So every “farm” in my region is actually a community plot you can rent space in or a non profit outreach…no farms to purchase from.
In Taiwan, we had “day markets” where local farmers and fishers sell produce directly to you from the previous day’s harvest. Every city has at least a few dozen day markets as well. It really serves the community and not big corps.
Some veggies still have live bugs(ladybugs) on it. That’s how fresh it is.
It also cost 1/4 the cost in a corporate grocery store.
We (the US) have farmers markets in a lot of places. They can have very specific times that I always forget about. Around here in the northern climate, the farmer markets stop during the winter or move indoors and shift to selling more jarred and canned goods. My neighborhood has a coop, but it’s more expensive than the grocery store and with a worse selection. We have options here, but they require more thoughtfulness.
That was a culture shock for me when I moved to the US. I knew that back in the day, in rural areas of my country, the markets only opened once a week. I was shocked to find that happen in urban/suburban areas in the US. Back home I could just go to the closest market any day. Morning news would have a report comparing prices in different markets across the city, so you could pick the one that has the best price for what you need that day.
It’s a bit sad that it’s just the “black farmers”. If possible, getting your stuff from a local market or even a farmer is always a good thing, no matter if it’s a black or white farmer. I have that here in austria where I get most of my meat and cheese directly from the farmer and it’s not just insanely tasty but also cheaper than from the grocery store.
Strong communities thrive together.
Why are Americans so obsessed with skin colour
It’s a nation founded on racism and the back of race based slavery. That shit doesn’t disappear overnight, unfortunately.
Buying something because it goes to a certain skin colour promotes racism CMV
This is great. Is there something similar for finding local farms regardless of race?
You could try researching CSAs in your area. There are a few near me that sell farm shares with weekly pickup of seasonal veggies during harvest season. I’m in northern California, and our rate is under $20 per week after we split it with another couple. We usually receive more veggies than we would buy during a weekly grocery store trip, plus our farm let’s everyone pick fresh bouquets each pickup as a nice bonus.
I’d love to learn more about the ones in NorCal. I’m in the peninsula.
CSA huh
Yup, stands for community supported agriculture. They’re often called co-ops or farm shares, but I think CSA is the industry term that you’ll have most luck with when searching around online.
Lots of deadlinks and farming alliances with mission statements.
Not a lot of links to buy food from farmers.
I would really like an Imperfect Foods replacement. Originally, IF was scratch and dent ugly veggies on discount with some consignment items. Post covid, prices crept up and then you had to pick and choose to get a deal, but you could still get a good box for under $40 every 2 wks that also included things like farro and yogurt. Misfit Marketplace bought them out and it took on a Whole Foods by mail vibe. Double to triple the regular grocery store prices. It would be $80+/week for the same box content which is galling. And it’s not the groceries, it’s MM. Who is paying $3 for 1 cucumber? $4 for 2 apples? $8 for a single pound of grapes or a pint of blueberries?
New potential produce sources are most welcome.
I had to drop Imperfect Food as well from the same problems. It was just more expensive than I needed. I haven’t found a replacement yet unfortunately. We are now just buying food as needed. I have been interested in a CSA but haven’t done it yet
The unbagged produce was fresher than grocery store and didn’t rot on the shelf in 3 days like post COVID produce from the grocery store tends to do.
So this post has potential.
Finding a farm close where you want is made unnecessarily difficult by the site’s interface. The grouping of states in regions is a hindrance and once you get to your state, the farms can’t be sorted other than by their name, so you have to look through every single one of them to find the farms close to you.
Great idea, terrible execution.
But probably not a difficult fix. Websites can be updated.
Why do they have to be black? America is bizarrely obsessed with race, I’ve never seen anything like it both in person and on the internet.
Sure, it can seem on the surface like wanting to support people of a particular race is in itself a kind of racism, or at least a situation that emphasizes unfair distinctions.
Unfortunately, race does still matter in America, even if we personally disagree with it or want to ignore it. The health and economic research data make it very clear that people of color in America, especially black people, experience harder lives in almost every category. This is due to both recurring experiences of present-day prejudice and discrimination, as well the inter-generational impacts of wealth inequality and psychological trauma.
You might already know about this, but redlining is one example of the way that patterns of discrimination can creates a systemic effect, which, in turn, can impact the physical and financial effects on a family across time. These kinds of systemic effects can then make it harder for current generations of these families to recover and live safe lives today though, we personally might celebrate that the policy doesn’t exist anymore, and even though we personally might say that we don’t support people acting like that anymore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining
No one really has to do anything, but some people might choose to support groups of people or organizations who they think might have experienced similar kinds of hardships in their families, and might be glad to have a way to try to do something different with their money than give it to another multinational corporation every time.
Yeah I’ve heard these arguments. I still hold my opinion. America needs to move away from the race obsession.
Completely fair - do you have a counterargument? I’d be interested in hearing the other side.
Constantly talking about race makes race a topical issue.
As in
- Not talking about race will solve the lingering systemic race issues, or
- There are no lingering systemic race issues, so we should stop talking about it?
Not OP, but keep seeing the world as if it is “us vs them” or “black vs white” or “right vs left” or “rich vs poor” will not help find common ground and compromises. There is no compromise for racism, but people putting more attention on it will only promote looking at the situation in a way where the difference matters.
Oh no the US is a shitshow of systemic racism, like super ridiculous on every level. There is such a wild undercurrent, surface levek and then an even weirder like super liminal racism where it just has to be mentioned.
Watch like any late night and they will make a self depricating white person joke, middle aged white guy thing. Just stfu about all of it, address the systemic issues with actual actions and then just you know…live as neighbours as americans.
So the US is a shitshow of systemic racism but you want everyone to stop talking about race? Sounds like a way to never fix the problem.
Right but as far as I understand it the supermarkets and wholesalers screw all farmers over equally race isn’t a consideration.
I rather not give people money by merit of the colour of their skin, though. Fuck me, right?
No one said fuck you lol
