To the Editor,
I heard about the farmers’ market held in Cedar each Sunday in front of the Crow and Gate and decided to visit simply because I had not been out there for years.
The market was reasonably well attended and there was a variety of edibles and other things on offer.
The prices, however, took my breath away: $2.50 for a pound of new potatoes, or a garlic bulb for $2.50. Contrast these prices with any of the stores in town.
Perhaps the stuff on offer is fresher, and perhaps it is organically grown, I can’t say. I don’t think I saw any signs claiming this to be the case but perhaps the sellers would have said so if I had asked.
Can the taste or nutrition really be so much better that it justifies a price of at least 300 per cent more than the local stores? I doubt it, and have to wonder just who buys this stuff.
Is this just a case of the ‘Emperor’s new clothes’ wherein the sellers and/or buyers convince themselves that there is a real difference between what the market sells and what can be bought in town?
This was my first visit but it will be my only one. I saw nothing that I wanted, but if I had, I doubt I would have bought it anyway.
There was nothing there that I could not buy in town for a lot less.
Gordon Jackson
Nanaimo