On another note, I was recently at the Alemany Farmers Market in SF and one guy tried to sell me 5 carrots and a small handful of snap peas for $11! He said I clearly had “champagne taste.” As far as I can tell, the only thing clear was he was ripping off his customers. I saw him again at the Marin Farmer’s Market and steered far from his booth. I’m willing to pay for quality, but I can’t afford those kind of inflated prices. (My boyfriend thinks he’s re-selling produce, hence the mark-up.)

I guess the trick is to go to your local markets frequently enough to get to know the farmers personally, form a relationship and build trust. Or as Caitlin mentioned, some sort of screening process by the organizers to be sure the farmers are legit.

Alternatively, we need to form a blog that gives more information and reviews of farmers and their practices, above and beyond the information provided by organizers’ websites.

I really think the people who organise the farmers’ market (or growers’ market as they’re sometimes called) should look after quality control like this. If they have the resources it would be great if they could also check on all the non-certified organic farmers who claim they use “no sprays”.