"I'd rather go to the grocery store down the street and pay half that." -- Then clearly you don't understand the point. Enjoy supporting Agribusiness one 50 cent sweet potato at a time.

Hopefully this creates a more opportunities for local, small-scale farmers, entices others to enter the market, and results in at least a slight reversal of the seemingly unstoppable trend toward aggregation and industrialization of the food supply. Some things are worth paying for.

Here here. It's about time someone raised this issue. Farmers' Markets 5, 10 years ago were so much more affordable when there wasn't this air of you have to support local farmers and the whole "farm-to-table" trend--and it's not missing the point. How is it that I can go to the local "mom-pop" grocery store and get the same Capay produce for at least 25% less (no less fresh) than from the Capay stand at my local farmers market?

I don't think this trend has hit Minnesota, after moving here from New England I find farmer's market prices to be very inexpensive. Maybe there is not enough demand for prices to be higher, but either way I would choose to buy local and directly from the people who grow the food.

I just sent a note to our local Farmer's Market organizers about this issue. This past weekend at the FM, I bought a pound of cremini mushrooms for $6 / lb, then went over to Whole Foods and saw the exact same mushrooms - from the same vendor even - at just $3.99 / lb. I'm all about supporting local farmers and such, but I can't afford to pay twice as much for the privilege.

It really comes down to two things: Market Equilibrium and supporting (local, small, organic, family run, free range, cruelty free, heritage/heirloom, grows funky veggies) farms.
Prices take a little while to go down after a sudden spike in demand. More farms will find it profitable to get into the business, providing more competition, reducing the price.
Second, sure, you could spend $3/lb for a locally grown, organic, specialty potato; or $1/lb for a treated-with-chemicals-to-appear-fresh, trucked across the country, uses crazy amounts of resources, run of the mill potato at a supermarket. If those things don't matter to you, go to the super market. If you care more about sustainable farming & business practices, the environment, local economy, nicer potatoes, less chemicals, etc; the pony up a little extra. But you're really comparing apples to oranges when you compare a select farmer's market potato to a bargain basement supermarket one.

Like AnnaBe, I haven't noticed this trend at my local farmers' market. I live in northwestern NJ, and I find that most of the produce at my farmers' market is about the same price, often even cheaper than, the produce at the grocery store. Once in a great while something will be a bit more expensive.

The only thing I see a big difference with is the meat, but not when it comes from the same vendor - it's the difference between a small local farm versus a large factory farm. In which case, I decided I'd rather spend more money on the former, even if it means eating less meat overall.

I've noticed a difference between farmer's markets--the farmer's market in my sort of upscale suburb is much more expensive than the farmer's market in the next suburb (which has been in operation since the 1930s). Lucky for me, my CSA pick up is at the old time market, which is very very reasonably priced and has vendors who have been selling there since the 1940s. But I'm in the midwest so maybe the issue of rising proces is more of a coast thing?

I've noticed this for a while up here in the Pacific Northwest. I used to do the whole farmers market thing, and was ecstatic. Now, though, the prices are often so high there is no way I can. I live on a very limited grocery budget, and when buying organic at a grocery store is half price to a farmers market, I can't buy at a farmers market.

That doesn't mean I don't understand the point, but that I have some grim economic realities that are more pressing.

There is a definite status symbol effect of shopping at certain farmers markets in DC and northern virginia. You can find the same produce from the same people at dramatically different prices around the city. Some people are wrongly diverting this discussion to one of agribusiness versus local small scale producers, and I don't think that's what the post author was getting at. It's that the social/trend factor of certain kinds of produce is making local organic foods unaffordable, at least in the short term, for the people who will have to be able to participate if local and organic is going to become the primary model in the food supply chain. Agriculture is notorious for not playing nice with the economic patterns of other sectors because its goods take so long to produce that farmers have to guess at what the market forces will be like in a few months and don't really have much opportunity to adjust once planting season has passed. Particularly when the local/organic supply is so small, large-order purchasers like restaurants can have a huge impact very fast, way faster than the supply can respond to. And if the pricing for local/organics is highly unstable because of the intermittent interest of these large purchasers, people aren't going to plan on making "buying local" at farmers markets part of their lives because they can't count on being able to get what they need inside their budget and they end up wasting a huge amount of their valuable time. And ultimately, that's bad news for the normalization of the local/organic supply chain. That doesn't mean that restaurants shouldn't be using local foods or that it's wrong for farmers to price in accordance with demand (even though it's frustrating when that leads to big gaps in price at different sites of purchase) but it does mean that it makes it difficult for a pretty important segment of the market--people who aren't rich--to continue to put their money where their ethics are. There is an income point at which "setting priorities" is irrelevant to the reality that you just don't have the money for it. It's an incredibly privileged standpoint to argue that everyone should be willing to pay prices five times what other producers are able to charge--or more than the same producer is charging in another setting, especially when in that setting less of the actual cost is going to the farmer and not to a middle man. Everybody can't afford that, and feeling the pinch of dramatic price increases doesn't mean you don't care.

Good. Small farmers deserve to make a profit and I am glad of anything that helps drive demand and sales. You should expect prices to vary and if you are very price sensitive, shop around.

And for god sake's get out of my way when they have huckleberries. I don't care about your band.

I think the idea is ridiculous.
Chefs of any quality have always bought at their local market or nearest farmer. They want to cook for the people who come to eat food made from scratch not canned or bottled sauce/soups/stocks, etc.

