First market Sale in Texas.. Interesting

[stonysoilseeds]

i really think to alot of people except us tomatovillans a tomato is just a tomato and in the more upscale areas there is more awareness of hierlooms.. i live in a rural area and people tend to seek the smaller perfect looking red tomatoes.. stupices were a big seller for me theyre are always nice surprises i had one customer an older gentleman in a wheel chair who used to love growing tomatoes and he bought almost one of each hierloom i sold and loved speaking tomatoes and there were some customers that bought hierlooms from me for the first time out of curiosity then would become regular repeat customers every saturday i also had similar situations with my hierloom summer squashes and pole beans.. thats the fun of the market this year im growing some romas as trap crops to lure them to my table but id never give up the hierlooms as thats what i love growing and im sure they will catch on what i dont sell i donate to the food pantry at our rural services

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

At my biggest market you aren't allowed to "sample" anything you need to cut. Killed heirloom sales because they usually aren't " store perfect". Halved melon sales too. It's the taste that sells both of them.

Unbelievable. The wisdom of clueless bureaucrats. I believe you could fairly easily get this rule changed.

Around here it's a Board of Health rule. They say that as soon as you cut something open, you're potentially exposing it to germs and bacteria if you're not in a licensed, sanitary facility and following strict food handling guidelines.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Amazing. Again, I would think your state senator could fairly easily get an exemption for fresh produce into the regulation.

[Rockporter]

I think it's amazing too, using plastic knives and plates would take care of the issue of clean since you just throw them away after the first use. Use one on each tomato, how hard is that? Sometimes I think regulations to protect us are a little too harsh.

[Wi-sunflower]

Here in Wisconsin, I'm not sure if it's a full state rule (I think it is) or just local as it seems that only Madison city health dept cares much about it. Then again Madison is extreme about pretty much everything.

Every time there is some food borne health issue they come up with some new reg that would supposedly prevent it. The problem is that virtually ALL of those food problems trace back to large corporate farms with poor practices. NONE of them were ever an issue for small family farms that pay attention to what they do. Especially those of us that sell directly to consumers.

The sampling issue came up after some ecoli showed up on cantaloupe. It turned out that a large, supposedly "organic" farmer, was spreading raw pig manure on bearing fields. Heck, I'm not organic and even I know you don't spray manure on crops, you put it on empty ground, pre-plant. What a maroon !!!!! So now all of us that have 1/2 a brain suffer because of it.

At least some of my other markets don't seem to care or enforce a no sampling rule.

Depending on how things grow this year, I plan to give some sample boxes of my heirloom hearts to some chefs that come to the Madison market regularly. Hopefully that will help get some interesting varieties "out there".

Carol

[meadowyck]

Wow, very interesting thread.

I'll comment to the last post as my memory of the others is rather short....

Carol: If you have chefs coming and they don't heirloom tomatoes, what kind of chefs are they????

others: here in Florida I've noticed that some of the farm stands don't give out samples, but they do have vegies and tomatoes and melons that are cut to show the inside of the spoils they offer for sale.

I would think that if you maybe sliced in half some of the heirlooms to show the inside that would open an opportunity for discussion which in turn might bring around sold customers on heirlooms. Just an idea, so don't shoot the messenger.....

Jan

[Wi-sunflower]

Yes we do cut the watermelons and put a "show" piece out for customers to see. We also eat the melons we cut while we are at the market. The market is long, from 6AM to 2 PM. So we have to catch a snack as we can while working. That also seems to get customers interested.

Chefs here ARE interested in heirlooms. The problem I have is that most are also buying primarily from only "certified organic" growers. I'm not organic tho use very little most years that isn't organic. Since most organic grower don't have nearly the variety i have tho, I should be able to get at least a few interested. A few already get my cherry varieties.

Also new near the end of the season was a gift of a whole lot of the black knock down plastic crates. These are the very short crates that will be perfect for 1 layer deep tomatoes. That should help get them to the market in better condition.

Carol

[Keger]

Did another market yesterday. Doing taste samples would be tough, even though this market wouldnt care. Can of worms. The public wants shape and color. 5% or so here have any interest in heirlooms.

[stonysoilseeds]

are you sure your not upstate ny keger sounds like your doing same market as i do lol

[Keger]

Right Stony? I kinda think its a good idea to give them what they want, plus its a lot easier to grow.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by marktutt

It's the interpretation of the Dept of Ag that if you cut the produce you are 'processing' it and you need a food processing license/inspected facility/etc.

