On 7/20/2014 8:33 AM, Ema Nymton wrote:
> On 7/19/2014 5:32 PM, sf wrote:
>> On Sat, 19 Jul 2014 18:24:27 -0400, jmcquown >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 7/19/2014 6:08 PM, sf wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 19 Jul 2014 13:39:00 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It's a great idea. Probably wouldn't fly in the US because the
>>>>> populace here thinks everything should look perfect, nevermind if
>>>>> it actually tastes good. I would love to see a major chain here
>>>>> start this trend.
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.wimp.com/allsupermarkets/
>>>>
>>>> Aren't our misshapen fruits and separated out before going to the
>>>> supermarkets and sent to food processors to cut into smaller
>>>> pieces or
>>>> juiced and used in a frozen or canned products instead of being sold
>>>> fresh?
>>>>
>>> While I'm sure there is some waste, I sincerely doubt we're
>>> throwing it
>>> all away. I see no reason to look for picture perfect produce. I'm
>>> planning to eat it, not display it.
>>>
>>>
>> Our waste seems to be in the form unsold product, which is over ripe
>> to the point of being spoiled.
>
> My ex husband is working at Sam's Club, and he said it makes him sick
> to see how many roasted chickens and bakery items they throw away
> every day. I would mark them down to 50% off, and get something for
> them, but that is not the way they roll.

Huh. At Costco, they make new food with the old rotisserie chicken
meat - soups, pot pies, salads, even cubes of packaged meat. Not much
gets wasted there.

On 7/20/2014 5:14 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 7/20/2014 3:57 PM, wrote:
>
>>
>> Former South Bay grocer and hobby farmer Phil Cosentino has a daily
>> two minute (or so) show on the radio. He says farmers markets seem to
>> specialize in misshapen fruits and cosmetically damaged vegetables.
>>
>> I guess it bugs him that farmers are charging top dollar for produce
>> that none of his old customers would pay for.
>>
>
> It is probably the stuff the supermarket buys won't handle. I see a
> lot of mis-shapen stuff at the farmers market, but it is fresh and
> more flavorful than the crap sold at the supermarket It was grown 5
> miles away, not trucked 2500 miles and stored for 3 weeks.

How do you know it wasn't? I'm not snarking, it's just that there are
farmers markets that allow anyone to set up a stall and sell anything.
The Minneapolis Farmers Market is infamous for that - just go down to
the local produce wholesaler, buy a bunch of stuff, and sell it at the
Farmers Market, where people who don't know better think you grew it
yourself.

That's the reason why the St. Paul Farmers Market requires that the
product sold be grown or made by the seller, and it must also have
been grown within a 50-mile radius of the market. But even with those
requirements, there's no way to tell how the market growers store
their produce between picking and selling. The little guys don't have
reefers. They pick the night before, load their trucks, and it sits
there overnight. What they don't sell at one market gets trucked the
next day to another market. If it's looking a bit wilty, it goes at
the bottom of the box and fresher stuff goes on top.

Our market growers sell to the local groceries in season, and frankly,
the quality of their produce in the grocery stores is usually better
than what they're selling at the farmer's market, because the grocery
stores have the facilities to hold it and keep it fresher.

On 2014-07-22 4:28 PM, Moe DeLoughan wrote:


>> It is probably the stuff the supermarket buys won't handle. I see a
>> lot of mis-shapen stuff at the farmers market, but it is fresh and
>> more flavorful than the crap sold at the supermarket It was grown 5
>> miles away, not trucked 2500 miles and stored for 3 weeks.
>
> How do you know it wasn't? I'm not snarking, it's just that there are
> farmers markets that allow anyone to set up a stall and sell anything.
> The Minneapolis Farmers Market is infamous for that - just go down to
> the local produce wholesaler, buy a bunch of stuff, and sell it at the
> Farmers Market, where people who don't know better think you grew it
> yourself.

My wife was under the impression that the fruit and vegetable stand on
the next road is all their own produce. It was not until last year when
a farmer friend of ours showed up there looking for money for the
produce she had sold them.


>
> That's the reason why the St. Paul Farmers Market requires that the
> product sold be grown or made by the seller, and it must also have been
> grown within a 50-mile radius of the market. But even with those
> requirements, there's no way to tell how the market growers store their
> produce between picking and selling. The little guys don't have
> reefers. They pick the night before, load their trucks, and it sits
> there overnight. What they don't sell at one market gets trucked the
> next day to another market. If it's looking a bit wilty, it goes at the
> bottom of the box and fresher stuff goes on top.

Most of the markets here send a truck to the produce terminal in Toronto
very early every morning to by the produce that had been shipped there
from other farms... some local and some not.
>
> Our market growers sell to the local groceries in season, and frankly,
> the quality of their produce in the grocery stores is usually better
> than what they're selling at the farmer's market, because the grocery
> stores have the facilities to hold it and keep it fresher.

On 7/22/2014 4:45 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2014-07-22 4:28 PM, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
>
>
>>> It is probably the stuff the supermarket buyers won't handle. I see a
>>> lot of mis-shapen stuff at the farmers market, but it is fresh and
>>> more flavorful than the crap sold at the supermarket It was grown 5
>>> miles away, not trucked 2500 miles and stored for 3 weeks.
>>
>> How do you know it wasn't? I'm not snarking, it's just that there are
>> farmers markets that allow anyone to set up a stall and sell anything.
>> The Minneapolis Farmers Market is infamous for that - just go down to
>> the local produce wholesaler, buy a bunch of stuff, and sell it at the
>> Farmers Market, where people who don't know better think you grew it
>> yourself.
>
> My wife was under the impression that the fruit and vegetable stand on
> the next road is all their own produce. It was not until last year when
> a farmer friend of ours showed up there looking for money for the
> produce she had sold them.

Markets can vary of course, but the one in my town has strict rules. It
must be your own product and grown or made on your farm or made in your
kitchen. Being a smallish town everyone knows the vendors and
interlopers would be run off quickly.
http://www.nectfarmersmarket.org/

We've been buying from the same people for years Berries from Rachel,
tomatoes from Frank onions and garlic from Wayne, etc.