Yes, and furthermore I have read recently that the rules for calling something local in stores have changed to include time rather than distance, so if you are in FL and the corn was grown in TX and air shipped in, it can legitimately be called "local" in the store.

EDIT However, I have to say that in my area the places selling local organic at the greenmarket mostly are. However the largest produce stands there don't put up any signs about being local or organic and the stuff obviously isn't, but I suspect a lot of people who buy there think it is.

But then again, the whole meaning of "organic" is totally different from what most people think it means.

There are also farmers who dupe the inspectors from certification organizations at the farm. Cheats aren't new. In California, we've had similar exposés, especially those showing that the stand didn't grow the produce. Most of these aren't really dirty cheaters so much as just trying to make a living, and if they don't have enough crops to sell they'll buy from a neighbor or packer and bring that, even though it's against the rules of the markets. Things are supposed to be better nowadays, but I find farmers' markets inconvenient and am generally pleased with the freshness and quality of the produce I get at the store, much of which is also labelled organic and local, and ostensibly has someone making sure that that is true.

There was an article recently about how people have strange influence biases, so that their perception of the same thing (say, a cookie) is that it has fewer calories and other healthier properties for no other reason than that it is labelled organic. This isn't a fair test, really, because I think that's in absence of any nutrition labelling information. My own perception of the "organic" label is that the growers are trying to use sustainable practices. Trying. No more or less, therefore I'm rarely disappointed.

Other than a very few handpicked fruits, "local" here--in reality, though I don't know the legal definition--means grown at least 50 miles away, and more like 100-400. There were tractors tilling fields here when I was a kid.

Farmers markets are only as good as their management. We have a ton of markets and there are markets that are VERY strict, and markets that allow sourced goods.

No, corn doesn't grow here in May!

I definitely talk to the vendors at open-air markets and get an idea of whether they are farmers or resellers, and it is pretty easy to spot those that are not farmers. I also look for dirt on the celery and lettuce, and if there is none, I am a bit suspicious. I also want to see all the upper leaves left on the vegetables, especially the celery, as I like celery leaves, and they are easier to find at farmers' markets. There are quite a few items that do not travel well, like cherimoya, and so I can be fairly sure that they were locally grown - in fact I grow my own cherimoya, but not enough of it. Heirloom tomatoes do not travel well either, but then they also do not store well after having been bought.

One of the reasons I go to farmers' markets is to talk with the farmers, and if I do not like them, I will not buy from them - unless they have something that I really, really want and at a good price.

I will never forget this farmers market near Navasota TX with its charming dilapidated buildings and billboard after billboard advertising fresh local produce. One day we drive by and I notice a veggie distributor truck, the same co that delivers to supermarkets in Houston, dropping a shipment of veggies, ha. Never stopped there again.

Ours is all local but we're a small town and the vendors are truly farmers in the area and you can visit their farms. You can tell because they have 4 boxes of strawberries because that is what their strawberries produced that day.

I'm in a touristy area; Mennonite country. A large farmers market runs year round, selling everything from meats, produce, clothing, baked goods etc.

I laugh when people rave how they're buying "local" yet there are pineapples and mangoes being offered. There are very few local farmers, they're coming from the same food depot that the grocers get theirs from.

I always shop price. If my local store has potatoes on sale for $2 for a 10-lb bag, I'm not paying $2 for a little basket at the market. A friend of ours went one Saturday, saw the prices of the meat, then went to a local independent grocer and bought his steaks without paying tourist prices.

I don't always shop by price when I know the producer grows the food or raises the animal. I emphasize "producer" because that's different from a "vendor", who resells goods. At least to me, it's important to make that distinction.

I know most every farm that I've been buying form for over a decade, and I can spot what's not in season here. I tend not to buy from vendors, but will if the price is right. I will pay more to the farmer who toils and lives that life, dedicated to raising and growing sustainably. I also pay more to buy things I can't easily find in stores, grown from heritage seeds and only if Mother Nature cooperates.

Part of the excitement sometimes is getting something wild and local, like ramps, which are predictably abundant this time of year, or morel mushrooms, which are a very tough find this year.

Proteins are always more expensive at the farmers market, but that's a personal choice to pay the premium to support the small farmer and get quality meats, raised organically (in the broad sense of no hormones, antibiotics and grass fed/cage-free foraging, non-gmo feed) and humanely.

The NYC greenmarket is strict. They have a small allowable artisan percentage for entrepreneurs to sell as well, like breads, sorbet, herbs/veg starts. Pretzel guy.

Outside the city are hit or miss. Spot the cheats easy enough. We don't bother after one stop. Corn is not fresh if literally inverted kernels....that takes weeks to look that bad if i've lost one in the back of the fridge.

