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bodhipooh t1_je031p4 wrote

Reply to comment by yayforhooray in Farmers market drama? by yayforhooray

I am more confused by the amount of people that seem to believe a farmers market equals "access to cheaper or more affordable produce". My experience is that the farmers markets in JC are ridiculously priced.

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AccountantOfFraud t1_je0exbe wrote

As far as I am aware, haven't explored the Communipaw/Bergen-Lafayette area too much, that area is a food desert. Would need to hike over to atleast 99 Ranch for grocery shopping.

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FelixTaran t1_je05ft4 wrote

Listen, my grocery store suuuucks and is extremely overpriced but at least it doesn’t try to sell me one leek for six dollars or whatever.

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lucidrevolution t1_je0t7cq wrote

Don’t worry Whole Foods is coming and everyone can have their 6 dollar leeks.

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BlueBeagle8 t1_je06xk3 wrote

The best place to access cheap high-quality produce is actually Walmart, but nobody wants to hear that so ¯⁠\⁠⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠⁠/⁠¯

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ScumbagMacbeth t1_je0po4a wrote

Is there a Walmart in that neighborhood that I was not aware of? Nearly half the population of JC doesn't have a car.

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jxj t1_je09zhs wrote

Cheap, sure but high quality? Really? Maybe I'll have to check it out

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BlueBeagle8 t1_je0atpq wrote

In my experience they have good quality control. You're not going to buy an heirloom tomato that changes your life there, but you're also not going to buy tomatoes that taste like cardboard or rot after 3 minutes. It's a safe choice.

(I also haven't regularly shopped at Walmart in NJ for what it's worth, and the experience probably varies location-to-location.)

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photo-smart t1_je0pdpe wrote

I occasionally buy produce at walmart and it's never been bad, but like you said it's nothing spectacular either. The main issue with it is that I only go to walmart when I need to do bulk shopping -- mainly for household goods -- which is once every month or every two months. The best place to get produce is from my local grocer. On that note, I have found that living very close to a supermarket and a grocery is life altering. Seriously, having quick and easy access to produce whenever you want makes life so much better.

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BenevolentCheese t1_je0tymp wrote

Most farmers markets are just factory farms pretending to be small local farms and selling the same product you can get at Shoprite for twice the price.

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bodhipooh t1_je16v59 wrote

Precisely my point, and it is really fresh that they are trying to portray this as some sort of benefit to those in the community relying on food stamps as I can't imagine how it would make sense for those with a very limited food budget to spend double the money on produce. Spending $3 to $5 for a pound of whatever is a surefire way to run out of food budget way too fast.

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yucca_beluga t1_je1gnx4 wrote

Idk the grove street one has historically had good prices on in season produce (e.g. squash, cucumbers) and it is typically tastier than ShopRite. No shade to ShopRite

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NeitherPot t1_je1s246 wrote

The organic farm stand is definitely expensive but their produce is beautiful. I usually shop at the other (non-organic) ones and I agree with you, if you’re buying in season fruit and veg and not exotic stuff like avocados or their extremely overpriced mediocre baked goods, you can get a lot for your money. And it’s better/fresher than what you get at the store.

It’s easy to tell the difference between what they actually grew themselves and what they buy in bulk to resell. Look at the packaging (if any—like plastic containers of berries or twisty ties around greens) and think about whether it’s normal for a farm in NJ to be growing that thing in March or whatever.

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