One of the biggest hurdles faced by local farmers' markets is the perception that market food is too expensive. (The other big hurdle is the lack of convenient parking, but I have nothing useful to say about that.)
Last spring an economics class at Seattle Central Community College explored the question of whether farmers' market prices really are higher than comparable prices at the supermarket. They compared the cost of organic produce at the nearby Broadway Farmers' market with prices at QFC, Safeway, and Madison Market.
In almost every case they found that produce at the farmer' market was actually cheaper than stuff at conventional stores. So why the negative perception?
Perhaps a trip to the farmers' market feels expensive to some people because it involves preparing meals from scratch. Shopping for ingredients and cooking a real meal tends to be more expensive than eating fast food or frozen convenience food, although it's certainly cheaper than buying a decent meal at a restaurant.
Fresh herbs, in particular, tend to much more affordable at farmers' markets, and the bunches are much bigger than those tiny, overpriced plastic packages at the supermarket.
And I haven't even touched on the question of quality...
2 comments:
"cost" what exactly does that mean? Our consumer culture needs to examine the true cost of "cheap food". How do you measure the price of millions of gallons of toxic feedlot run-off? Or the depletion of millions of acres due to industrial monoculture. (see dustbowl) I guess it all comes back to the average consumer's removal from the food chain
I agree with Heidi and would like to add that there are also high health care costs associated with obesity and unhealthy eating habits.
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