I have a honor system farm stand down the street from me. Occasionally on weekends the gentleman will sit out in a lawn chair, but most times it's just a greenhouse you walk into and take what you want. Prices are marked and there's a small lock box to drop your money in. He has the most amazing tomatos and watermelons!

There are farm stands that operate on the honor system all over Michigan! They're common in rural areas, especially those that specialize in a particular type of produce (like the cherries in northern Michigan and asparagus in southwest Michigan). I live near Ann Arbor and there's a farm stand that sells strawberries on the honor system just down the road.

There are still many in Western Mass -- I love them. I know of one out near Lambertville, NJ where the money is dropped through a small slot into a locked metal tube -- I guess honor only goes so far there!

This makes me miss Hawaii!! Love that there are still honest people in the world. :)

As a kid my family bought pumpkins every year from the same honor stand. And the people we've talked to have always done the same thing we have-- shove a little extra cash in the box "just in case someone forgot".

When I was a kid we used to stay near a lot of farms in vermont every summer, they always had fields where you could go pick your own corn for dinner and leave your money in an honor box at the entrance.

They are all over the place in rural Michigan. Every time I see one, I smile.

All over rural Wisconsin too. One near my house sells gorgeous bunches of flowers too.

wozlig, would LOVE to know where said strawberry stand is. I, too, live in Ann Arbor and would be delighted to find some local strawberries!

They are big in New England. I returned to one stand that had the best blueberries of my life five times in one trip to the beach. I finally just bought the whole table.

I live in South-Central Pennsylvania and these stands are everywhere- some at good prices, others not so much. You may have to shop around a bit, but tons of people and farmers have these open this time of year.

Lots of honour stands.
No "honor" stands.

I found the cutest roadside honey house this summer. It was slighly off the beaten path, but must have been successful enough! Also passed an honor-system pie stand that same day (but who knows how long they had been sitting there!).

http://bottomofthecrisper.blogspot.com/2010/08/local-honey-on-seneca-lake.html

Glad to hear from some Michiganders on this site! I third the Michigan thing. Plenty of seasonal produce - corn, pumpkins, berries, peaches and the like. We even get campfire wood from various honor stands around the family cottage - great for midnight campfires when you run out and no rural "wood stores" are open.

I've always wondered about the other side of the system though - has anyone run one of these stands? Did you find that people paid and the box or cash stayed safe? I've always had a feeling that for the most part people like being trusted and honor it, but I'm curious all the same.

I knew someone who had one. He said people would occasionally "forget to pay", but the amount of money he lost in those instances was less than the amount of money he would have had to pay for a full-time cashier. It worked out in his favor even with the occasional loss.

I also see these all the time in Michigan. Although the stands I see are never that expensive. You could have a lot of people "forget to pay" for 50 cent eggs and still make a profit. But hey, it is Michigan and things are cheaper here. Thank goodness.

We found a u-pick flower field in Sequim, Washington, when trying to find a lavender farm. We had a wonderful time and were so tickled by the honor system that we each left a little extra.

Just bought from 3 "honor system" stands this weekend in southern Lancaster County, Pa. - 1 Amish owned, 2 not.

I've definitely seen a handful of honor stands in my West Coast travels over the years, and yes, all in rural areas. Definitely more in British Columbia than the states though. (I guess those ones would be honoUr stands :) )

There was an AP story about Panera's community cafe in St. Louis, where you paid on the honor system. http://www.zimbio.com/watch/EzgCiJvWpqr/Customers+New+Panera+Cafe+Pay+Want/AP+Video+Business

I stopped today at the stand down the road on my way home from work and picked up a beautiful butternut squash and some raspberries. There's quite a few honor stands in my little town but as the population ages near me they're slowly disappearing. It makes me sad to think a part of rural life could cease to exist.

In a big city like mine (1.2 million) I most often see flowers for mothers' day on honour stands. Usually elderly people who have too much growing in their yards. I always try and buy flowers from the honour stands. They're not fancy bouquets and usually consist of just one type of flower, but they were picked with love and care.

$11 for a jar of honey????

there are tonnes of these all over british columbia and especially vancouver island, where we live. i get my eggs exclusively from these stands and always make sure to have change in the car for that very reason. in fact we have one right across the road from some land we just bought - our own personal convenience store!

I'm digging all the Michiganders commenting on this post - agree that there are tons of these, especially up north. I miss seeing the honor system stands now that I live in La la land. And I also miss picking a massive bucket of blueberries and only paying 5 bucks.

We live just outside Columbus Ohio. Two weeks ago we went to pick apples at a new-to-us orchard and found a little shed where you left your money in a rusted metal box. I loved it! So nice to have someone you don't know trust you.

I'm also from Michigan and yup, they are every where! Eggs, any and every kind of veggie or fruit, fire wood and flowers can be found.

I agree with alysaaria, if we use them I usually put in an extra dollor or two incase someone else "forgot".

as a kid, we always got pumpkins from this great honor stand between our house and town. the owners have gotten older and it seems they only do u-pick dahlias now, but I have fond memories of picking out the best pumpkins, weighing them on their old fashioned scale and dropping our money into the coffee can on the bench.

(this is in washington state)

I was just in Kauai and didn't see this.. I probably just didn't notice because we drove by there.. bummer!
Honor Stands wouldn't fly in San Diego.. everyone would "forget to pay" or take it all and resell it.. sad.