farmers market for a small town and I said I was glad to help but I also suggested they look into getting some sort of community garden going where people can use a plot of land to actually grow something themselves. I'm very encouraged at the number of younger people interested in doing something like this.

There are a number of books on this subject of imported food. My favorite is Eat Here, by Brian Halweil.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eat Here

Just a few thoughts. We all have choices when we shop. When I see grapes or cherries from (you name the country), I can buy or not. Most usually not if not USA.

Remember that agricultural exports from USA count for a great amount of our international trade dollars. Maybe other countries feel the same way about us.

I grow my own; my customers know it. The ones who care, make a point of shopping with me and others in market who grow their own. We have had a few non-grower sellers (it's a small market). I resolved that in my mind by figuring that "some" farmer grew the stuff---the buyer still has the choice.