Pictured:
- 10 lbs of navel oranges ($6)
- 5 lbs of mandarin oranges ($3)
- 6.5 lbs of tangelos ($3)
People often discuss farm stands as if they're interchangeable with farmer's markets. Farm stands are where to find the real bargains.
A farm stand is usually a plywood structure or a popup shade at the edge of a farmer's property. Hours may be limited; our local one is open only 20 hours a week. The good farm stands that have real bargains tend to be at the edge of secondary highways. Produce is local and changes seasonally. As you can see, we live in citrus country. A brief conversation with the staff can find out what's coming available from week to week.
Prices are low because the overhead of running a farm stand is minimal.
By contrast, a Farmer's market is an urban or suburban location that rents out stall space to farmers. Prices are usually higher because the vendor has to recoup the stall rental fee, the fuel, and the time for transportation and setup in addition to sales.
With that said, prices can vary. Our family has found pretty good deals from the fruit and vegetable dealers at the local swap meet (where space rental costs less than at farmer's markets), and we've occasionally seen high priced farmer's markets at premium locations. TL;DR if a large farm stand is set up at the corner right off an Interstate highway exit, then the farmer is probably renting out space to other vendors and the prices reflect the location.
We're lucky to live within walking distance of a local farm stand. If you're an exurban dweller, then a couple of online searches could find the local farm stands and their hours. And if you live too far from actual farms for this to be viable, then maybe check out the local swap meets to compare their produce prices to standard retail prices.
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Posted by doublestitch