Last Sunday I made my usual rounds at the Dupont market, but this time I kept track of exactly what I spent. For $35 dollars, I brought home:
A half gallon of creamline milk, a wedge of specialty cheese, a quart of lard (more on that in future posts), a pound or two of green beans, two ears of corn, six medium purple peppers, one medium zucchini, a head of romaine, a large slicing tomato, a peach, two onions, and a half dozen eggs.
For the cost, is this a lot of food or a little? To me it seems like a lot, but maybe I’ve just gotten used to the prices. Farmers markets are (sometimes wrongly, often rightly) accused of being expensive. But as I’ve said before, with regard to local free-range eggs, it all depends on your frame of reference. In absolute terms, many of the items at the market are not exorbitantly priced, it’s just that mass-produced supermarket food can be so damn cheap by comparison.
But then, of course, there’s the issue of quality. Even skeptics would agree that the average farmer’s market item is of higher quality and superior flavor than the average supermarket item. The question is whether it’s worth the added cost. I say yes, but others might have valid reasons to say no.
There is also a behavioral element. The high quality, I have noticed, inspires positive changes in my eating and cooking patterns. I am more likely to make a lunch to bring to work with me, which saves me money (lunch in downtown DC is pricey). I am less likely to let things get old in the fridge and have to be tossed. I am more likely to have friends over for dinner instead of suggesting we go out. So from an economic standpoint, I am not convinced that there is a huge gap between what I currently spend on food and what I would spend if I stopped going to the farmer’s market.
Have any other locavores out there experienced similar behavior changes? Or is this all just meaningless justification for being a bourgeois food snob?
Well, you have to preface this with the statement about the Dupont Market, and all Freshfarm Markets: These markets actually have produce sold by the farmers who produce the food. I have been to other farmers’ markets where the vendors buy food at the grocery store and just arrange it neatly in baskets, jump the prices, and sell. That’s not a farmers’ market to me. And in those cases, it is ridiculously more expensive for just the same crap.
But the quality, support of people whom you see every week, the building of community, and the knowledge of what is and isn’t on or in your food is worth the extra money to me. And yes, compared to prices at, say, Giant or Safeway, you didn’t get a large haul for $35. Imagine the amount of pasta, tuna, or no-name brand soda you could get for $35! In terms of volume and calories, you’d get a whole lot more at a supermarket.
But value? There’s no better value than your local farmers’ market. You also wouldn’t find those purple peppers or free range eggs, most likely.
And it’s totally true, since I started shopping at the farmers’ market and getting food delivered to me from my CSA, I have been much more creative with my cooking. I have been cooking. Instead of ordering Chinese every night… Now that gets expensive!
Prices at the farmers market could help explain why 99 percent of people don’t shop there. But the reasons are more numerous than just price. Most people just don’t place that much importance on the quality or source of their food. We buy free range eggs at the Dupont market but we try to forage everything else out of our own garden and have meat and dairy delivered from our local dairy.
You scrutinize the issue at depth which is interesting and put buyers at a crossroad. Price, quality and familiarity may not necessarily be the primary factors. Some even shop at a certain place and from a certain stall or sellers simply because the place is the nearest…. Hmm.. home grown veggies still the best. They are not just mere food items, there is joy and sentiment attached!!
Have a great weekend!
~ bangchik and kakdah.
These are all good points. Price and convenience are two of the main factors people choose conventional food outlets over local markets (rightly or wrongly…). But for most people that I know (including myself) who frequent farmer’s markets and other local food outlets these are not the primary issues. Certainly quality is important, but the most important is the connection to our food sources and our communities that is afforded by shopping alternatively. When eating a delicious salad I think about the family in Hermann, MO who worked to grow and harvest the lettuce, and who are the direct recipients of my money. For me, this is just as important as quality (and maybe more). It is definitely more important than price and convenience. These habits help us forge important bonds with the world around us.
But to get to your question, Amelia, I would say that my eating habits have similarly evolved over the last few years as I have changed the way that I but food. I find myself turning down dinner invitations because I’d feel guilty if the greens in my fridge spoiled. Instead, I am often cooking for friends (or letting them cook for me) from fresh, local ingredients. In addition to saving money, this provides a more intimate and rewarding experience than any restaurant could hope to provide. I cook nearly every day and plan meals several days in advance, which are things that I don’t do in the winter (when I get most of my food from the grocery store). Many might see this mode of consumption as a hobby, or, as you put it less flatteringly, the activity of a “bourgeois food snob.” But for me it has become a deeply fulfilling lifestyle which I can’t imaging abandoning.
I think it’s worth the price. All of it is high-quality, honest food (i.e., you know what’s in it). I personally can’t wait to hear about the lard. Where did you get it? I looked for lard around town for biscuits and didn’t find any.
I personally have a soft spot for farmers’ markets in general… something about all that fresh food gathered in one place just makes my inner foodie VERY happy. Needless to say though, after discovering Dupont and Eastern Market, my weekly food spendings have doubled (in comparison to my previous runs to Trader Joe’s) but I think it’s totally worth it. Just going to the farmers’ markets makes me happy and I’ve been prompted to be more adventurous with what I buy just because I know it’s going to be good (ufo shaped squash things anyone?) and really fresh. Besides, that milk is so good…
Gorgeous produce!
Jenlin–patty pan squash! I used some of that and some zucchini in a really spicy lasagna last week. Excellent!
I agree with most of the other comments above on why I shop at farmers markets, and I have a couple of other thoughts on my economics/behavior:
1) by raising a lot of our my produce I’m able to afford to pay the higher prices at the farmers market for what I don’t grow myself – perhaps this is my equivalent of your lunch tradeoff;
2) I consider the extra cost like a donation to the cause of sustaining green space around DC that might otherwise be turned into housing developments if farmers can’t make a go of it;
3) I would be willing to pay almost any price for the perfection of a Toigo peach.