The Farmers' Market: Helpful Hints and Etiquette Tips

It's July and most Farmers' Markets across the nation are in full swing. I just returned from a visit to the lovely Marin County Farmers' Market in California, which besides being lovely was also rather hot and jam-packed. It occurred to me that we all could use a few helpful hints on how to navigate the crowds and share the market.

Here's a few basic tips for Farmers Market etiquette. What helpful hints can you share?

Make it easier on you
• If you want to avoid the crowds and have the best selection, go when the market is just opening.
• If you want to get the best deals, go close to closing time.
• Wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen and/or a wide brimmed hat, bring water.
• Remember your cloth bags and bring smaller spare plastic bags as well (many Bay Area FM are going plastic bag free.)
• If you tend to overspend, set a budget for yourself and only bring that amount to the market, plus your driver's license or ID. Leave your wallet at home.
• Put your money in an easily accessible (to you!) pocket and if you did bring a wallet, keep it tucked away in a safe place.
• Take a quick stroll around the market and peruse the goods before you buy. There's nothing worse than purchasing a pound of blueberry only to find them for $1 cheaper a few stalls down.
• If your market doesn't offer at least a few chairs and a table for a resting spot, consider requesting them. Most markets have an info table where you can get more information.
• Get to know your farmers, talk to them, build relationships.
• Don't hurry. Farmers' Markets are for strolling.
• Have fun! Explore! Try one new thing each time you go!

Make it easier on the farmers
• Get to know your farmers but don't hold them up with endless chatter if their booth is busy. If you want time for a chat, try coming earlier.
• Don't over-handle the goods.
• Pay attention during your transaction.
• Not all farmer's want to bargain, especially in the beginning hours of the market. That said, some do, so if your interested, make an offer but don't push it.
• Try samples if they're obviously being offered and ask if they're not, but don't just start eating from the display.

Make it easier on others
• If you are roaming in a large group, be mindful that you take up a lot of space.
• Try to avoid stopping in the middle of the aisle and chatting, thus creating a traffic jam.
• Don't overly engage the farmers at a busy booth with questions and sample requests. If you want a lot of attention, go early but don't make others wait as you sample six kinds of plum slices.
• Be aware of the space and rhythms of movement around you.
• Bringing the dog, the baby in a stroller, two toddlers and grandma with you to the market is a sweet thing. Really it is! But be sure you can keep the entourage contained.

PS: An excellent book on what it's like to be a vendor at a Farmer's Market is called Blithe Tomato by Mike Madison (Deborah's brother.) His wry and witty observations may help to guide your behavior.

(Image: Dana Velden)

Comments (27)

They banned dogs from our Saturday market, but a local business opened dog parks nearby, handed out info about them to give people and dogs a place to gather. I love people who get the kids out shopping and have rarely been upset or affected by their behavior. It's usually pretty mellow at the market. I have been to the market in Santa Rosa CA before and still have fond memories of the food and produced offered.

Awesome post, Dana! I would also add that it's important to pay attention to what's going on at the booths when you approach - I've been "line jumped" by more people than I can count because they haven't taken a moment to look at the other patrons to see if anyone was there and ready to pay before they were.
And, as a new mother, I totally agree about strollers! I take Natalie in the Baby Bjorn because she's still too small for an umbrella stroller, but I'd never try to navigate our markets with her full-size stroller. I want people to admire my baby, not curse her stroller.

Oh my goodness I hate it when people stop to chat in the middle of the aisle! Our farmers market is in an old brewery, so the spaces are small and it's like a maze. Thankfully we are getting a brand new "green" farmers market which will hopefully be opened next year!

I agree! I HATE it when people stop to chat in the middle of the aisle. I quit going to one farmer's market because of that problem.

My other farmer's market pet peeve is the ones that are not FARMER'S markets. You know the ones. Sorry, but I didn't know that giant sea sponges grew in COLORADO. I like supporting local businesses, but I also like to know that when I go to a farmer's market that the food I'm buying was grown locally, not shipped in and then resold by a local guy.

'don't hurry'??? yeah right-- I'll continue to buck that rule. I'm a New Yorker, AND the Greenmarket functions as my grocery store in the summertime. PLUS my shopping is done almost exclusively on lunchbreaks, so there's no leisurely strolling during my farmers market visits --I'm a woman on a mission!

PLEASE do not shuck half an ear of corn to make sure it meets your standards! I think all farmers should have the rule -- you open it, you pay for it!

I don't support this new trend toward bargaining over a price, sure in some situations it's expected (yard sales) but when someone has created something and selling it (art or food) they probably aren't hauling in the gold. Give them a break.

I think you should add a bullet to check about dogs before assuming you can bring yours. I love dogs, but I get a little ticked when some owners think "no dogs" signs just don't apply to them. Our market is year-round and there are signs posted at every entrance because I think the health department has been by once or twice. I suppose that's the curse of having a well-established and popular FM.

I agree about having things ready; bags, money, etc. I take my 12 year old son and he serves at my "bank", keeping our money in his pockets, dolling it out at each stop. Going early is the key as well. We also make a loose list before we go so I don't break the bank or buy too much food to consume that just gets thrown out later in the week. We then stop at the food booths after we get what we need. Admittedly, although I like the families coming, the strollers blocking the middle bugs me in that people just seem to be completely oblivious to the rest of he world, making it impossible to maneuver.

