At 11:31 AM 2/5/01 +0100, Sonja wrote:
>Just a quick question. Over here we have farmers that sell directly to
>customers. And customers think they get a really good deal. But I've been
>wondering about that a lot lately. As far as I know the products you buy
>directly from a farmer haven't gone through the stern health and sanitary
checks
>that the products in supermarkets have to pass. Do you have a similar
situation
>in the US? Or is it not that common for people to buy directly from the
farmer?
During the summer, a drive through the country will almost certainly turn
up numerous roadside stands selling local produce. In particular,
strawberries in early summer and corn-on-the-cob in late summer are popular
items to be locally.
AFAIK you are correct in that they are not as rigorously inspected. After
all, how could they be? They are literally been taking directly from
field to roadside - there's no middleman to do inspection. I guess that
if the farmer is also selling produce commercially, that said farmer is
passing certain requirements, but I don't really know.
JDG
P.S. In New York State we have a wonderful supermarket called "Wegman's"
that purchases the vast majority of their produce locally. I have no idea
if the "supermarket" or "roadside" standards apply.
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"The point of living in a Republic after all, is that we do not live by
majority rule. We live by laws and a variety of isntitutions designed
to check each other." -Andrew Sullivan 01/29/01
