The Farmer’s Market Dupe! Again!

/4 Comments/in , , /by

whitesession / Pixabay

Remember last month I wrote about my “tomato deception“?  I was finding tomatoes at farm stands that were suspicious and didn’t appear to be “farm grown”.   When I asked one place if they actually grew the tomatoes, they confessed they didn’t, but didn’t have it marked anywhere.  If you didn’t ask, you’d pay top-dollar for grocery store tomatoes.

Nasty deception!

I eventually bought tomatoes at a farm stand that said they grew them, but I could tell by their flavor after eating and cooking them, they were 100% greenhouse. I was suspicious of the smell immediately but took a risk out of desperation.  I regretted it.

After eating them, I asked my husband who drove by the location, to ask again. On the second inquiry, he was told yes, they grew up them, but they do start out in a greenhouse (cough, cough) so they can get more tomatoes.  To that I say, “Bullshit”.  They are greenhouse tomatoes and this farmer isn’t honest.

Two down out of two. Damn!

And now today, a reader of mine in Canada, who saw my post last month sent me this article about investigations into farmer’s markets in Ontario over this exact scenario!

And guess what?

Yep, exactly as I said:  Deception found in more farmer’s markets!

Many people when I first start uncovering things like this think, “Oh she’s just over-reacting. That can’t be true. I’m sure its just a miscommunication or one-time situation. It’s probably not an issue…”

I know those reactions well.

I can read them on people’s faces when they start glazing over at me.

And yes, it can make me nuts. That’s why I don’t share deceptions when they are really out there, because people think I am the one out there.  Thank you very much!

So there you have it, proof!

Seeing what I saw and reading this is happening in Canada, too,  I suspect this is a wide-spread practice now.  Farmers have learned its a profitable business for them.

Buyer beware!

4 replies
  1. sirschy
    sirschy says:

    I grow my own tomatoes. I start them indoors from seed, move them to a very small greenhouse to harden them off, then plant them outside when it is warm enough. The plants probably spend the first three months of their lives NOT in the ground outside. I imagine farms and nurseries do this as well or they would not have tomatoes until fall. And different varieties taste very different. Some hybrids, for instance, taste more like what you’d get at a supermarket because they are designed to be disease-resistant and tough travelers, and I’m sure part of a farm’s profits come from selling their produce to a local supermarket. They likely sell these at their own market, and I would bet that they are the cheapest ones they offer. I guess my question is, What is deceptive about this?

Comments are closed.