If you demand cheaper and cheaper products large business make good coin and the public get to eat more prepackaged, pre-seasoned, gmo'ed crap and our collective health suffers.

Megan, were the sweet potatoes weighed by the pound and did you get two ginormous sweet potatoes? Or were they just $3.50 each? That does sound a little much... maybe they were heirloom/organic seed? If they were imported sweet potatoes, ones that are exotic and rare, then I see the point...but I never think price gouging is the way to go.

Anyway, as someone who currently helps run a farm (organic, but not certified), I think it's about time the prices increase. Just about everything has gone through inflation, but people expect the price of fresh veggies to stay the same? ...especially produce that is grown with thought? ...produce that's probably grown organically and/or with heirloom seeds, and most likely sustainably? *sigh*

The thing with grocery stores is that they're selling you vegetables that aren't nearly as fresh had you bought it from the farmers market. Most of the time, the produce is harvested the day of or the day before market. This is how we do it at our farm and as far as I know, how a lot of farms in our area (Asheville) operate. And I know that with our farm, we look at grocery store prices and try to compete. We want the customers to get the best deal. But maybe that's just us.

The location of the farmers' market also plays a big point. Not only is it more effort and expense for the farmers to truck in from the far out suburbs to your city center, but those downtown farmers' markets often charge high rent for the booth spaces. And, yes, some of it is because the farmers *can* charge more for that heirloom pumpkin in a neighborhood where people can afford it and willingly pay for it.

Silly me, I thought that the prices were higher because of the gas prices going up, and the fact that the government is supporting the manu-farmers more than the little guy.

I doubt it is the restaurants. I would think that that would make the small farms more popular. Think about it, you enjoy a delicious tomato at a restaurant, see that farmer's stall at market and want to buy more of that great product.

Hi Chrisan-they weren't weighed by the pound--the just looked at them and proclaimed: $7!

And MMWillis, I love supporting my farmers, don't get me wrong! I do it every week. There are just some items that seem to have gotten quite inflated lately and I'm trying to figure out how it's started/why.

"I spent $7 for two sweet potatoes"

:0 not sure what you consider 'too late' but that $7 woulda still been in my pocket when I left there!

I had lived in southern CA and the markets there were amazing and I did notice that the prices varied quite a bit, but at the bigger markets you could shop around and find stuff for cheaper and better quality than at the grocery store. I had to be conscious of this and force myself to walk the whole market first BEFORE making any purchases.

Now I live in VT and noticed what I consider to be ridiculous prices at the farmers market! Paying $6 for a single serving roll (bread) because it was made from organic locally grown wheat... I could get a whole loaf from a local bakery, also local wheat, and organic for $4! And paying $4 for three radishes, no way! or three carrots! I could get locally grown organic produce from the grocery store at a fraction of the cost and stayed away from Famers Markets all together this year. I was still supporting organic farming and local farming by making these purchases at the grocery store. I wonder if it will be the same way next summer.... I'll be planting my own garden just in case it is :-)

Local, Organic, Sustainable farming practices are vital to support - yes it comes at a cost when compared to the industrialized food industry 'standard'. However, these mega agri-businesses need to feel this shift in our demand; keep our water, soil and air clean... give us nutrient dense quality food over artificially stimulated GMO's... & please care for your product and your customer over your pocket book. Local farmer - I will pay $3.50 for your sweet potato.

I shop at the farmers' market every week in LA and have always noted that the prices are frequently--but not always--more expensive than the big chain supermarkets (with one exception; you can probably guess the store). I also agree with the other posters that people who choose to frequent farmers' markets tend to be willing to pay a premium to support small, local farms with sustainable practices and oftentimes, receive a superior product in exchange. However, I do recognize that the ability to do this *is* a privilege, so I don't think it's really fair for people to get all sanctimonious about it.

Every year as an experiment, I challenge our family to try and keep our food spending habits to the amount allotted to "food stamp" participants for a month, while keeping it organic and buying from the Farmers' Market as much as possible. It's really hard, even with farmers being more than generous with their products after hearing what I'm trying to do. Bottom line: we have to really sacrifice that month to stay true to our challenge and sometimes go hungry, literally rationing food at some points.

I think some people trick themselves into thinking they're a better person because they shop at the Farmers' Market and there's a lot to be said for making that choice. But at the end of the day, there's a lot of people who *can't* do it. We all have different economic realities and you can't eat your principles.

I suppose I'm lucky. I have a Heritage Fund protected farmland a couple miles away. They have two working farms within 10 miles. This farmstand is a million dollar business and it's only open from May to Early November, plus Easter and Christmas for limited times and seasonal items. However, I pay $3 a pound for greeenhouse tomatos that they don't grow- but they charge the same for a short season of real vine ripened red and heritage tomatoes in season. $9 a lb for great fresh moz they don't make, $6 lb for Amish butter which is great, but has a much higher water and salt content than anything in the store. Big bargains are huge lettuce (green/red leaf, romaine, boston, and some iceburg) for $1.79 head; they keep for a week. My wife is from farmland in SE PA and Western MD, always laughs at the 60 cents a ear for corn, she still expects it to be $3/dz with a couple ears tossed in for 'worms.' They have great beets, carrots, squash, cantalope, etc. that they do grow, but sometimes the pricing is just outrageous, when does watermelons (seedless types) cost 50 cents a pound? The corn, tomatoes, greens, and cheese keep me coming back, for more than 40 years now.