Here, farmers markets are status symbols, and nothing more. I see the shoppers leaving the market, and they've only bought one item or two. In my mind, the purpose of a farmers market is to procure high quality, local groceries. These people buy one or two items just to make themselves feel better, and feel as if they are doing something good. If someone is committed to buying local, they would buy all of their groceries at the farmers markets.
At our local farmers market, here in LA, I was shocked to see a cheese company based in Petauma, California. Petaluma is four hundred miles from here, so I found this to be hypocrisy. The purpose of a farmers market is to provide a setting for consumers to discover local producers.
I think this is a great & complex question. most farmer's markets have mile radius re: how far produce can come from. in the farmer's market i once worked in in olympia- i think the limit was 50 or 100 miles. it varies by market. i think part of the question is if it's better (for the earth, for the farmers, for local economies) if people buy from a producer (like the cheese you mention) that is 400 miles away but more money goes to the farmer/small producer or from the super market where the cheese could both be from farther away and less money goes to the farmer.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't really talking about Hollywood, which was a fantastic market. This was more in response to the one on Pico.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a slippery slope though.
ReplyDeleteIf we allow cheese from Petaluma, we might soon have cheese from Mendocino. Where do we draw the line? I mean, what's next, products from the east coast?