A few of the markets apply the common sense rule and turn a blind eye, but most do not.

This is an issue that is very near and dear to my heart, and something that I think is worth fighting for change.

Being unable to cut up a fruit or vegetable and provide a sample to the public is ridiculous. As others said above, heirlooms really need to be sampled/tasted to attract attention. Otherwise, people buy what they already know -- round red baseballs.

Originally Posted by Keger

dont really see a reason for taste tests, the folks seem to know what they want.

Originally Posted by Keger

I kinda think its a good idea to give them what they want, plus its a lot easier to grow.

If people are only familiar with Walmart, they may not be aware that there are higher quality products.

As I said in your other threads, it is perfectly ok if you sell the typical red round tomatoes to the general public and they are happy with it. But depending where you sell, or your market audience, there is the possibility of educating the public and getting them engaged in what you are growing and selling. And you can also sell at a higher price. I never go to a farmer's market expecting to pay $2 a pound for whatever. I am looking for high quality produce FIRST and then I decide if I can afford the price.

I am actually interested in where my food comes from, how it was grown, etc. But I do realize that most people either don't know, or don't want to know.

[Keger]

feldon,

So far they want to know it was grown locally, they havent asked about organic growing. Local seems to be the big deal. Now, they are loving the small stuff, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear, etc., and some of those are heirlooms of course. The 5% that know of heirlooms love my big ones, but I dont push them. All the quality at this market is good, everyone is getting their price. I have had no pricing issues, just supply issues.

[stonysoilseeds]

hello feldon and keger i would never stop growing the hierllomss as thats what i truly enjoy and it takes time to educate the consumer on the higher quality of hierlloms that they arew not used to..i really had no problem selling every stupice tomato i brought to the market as it has the look of a conventional tomato and i expect to do better with my hierllooms this year i have an even wider assortment of shapes and sizes now .. there is a market 40 miles from me in ithaca new york where cornell university is located thats an exceptionally successful market that has many vendors selling hierloooms at astronomical prices as the area is progressive and there is alot of awareness about differences in quality.. i am over the mileage limit to sell there but i think its our job as vendors to educate the consumer as once they try they become repeat and one customer spreads the word to the other i dont even expect to get more money for my hierlooms as the market i participate in is very price sensitive,,, i have incorporated some of the familar tomatoes in my array this year like roma to serve as trap crops to lure the customers to my table lol// i also plan to put alot more signage on the descriptions of my hierlooms i

[Neohippie]

Huh that's weird, the markets around here give out all sorts of samples. When I was a poor college student I used to go to the one in downtown Austin to make the rounds.

I can understand some sort of rule like you have to wear gloves and have the food on a clean surface and so on, but samples really do sell products.

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Originally Posted by feldon30

This is an issue that is very near and dear to my heart, and something that I think is worth fighting for change.

Being unable to cut up a fruit or vegetable and provide a sample to the public is ridiculous. As others said above, heirlooms really need to be sampled/tasted to attract attention. Otherwise, people buy what they already know -- round red baseballs.

I wholeheartedly agree, but just haven't figured out where to go next with this. In discussing it with a Wisc Dept of Ag supervisor last year I can see both sides of the issue. I've eaten plenty of produce straight from the garden/orchard, unwashed and perhaps cut with a pocketknife that seldom sees soap and water and lived to tell the tale, but does that mean I'm lucky or that there is no danger? I think there should be some common sense rules applied that are condusive to the farmers market environment. Wash the produce, cutting board and knife. Put plastic wrap over samples to keep insects off of it, offer toothpicks so people don't contaminate it with their hands. That sort of thing is all that I see is needed.

I'm equally frustrated with the idiocy regarding selling dried peppers. The imported dried peppers in the grocery store may have been dried hung in ristas in the open air in some other country, but if I want to legally sell dried peppers here I need an inspected facility to dry them, store them, etc. They have to be washed in a bleach water solution to kill any surface contaiminants before drying and have to be dried in an approved dehydrator at a temperature which will pretty much destroy their natural colors. And because of the nature of drying hot peppers I'm pretty much restricted to doing this somewhere in an unincorporated area (i.g. outside of town) as no municipality will give a business permit for it due to the possibility of objectionable odors.

@%!$^ gubberment protecting us all...