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Old 07-26-2012, 06:51 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ALStafford View Post
None that I know of at the State Farmer's market.
There's one that's exclusively organic and others that offer several organic crops.
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Old 07-26-2012, 07:04 AM
 
Location: Littleton, CO
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evaofnc View Post
There's one that's exclusively organic and others that offer several organic crops.
Not wanting to hijack the thread, but that's good news; it's been a while since I've been there! Can you tell me who the exclusively organic one is, and/or where to find them? Thanks!!
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Old 07-26-2012, 07:10 AM
 
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I forget the name of them but they make their booth painfully obvious that it's organic lol. Think giant green and yellow signs that shout "CERTIFIED ORGANIC"!! They're in the main covered area with all the other NC farmers.
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Old 07-26-2012, 09:06 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ALStafford View Post
The State Farmer's Market, which so many have mentioned, is open year-round, and is very large. However, there are sellers there that are more re-sellers than growers. Yes, there are also many growers, but it just kinda bugs me, going to something called a Farmer's market, and seeing produce that's clearly out of season in this area. I tend to frequent the Saturday markets for this reason.
Yeah, I almost completely agree with this, actually. In my earlier post, I was simply questioning lovebrentwood's statement that the State Farmers' Market is "not in a great area," which seemed odd to me, because I would consider it to be in a pretty great area. But I was not saying that it's a great farmers' market. It is a very large farmers' market, and certainly worth fairly regular visits on general principle. But I have my issues with it, too, especially the fact that, as you say, many of the vendors there are not actually the farmers who grew the produce, but just middle-men who re-sell it. In fact, when you say that "there are also many growers" there, is that really true? I don't know the provenance of every piece of produce being sold there, but my recent impression had been that very little of it was being sold by the growers. But I may be mistaken. In any case, the State Farmers' Market is certainly an interesting and worthwhile destination, but not exactly a paragon as farmers' markets go.

I didn't mean to turn this totally into a farmers' market thread, but I think this discussion is germane to the OP's questions. The bottom line, bluerose84, is that in addition to the other amenities mentioned in various parts of the region, there are also a variety of farmers' markets, including the very large state-run one, and many smaller, local, seasonal ones. For what it's worth, though, really the best and purest farmers' market in the area is actually the Carrboro Farmers' Market, operating on Wednesday and Saturday mornings year-round in Carrboro, NC, a little town adjacent to Chapel Hill. It's much more of an authentic and grass-roots farmers' market, with a much higher proportion of actual growers there selling their products. And it's quite a cultural happening on top of it. Even if you end up living in Raleigh/Wake County, which may offer more of what you're looking for overall, Carrboro is nearby enough that it's well-worth a visit when you're here over Labor Day, and also from time to time once you're living in the area.

Good luck!
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Old 07-26-2012, 10:48 PM
 
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If you just want fresh produce (and you're not just looking for a farmer's market as an activity), in many areas of the Triangle, you can get fresh produce delivered via TheProduceBox.com once a week. We love it. It's all veggies and fruit in season from NC farmers. It's about the same price as local grocery stores -- but it's so convenient (and fresh!).
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Old 07-27-2012, 06:40 AM
 
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Originally Posted by tompope View Post
I don't know the provenance of every piece of produce being sold there, but my recent impression had been that very little of it was being sold by the growers. But I may be mistaken.
The State Farmer's Market has three sections. The main, covered section that most people venture into is all NC farmers selling their produce. Most of them come from within the Triangle or bordering counties such as Johnston County. The ones selling items like peaches tend to come from the sandhills, etc.

In the fully enclosed building, next to the fish house, you do have a random hodge podge of stuff. The meat sellers are local farmers, and you have things like the soap and Lumpy's ice cream that are local. But the people selling knick knacks do sell stuff from all over. I also have mixed feelings about that but then again, the booth at the far end has great prices on spices so I do sometimes buy from them.

