Half of produce at farm stands could come from grocery stores

It’s a growing problem: some of the vegetables for sale in farm markets may have come from a local grocery store. Farmers might resort to buying vegetables from outside sources — including Amish wholesale auction houses, other farms and grocery stores — to supplement booths, or at times when their own farms aren’t producing.In some instances, they’re pushed by the punishing need to fill a table every week come hell or high water.Granted, it’s not exactly a scandal. Shoppers might not care because they still like the farm market experience. And after all, these outdoor markets are selling vegetables and fruit, which are good for you no matter where they come from and how they’re sold.  But if not properly labeled, they're giving a false impression that all of the produce was freshly picked out of local soil. Booths might be charging dearly for something that was trucked in. It irks farmers who are following the rules, working on slim profit margins and sweating it out when Mother Nature throws them a curve.“It’s like going to Napa Valley and they’re pouring ‘two buck chuck’ and charging $20 a glass for it,” said Nami Moon Farms co-owner Chris Holman. “We’re like the winemakers. What’s at a farm market should be an artisan product. It should be qualitatively better.”