Reminds me of this recent NPR article...Farm to Fable

Farm to Fable

I sell at our excellent local farmers market and I can tell you how to check if yours is local, organic, or whatever. Talk to the Market Manager and he/she should be able to answer your questions. Most vendor by-laws or rules for the market exist at a good market and you can ask to read them if they are not published on their website ("Becoming a Vendor"). They should send out board members to inspect the farms and the sales people have to be employed at the farm or be the farmer. If they say they are Organic they must have the certificate from the USDA, otherwise they can only say their products are "Naturally Grown" meaning close to organic without the certificate. At our market farms have to be within 75 miles of the sales site. A good MM will walk around during sales time and make the vendor remove anything that doesn't look fresh and advise them on how to prepare and keep them so they are.

And, lastly, talk to the vendor/farmer. Comment on what you object to and question them closely. If you get a whiff of blah-blah talk to the MM. Ask the farmer to show you photos of their farm. If they are proud of what they do they will have them, lots of them. And, if they offer quality every week, be a regular. Say their name and thank them for what they do. Don't give them guff about their prices. You want quality and local, pay a reasonable amount. Yes, you can get it at the local grocery store cheaper, but where was it grown and by whom? On a commercial conglomerate farm with thousands of acres of chemical treated soil that is owned by non-farmers, or from the farmer who has maybe 10 acres and works the land and/or tends his meat producers every day of the week, year around?

It depends on what I see, that I shop by price. If asparagus is a bit more at the market, I'll buy it there, when I speak to them, and realize that they are locally grown, and it looks good. I bought some coloured peppers last week at the market. Potatoes are potatoes, I don't mind buying from a store, when they're grown in our province. We've got 'potato country' where quality potatoes are grown. Last summer we got some nice eggplant from the market, that I'm looking forward to buying again.

Jasdip, as you can see by the list ours is truly local.

Red Stick Farmers' Market vendors

I just got back from a farmer's market run--they didn't have the specific items I was looking for though, so I wandered over to the Sprouts in the same center to pick up what I needed. With a little experience, you learn which ones know and grow.

I learned more about avocados talking with the farmer for ten minutes than I picked up during the past two decades! And he sells wonderful Fuerte avocados--and will let you know exactly how many days until they are perfect. And why. The ripening time needed varies with the fruit's season, and their oil content.

And then there is the grower that will bring the potted herbs I need the following week, if he does not have them on the table that day. No one else seems to want to offer epazote. And I can count on marjoram there--I buy so many of them, I think he just brings them every week now!

But then there are the items I simply pick up at the local Ranch Market store. It has great prices (6 bunches of cilantro for $1 and blood oranges as low as $.79/lb during the season) and a good variety of uncommon, and common produce.

It really is a case of learning what to buy where; as long as you can plan ahead. I would feel lost without the farmers markets to be able purchase some items. But I don't buy things there "just because".

Hi sleevendog - the NPR piece is about the article in my link from our local paper

Here the local farmer's markets also have rules that only allow the vendor/farmer to sell what they produce themselves. They also allow a certain amount of handicraft type items, like wreaths or soap, but the ingredients must be agricultural in nature and produced by the seller, so the lady who sells goat milk soap actually has the goats for the milk, but she's allowed to buy lye online since we don't produce that locally. It's definitely not a flea market, but truly a farmer's market that way.

Being in Michigan, of course, necessitates some shopping at grocery stores for items like citrus or avocados, and truthfully, I grow most of my own stuff anyway, I seldom buy produce in season when I can walk out to the garden and just pick it.

I definitely cannot produce items at the price point big corporation farms can produce them, my "heritage" turkeys were a good lesson. The blasted things were a huge PIA and cost me $45 each just to raise them, and that's not charging for my time. Because my calves are born on this farm, it takes me 18 months to grow an animal that will produce about 600 pounds of beef, and some of that is soup bones, oxtail, liver and heart, shanks etc., things that don't sell all that well, usually. So, if I only have one calf per year, that's 33 pounds per month I'm producing, LOL, good thing I usually have two or three! I can raise organic chicken for about $1.00 a pound, but that doesn't cover my time or the killing, plucking and clean, which is not a job anyone I know relishes, including myself.

So, if you cannot locate a good farmer's market or a local farmer, I'm sad for you, you're missing out on good stuff. Be prepared, though, to pay a bit extra. I'd rather have my dollars go to a neighbor than to Tyson or Monsanto or Smithfield Ham (who is currently owned by the Chinese). So, I'll buy lamb from a neighbor and pay a couple more bucks for it than I would if I bought it at Meijer, but I'm helping support my friends and local business and Elery says the lamb is better. I don't know, I don't eat the stuff, but he loves it and I just don't want to start raising that too!

Annie

I only buy from farmers market fruits and vegetables I can't find in supermarkets.

