I am copying this article from a group I’m in on Facebook – Florida Farm Finder. I did not write this article nor do I take credit for it. I couldn’t have said it better myself therefore I decided to share it and give full credit where credit is due. For my readers in Florida, I highly recommend the group if you want to connect to Florida farmers. And if you live in another state, I’m hoping you can find the equivilant.
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😡 There’s no middle man! Why am I paying more? 💰
🛒 I pay half that at “Grocery Store!”
The Farmer’s Markets are scamming me! 👩🌾
Thanks to a certain post in our group #BigDillFlorida we’ve got a whole lot of new friends, and based on the comments IN said post, there’s a great new opportunity to teach people about farm-direct pricing, production cost, and grocery economics.
I’m gonna start off by welcoming those who have joined us thinking they were gonna get rock bottom dollar pricing on fresh food.
And then I’m going to apologize to you, because that’s not gonna happen. 😅
Here’s why your farmers market isn’t cheaper than the grocery store:
1) Grocery prices are based on market rate across the board. They are not based on the cost of production. It’s more of a bidding system. You should Google it, it’s interesting.
2) Because of the quantity they provide, large scale production farmers have access to subsidies, risk & crop protection dollars that most small/farm-direct producers don’t. That helps to ensure grocery pricing can stay low.
3) Grocery product can be and is sourced from outside the US to help maintain those low prices. Quality can vary, as standards for care and ag inputs is not the same as US grown goods. There’s also the fun extras that show up in truckloads of imports, like drugs. One more thing to Google!
4) Processing or packaging small batches of animals, fruit or produce is much more expensive than when you have bulk tonnage. Local processors/packing houses are also more expensive than the ones outside of the country that grocery brands have access to. Some of that grocery food makes an INTERNATIONAL TRIP in and out of our borders for processing, and is still cheaper than farm direct. That’s crazy to think about. Add it to the list of things to Google.
5) For beef and proteins particularly, you are getting prime cuts (stuff that’s normally $15+/#) included in your $8/# half cow.
6) You have the option of being a part of the decision making on what your food eats/how it is grown. When you shop farm direct you can literally customize your food.
7) You have the luxury of knowing where/when it was sourced, who did the processing/packing, how many gallons of fuel were needed to get it to market, and what farm improvements and capital investments will be made with your dollars. Farmers who sell direct get to keep more of the dollars. I am sure you’ve seen the “Small biz dollars pay for Susie’s ballet lessons” posts. You don’t inadvertently buy a shareholder their third vacation home.
8 ) Accessing seasonal crop at peak freshness and eating seasonally is significantly less expensive and more sustainable than trying to source product from a long distance when it’s not available close to home.
9) Local dollars stay in local economies longer. Local producers use local processors, local veterinarians, local packing houses, local workers, and equipment fixed by local mechanics. You have the opportunity to invest in your neighbors. That’s great for national security.
10) Yes, there are resellers that buy the cheapest available product sourced from wherever, put farm fresh labeling on it, and charge crazy pricing. Hopefully by joining us here, you’ll find enough true resources to be able to avoid those businesses. We have a great list of locally sourced markets in our pinned post in the #bigdillFlorida group. I’ll put it in the comments to get you started.
11) We don’t bash “big” or non-farm-direct farms. They are a very important piece of the food puzzle here in the US, especially because Florida grows a lot of specialty fresh crop that isn’t just acres and acres of biofuel/animal feed. FL provides a whole lot of the earliest annual fresh food product in stores in the northern states. And a lot of times they post seconds, and surplus product in here that we can take advantage of.
In a nutshell, you’re not being scammed by your expensive farm-direct producer. Their pricing just better reflects the cost of small batch production.
There’s no rule that says you have to shop farm-direct 24/7/365 to make a difference.
Many make small changes when they can, like local soap, or local dairy, or stocking up on bulk meat once or twice a year, or buying/upicking your favorite fruits in season.
That decision might seem small to you, but if just ten of you make that small change, you’ve greatly benefited the small producer who sells what you’ve decided to buy direct.
And we reach millions of people per year, so the impact is pretty incredible to see.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for joining us. I’m very excited to show you the wealth of opportunity that you now have access to.
I love seeing comments like “hey that’s right down the road and I didn’t even know!” I love it when farmers message me nervous because their season just opened and we’ve sent 15000 people to their farm event page. Or when farms sell out of meat birds or pork shares for a whole season with just a single post.
That’s what we do around here. It’s not about what’s cheapest.
Thanks for taking the time and expense to invest in and encourage your neighbors.
Want to find a farm-direct producer in Florida near you? Join us over at https://www.facebook.com/groups/floridafarmfinder .
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