The Americanization of farmers markets. Now just pop up food courts.

You obviously have not been to Red Stick Farmer’s Market

My pawpaw used to sell his veggies, honey, and catalpa worms (in Baker by KFC). He did his farm work, worked at Ethel refinery, got home and did more farm work, then sold his goods on the weekends. Do you think anyone is willing to do that today? Very few.

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Do you think anyone is willing to do that today?

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Only boomers.

I do get my honey locally. All they do is filter the honey.

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Farmers Markets are a scam.

They aren’t selling locally grown products. They take em out of the same boxes Walmarts do. Very very few local grown products.

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I am sure some are like that, but we have three local ones we rotate between that are almost all local food, but it is a fairly large city.

OP is correct. It’s all just weirdos selling their soaps and homemade dog treats while some stand sells you vegetables they bought from Albertsons yesterday at 500% markup.


You can buy bananas and pineapples the farmers market

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Well in BR it’s a scam.

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Quality local farmers' markets are a rare benefit of living in an area with a high concentration of upper-middle-class soccer moms. They all know the term of art "food traceability" and insist on supply chain visibility and transparency. Products do come with a typical Karen tax added.

It depends on the management of the farmer’s market. Good markets make rules limiting craft bullshite and prepared foods.

ETA: good markets don’t allow resale either. The side of the road peddlers are typically resellers buying from wholesalers or farms states away.

Finding good producers to give up a day to go to markets is also not easy. Most farmers would rather sell in CoOp with customers coming directly to them for a set box rather than packing up produce to sell individual produce.

Part of my line migrated to Jennings in search of rice farming jobs - later 19th century - never found much success.

My great-grandfather, who hard-scrabbled his way through many jobs (wagon teamster, carpenter, laborer, farm hand, etc.).

Once, he tried his hand at farming by growing a strawberry patch. The day came to load up and take his strawberries to market.

Problem was he picked too soon for the market and between that, a long wagon trip, and a blistering heat wave, the crop -and his dream- was mostly spoiled by the time he got to market and he could sell hardly any.

To this day, his line (myself included) feels -and prolly is- cursed by having the entrepreneurial spirit and even insight but not the knack or luck to go with it -hahaha.

TLDR: farming and marketing farm goods ain’t easy…

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Farmers markets (including the once great French Market) have all just turned into glorified food courts with prepared foods. No fresh vegetables or fruits. No simple fresh baked breads. Everything is a prepared meal and ridiculous prices and you can’t trust these people are following any food safety protocols preparing this stuff at home. Sad.

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Market get popular, rent for a stall goes up, selling vegetables aren’t enough, boom.