I second the strollers. My son is 3 1/2, he loves to go to the farmer's market with me. But he would FREAK OUT in an umbrella stroller, where all he could see was other people's feet and not me...plus it's tricky pushing a stroller in such a crowded place. So I hold him on my hip, and let him carry the lightweight goods.

As a vendor at my local market, I'll add to this excellent list: If you do come early, know what the opening time is and don't try to jump the clock. My market has strict rules for its vendors: one of of which is that we are NOT permitted to sell anything until 9:00 when the market opens. If we do, we can lose our right to sell and get kicked out of the market. So, also, when I tell you I can't sell to you yet, don't give me a hard time about "stupid rules".

Not all markets run this way, but mine does and as a vendor, I appreciate it. This way my booth can be gorgeous at 9:00 when you come up to buy.

Thanks for a great post that reminds us to all be respectful. I traveled eight states to research a book about farmers markets, and heard plenty of gripes about people who didn't keep their children contained or their dogs corralled. It's a joy to be among kindred spirits who care about our food. And we should remember to bring our manners along with our canvas bags.

I would also suggest bringing small bills and quarters if you have them. The farmers typically take cash only and need small balls throughout the day to make change. If everyone gives them a $20, they run out of cash. We keep a bag of quarters in the car and save them for trips to the market each week.

If you start going more often, you will get to know the farmers and vice versa. We have many that we consider friends.

And for many markets, dogs are not allowed. If possible, or if there is 2 of you, you can take your dog around the outside edge of the market and have one of you inside to buy items. We do this all the time and keep our dog out of the way of the farmers & other guests while still enjoying the market ourselves. We take turns doing the shopping and the farmers expect us & the dog every week now.

my pet peeve is farmers who don't post prices. I always feel like I am getting ripped off. I actually stopped going to the local farmer's market because so few of them posted prices.

luckily, someone opened up a permanent farmers' market in my town. they act as a kind of middleman for the farmers and local bakeries and dairies. it has been great--you get the farmers' market products without having to wait until saturday or haggling about prices.

I bring my own produce bags, which I highly recommend. I have a turquoise set from ficklefaerie on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ficklefaerie They're a big hit at our farmers markets.

My husband wants all of us to go together. I think it's too much so I just take my son and leave my husband home with the infant. I have a small travel stroller and it's to keep my son contained and easy to move through the mkt. I bring my own bags, change and try to be courteous.
Still, nothing prevents me from being glared at like a heathen for bringing a stroller. Everyone expects people to carry their babies all the time but I gave birth a few weeks ago and can't wear my 30 lb. son in the carrier yet. I want to support farmers and get the freshest food for my family so I ignore the glares and continue to be as mindful of others as I can. Just this past week I scored sour cherries, beets, napa cabbage, squash, green beans, beets, carrots, onions and I'm not giving that up.

Might I suggest that you not go on an empty stomach - or buy a snack right off the bat? My pet peeve is when someone (often a child with their parent's blessing, but plenty of adults do it too) stake out the cheese booth or whatever and chow down on samples, dipping repeatedly into the peach slices with moist fingers...ugh.

really??? farmer's market etiquette?

just enjoy the market and the produce from local farmers!!!

http://goodiesandbesties.blogspot.com/2010/07/rise-and-shine.html

My friend refuses to go the the farmer's market because of all the self-centered women who USE BABIES AS BATTERING RAMS!

I'm with him. Watch those carriages, Santa Monica mommies!

P.S. - I totally agree with lcg, whose pet peeve is farmers who don't list prices! In Santa Monica, the flower merchants are famous for this. Do you really expect us to wait in a long line just to ask what the price of each flower is? Really??? I stopped buying flowers for this reason, and am astounded at this total lack of business acumen.

A farmers market that doesn't open until 9? Wow. Here if I don't get to the market before 9, I go crazy because it's way too crowded.

I hate the fruit thieves. Big roaming packs of extended families with no bags or purchases who cluster around the free samples, eating them repeatedly, until shoo'd away by the vendor. One sample for customers people.

I couldn't go the market without a stroller. I can't possibly manage the kids and all the shopping by myself. We buy almost all our weekly food there.

I also recommend taking along a collapsible rolling cart of some kind for your wares.

Can anyone give me a suggestion on to handle getting bad goods, I bought berries that were fine on top but worms all
over them after I grabbed a couple from the top. I dont want to be a jerk but I bought 2 baskets and they were both infested.

amymc11, why not etiquette? I see a lot of perfectly fine behavior at my local markets, but occasionally you see those roving packs of scavengers who think nothing of eating all of the samples without buying... and don't get me started on people who bring their dogs right through the middle of everything in defiance of posted rules about the health department.

Jrocka, if you bought berries that were covered in bugs (oh gross), you definitely deserve your money back. There's nothing wrong with courteously bringing the problem to the vendor's attention the next time you go to the market. If the vendor doesn't want to help you, that's what market managers are for. Good luck!

LEAVE YOUR DOG AT HOME!

The Health Department doesn't allow them. There are several signs posted by my market of choice, but no one seems to think it applies to their dog.

Have a giant stroller? Get there early before it gets crowded.

When I was little my father use to take me to the farmers market and I loved it but ladies, if you have the means to please leave your strollers at home. At that age its not like the kids going to remember the experience anyways so just wait till they're older and won't be a burden to others.