Farmers markets are a mecca for fresh summer produce, overflowing with juicy peaches, fragrant herbs and quirky varietals like fairytale eggplant and sugar cube melon that tempt me to blow my entire grocery budget. But as dreamy as it all looks, not everything piled high in a market bin is always as fresh, local or thoughtfully grown as it seems.
HuffPost spoke with farmers, market vendors and local food experts about the red flags they look for when shopping at markets themselves. From suspiciously spotless strawberries to vague vendor answers and out-of-season finds, here’s how to spot what’s truly farm-fresh — and what’s better left behind.
Red Flag #1: Items That Are Suspiciously Out Of Season
We’ve gotten used to the convenience of year-round produce — bananas at breakfast, cherry tomatoes in February — thanks to global supply chains and long-distance imports. But at a farmers market, local produce has a much narrower window.
“Strawberries in December or tomatoes in February? That’s a red flag if you are visiting a producer-only market,” said Kim Hutchinson, executive director of the Virginia Farmers Market Association. “It’s likely a sign that the vendor is not growing a product themselves, and not being transparent about it.”
That said, seasonality isn’t always so black-and-white. “Climate change and new growing practices have altered things at farmers markets,” said Catt Fields White, a farmers market manager and farmers market advocate. “Spotting ripe tomatoes or berries ‘too early’ might once have been a red flag. Now it may just mean that the farmer has invested in tunnels that warm the soil and the seedlings — or that local weather has gotten warmer.” So it’s best to always ask.
Red Flag #2: It Looks Too Perfect
Another side effect of grocery store shopping: we’ve come to expect produce that’s shiny, spotless, and uniform — something Mother Nature rarely delivers.
“Does the product look too ‘waxy’? If you feel there is an unnatural coating, then it could be wholesale purchased to be resold,” said Erin Mann, owner of Erin’s Elderberries in Virginia.
That hyper-polished look is especially common with berries, she said. “Are they a little too perfect sitting in that container? All the same size, no specs of actual dirt anywhere? Smaller farms’ produce will vary in size, even coloring,” Mann added.
Instead, look for signs that what you’re buying has been freshly picked: uneven coloring, bits of soil or even a strawberry that’s less than symmetrical.
Red Flag #3: No Farm Name — And No Straight Answers, Either
In this age of transparency, a vendor being cagey about where their produce comes from and how it was grown should raise an alarm. If it feels a little like buying a fake designer handbag off New York City’s Canal Street, trust your gut.
“If you can’t find clear information about the business, that’s worth questioning,” Hutchinson said. “Name recognition is important to farmers, so booths that don’t share that information readily are worth noting.”
Even if you’re not speaking directly to the farmer, someone at the stand should be able to answer your questions — or point you to someone who can. “Farmers vending at markets who use responsible growing practices and sell their own produce are proud of it, and are clear about their practices and values because they want to build trust with their customers,” Hutchinson said.
And if they’re making bold claims about what’s in their bins? That brings us to our next red flag.
Red Flag #4: Misleading Claims About Being ‘Organic’
While many food labels are filled with marketing mumbo-jumbo, “organic” is a federally protected term that requires certification, inspections and fees, not just good intentions.
“A big red flag for me is the use of the word organic,” Mann said. “That is a federally protected word that comes with required fees, inspections and regulations. You aren’t allowed to say, ‘Oh this cucumber is organic’ if you do not have all of the aforementioned things from the USDA.”
That said, you often won’t see the official organic label at farmers markets — even from growers who avoid synthetic pesticides, due to cost and red tape associated with certification. If organic methods matter to you, ask the farmer about how they manage pests or fertilize their crops.
Why is this such a big deal for Mann? It comes down to trust. “If someone has ‘organic’ on their sign, to me it means they do not understand the rules and laws,” Mann said, “and if they aren’t paying attention to that, or purposely misleading shoppers, what else are they doing you don’t know about?”
Red Flag #5: There’s Just Too Much Variety
Sometimes, it’s not what a vendor says — it’s what they’re selling. If their stand looks more like a mini grocery store than a small farm operation, you might want to dig a little deeper.
“When a produce vendor has a HUGE assortment of things, and a ton of those individual items also,” Mann said. “Many farmers do go to veggie auctions to supplement what they grow. This is 100% why it’s important to know your farmer.”
Most small farms don’t have the bandwidth to grow dozens of different fruits and vegetables at once, especially ones that don’t share the same growing season. A stand overflowing with everything from asparagus to avocados might be stocking up from wholesale distributors rather than harvesting from their own fields.