Most of the sellers are honest good farmers. I worry about the few who are not.

It is an impossible living to be a small farmer. Some of them will do anything to increase yields, including over spray with all kinds of poison chemicals.

dcarch

I'd rather have my dollars go to a neighbor than to Tyson or Monsanto or Smithfield Ham (who is currently owned by the Chinese).

I won't buy Smithfield products or any of their core brands. Makes it tough to find pork tenderloins. That's why I'm thrilled one of our farmers' market vendors is opening a brick and mortar store in our neighborhood later this year.

Iverstine Family Farms opening full service butcher shop

Annie, it was on the news last nite, that our asparagus is having a tough year. The farmers thought it would be a good year because of the mild winter, but the spring has been so cool that it's sparse, popping out of the ground.

How have you been finding yours growing? I know you planted 100 plants this year.

We're blessed to have many markets around me. Our central location allows us to get food from producers in 5 different state, so lots of different climates and food diversity.

We have a core of year-round markets, while seasonal markets are open from May-November.

When I lived in another state, a neighbor was selling his cattle as organically fed. He was buying hay in the wintertime anywhere he could scrounge it up back in the hay shortage days. Would that have made his organic claims not correct anymore?

If the hay isn't grown according to organic standards, then the beef shouldn't be labeled as organic.

For the farmer who fed non-organic certified hay, the USDA can take away his organic certificate, if indeed he has one. Did you all know that there is a hefty fine for people labeling things organic when they are not, most often with jail time too? If you want to be a whistle blower call your County, State or US Department of Agriculture. We should be able to believe that what we buy is the real thing and trust in our nation's food supply.

A few years ago a man at the NC State Farmers Market was selling, not only repackaged but not even his product, loaves of bread that he said he baked and were labeled as gluten-free that were not. It made a lot of people ill who had celiac disease or were gluten intolerant. There was a big hullabaloo (he went to jail, thankfully) and now many people grill me closely on my gluten-free products because of that greedy joker. I have my yearly inspection certification from the NC Dept of Ag, plus my registration with the FDA with me at every market day, and I also tell them I am a grandma who would not even think of making someone ill with the gluten-free goods I offer for sale.

If you have a question about the food that is being offered, please contact the people whose job it is to keep our nation's food supply safe (and that our taxes pay for their salaries) and that they are correctly labeled. That is the Dept of Ag, County, State or US.

Nancy

Jasdip, I'm excited, I planted 100 crowns a couple of weeks ago, and about half are poking through, if we don't get rain soon, I'll water and then more will "pop". The asparagus crop here isn't ready yet, and I checked my old/established and very small bed, but no sign of asparagus yet. The rhubarb is nearly ready to pull, probably another week, so we are behind this year. It started so mild and now has just been cold and dry for several weeks.

Nancy is right, if something is labelled organic and isn't, there can be a big federal fine. I also smile when I see "vegetarian fed" yet "free range" eggs. You can guarantee that chicken didn't eat any worms or grasshoppers? That is NOT vegetarian, LOL. Many vendors here will state that their product is grown in "an organic manner", because they don't have certification. However, many times their items are more organic than the certified stuff, because so many sprays are allowed under the federal classification for organic produce.

Cindy, I sure hope your guy does a booming business!

Dcarch, the big boys are far more likely to spray with a ton of chemicals, though, because they have their government pesticide certification (which is necessary to buy certain chemicals or large amounts of certain chemicals). It's more cost effective for them because they can afford the big equipment necessary to spray on a large and regular basis. The little guy is limited as to what he can buy, unless he gets his pesticide certification. Even if he does, he has to buy the equipment unless he wants to spray everything with a handheld or backpack sprayer. I did part of a 15 acre hayfield last year that way, and it took weeks. Now I can't cut hay there for a couple of years, so it won't be in my beef, although if I have to buy some to make up the shortfall I'll have to pay dearly for the premium chemical free stuff.

Ah well, this little girl is worth it. Born on May 5, meet "Cinco De Mayo", approximately 15 minutes old in this photo.

Annie

Cinco De Mayo......I love it!!!

My market doesn't even bother to remove those stickers that come on shipped in produce. I quit buying there years ago.

Happy calf to you Annie! Great looking baby.

rob333

My market doesn't even bother to remove those stickers that come on shipped in produce. I quit buying there years ago.

*****

What a shame. I remember years ago (living in a different city) when I was SO excited to check out the farmers market in town. All I saw was mostly crates of veg that looked like the vendors bought it off a truck.

That's not a farmers market.

Even sadder if you knew our state seal and motto! How can a state founded on agriculture be incapable of growing their own food?

The same way CA has a grizzly on their flag...and only black bears remaining in the state.

Well, NJ certainly lives up to its name! The Garden State has delicious produce.