Then you have the wholesaler building which is where a lot of the smaller Asian supermarkets around here buy their produce I found out from a friend whose father is a produce manager of one. That stuff comes from all over and they make no attempt to pretend they're selling NC produce.

So if you want to buy NC only, stick with the main, covered building, and the meat and goat cheese sellers in the enclosed building. I think the Department of Agriculture needs to do a better job of clearly marking, "GOT TO BE NC" in the main section to clear up confusion people have because of the knick knack sellers in the enclosed building. It would also be nice if they would just tell the people in the enclosed building, "No you can't sell that bag of onions that came from Florida" but I don't see that happening anytime soon
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Old 07-27-2012, 10:53 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evaofnc View Post
The State Farmer's Market has three sections. The main, covered section that most people venture into is all NC farmers selling their produce. Most of them come from within the Triangle or bordering counties such as Johnston County. The ones selling items like peaches tend to come from the sandhills, etc.

In the fully enclosed building, next to the fish house, you do have a random hodge podge of stuff. The meat sellers are local farmers, and you have things like the soap and Lumpy's ice cream that are local. But the people selling knick knacks do sell stuff from all over. I also have mixed feelings about that but then again, the booth at the far end has great prices on spices so I do sometimes buy from them.

Then you have the wholesaler building which is where a lot of the smaller Asian supermarkets around here buy their produce I found out from a friend whose father is a produce manager of one. That stuff comes from all over and they make no attempt to pretend they're selling NC produce.

So if you want to buy NC only, stick with the main, covered building, and the meat and goat cheese sellers in the enclosed building. I think the Department of Agriculture needs to do a better job of clearly marking, "GOT TO BE NC" in the main section to clear up confusion people have because of the knick knack sellers in the enclosed building. It would also be nice if they would just tell the people in the enclosed building, "No you can't sell that bag of onions that came from Florida" but I don't see that happening anytime soon
Obviously, you're right about the wholesaler building and the enclosed building next to the seafood restaurant. But is it really true that the main pubic section of the State Farmers' Market is "all NC farmers selling their produce"? I didn't think that was true, but again, I don't know for sure. I thought that the produce in the main building may be more-or-less genuinely locally grown, but it's mostly not being sold by the same people who grew it. I know for certain that is or has been the case with at least a couple of the vendors there, but I don't know the exact extent of it. So, I have my doubts about how authentically the State Farmers' Market conforms to the traditional farmers' market paradigm of actual farmers coming to sell their actual fresh produce directly to the public. On some level, of course, it may not matter all that much. To some extent, if produce is high-quality, affordable, and grown fairly locally, it may not necessarily matter who's selling it to you. But I think it's true that the Carrboro Farmers' Market, and some of the other smaller, local farmers' markets, may provide a truer, purer farmers' market experience than the big state one. But I'm certainly not an expert on any of this, and maybe you have better or more current information.
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Old 07-28-2012, 12:03 PM
 
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I mean, if you're expecting the owner of every farm out there then no, you won't find that. They usually have their kids or parents out there selling. Or there's the one stand that has some of their farm hands selling on the weekends. But I have never run into a farm stand where the person selling wasn't directly connected to the farm and able to answer questions.
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Old 07-28-2012, 02:57 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
6,817 posts, read 9,023,653 times
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Originally Posted by theedeadmau5 View Post
ok, if people havent noticed by now i love brier creek, which i think would be the perfect place for you to visit. the only thing you listed that isnt a big thing in brier creek is non-chain restaurants, but there are some good ones in the vicinity such as Angus Barn, Brasa, Trali, and Azitra to name a few. and the traffic is not bad here no matter what people tell you, i've lived here for five years and i've never had any issues.
The other nice thing about Brier Creek is the relative closeness to Umstead Park, a great place for walking and hiking. Both the Raleigh and Cary entrances are just about 15 minutes away or less.
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Old 08-02-2012, 11:16 AM
 
Location: Orlando
35 posts, read 90,238 times
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Thank you all for your input. I greatly appreciate your viewpoints and suggestions!
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