[Sca-cooks] New Topic - Farmer's Market vs Chain Grocery

[Sue Clemenger]

Our farmer's market prices tend to be a little higher than at the
grocery stores, but the quality is much better, and the (market)
products have the additional advantage of being locally produced, and
absolutely fresh.  Plus, it's almost always organic, which is a bonus if 
you're watching for those things.  And last year, it was *THE* place to 
go to buy morels if you couldn't go hunt them yourself.
We've got one Farmers' Market (Tuesday eves and Saturday Mornings) 
that's been running for years and years, but just this summer, a new one 
opened up called the Clark Fork Market (after the river that runs 
through town), and they've not only got the same produce-y stuff that 
the older one does, but also are selling fresh meats, dairy products, 
etc.  I haven't been down there yet, but it's apparently pretty nice.
Best of all, it's huckleberry season, which means everyone will be 
selling those! hurrah!
--maire

Pat wrote:

> I went to the State Farmer's Market in Montgomery Monday.  Bought
> tomatoes (real tomatoes, not pink plastic balls), Chilton County
> Peaches, Sweet Potatoes, Southern Field Peas, and Baby Lima Beans.
> The beans and peas were already shelled in quart bags.  I paid $8.00
> per quart.  Today I bought frozen quart bags of locally grown
> Southern Field Peas and Baby Limas from Food World for $4.00 a bag.
> The Chilton County Peaches at Food World were 3/4 the price of the
> Farmer's Market.  The Sweet Potatoes are also a better price.  All
> the produce (except the tomatoes) was much better looking at the
> grocery.  I will probably only return to the Farmer's Market for
> tomatoes in the future. Has anyone else had a similar or different
> experience?