View Single Post
Old September 27, 2015   #33
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

My step-dad went to a neighboring town's market last week. Green Beans sold by the pound are bringing $50-60 a bushel. The guy next to him told him he buys all of his stuff from the Amish produce auction and re-sells it. He pays just $12 a bushel for green beans.

His beans were Contender, so they are bigger (and tougher) than the Strike that we grow, which means they would be a little faster to pick, but ours take 2-3 hours for one person to pick a bushel. All that back-breaking labor produces a commodity that wholesales for $12.

That's the dilemma facing farmer's markets. If you are producer-only, there might not be any vendors at all. But if you let in re-sellers, then few vendors who grow their own stuff will be driven out by the low prices of the re-sellers.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote