The whole point of buying direct is that you can ask. No grocery store clerk can tell you how the chicken lived. The farmer can. Here are seven questions worth asking, and what a good answer sounds like.
The seven questions
How was this grown or raised? A good answer is specific: what the animals eat, what goes on the fields, how weeds and pests get handled. Vague answers are the warning sign, not modest ones.
Did you grow this yourself? Some market vendors resell produce from wholesalers. Reselling is legal and open at most markets, but you deserve to know which tomatoes came from the farm behind the table.
Are you certified, or how do you describe your practices? Certification costs money, and many small farms follow organic practices without the paper. “Not certified, and here is exactly what we do” is a fine answer. So is “certified, here is our certifier.”
When was this picked? Fresh matters most for corn, peas, greens, and berries. A farm that picked this morning will say so with some pride.
What do you have coming next? This tells you the farm’s range, and it turns one purchase into a season of them.
How do I buy from you in winter? Storage crops, frozen meat, eggs, and preserves carry many farms past the market season. Ask, and you may not need the grocery store as much as you think.
What should I do with this? Farmers eat what they grow. The person who raised the lamb knows how to cook the shoulder. This question also starts the kind of conversation that makes buying direct worth it.
One habit to build
Buy something small first. Ask one or two of these questions. Go back to the farms whose answers you liked. Trust builds one carton and one conversation at a time, in both directions.
Start with a farm near you.
Find a farm near you
Put the guide to work. Browse the directory or start with your location.