(Written from journal notes taken Jan 15-16th 2010)

With limited time to venture out to outdoor markets, I thought I would research on the internet ahead of going to the Fort Lauderdale area, to find out where the markets were and chart out visiting them.  Over the internet, the only one I found was the ‘ Florida Swap Shop & Circus of Fort Lauderdale’.  The others seemed to be retail stores that featured featured fresh produce etc.  While at the Florida Nursery and Landscape Industry Trade show, I had asked some of the exhibitors there, who are from the general area, where I might find some open farmers markets. I was surprised that almost no one knew of any. One person from  a Florida State environmental agency booth,  steered me to the  ‘Swap Shop’.   It was a Friday so I felt lucky that this market location was open seven days a week. I was not prepared for the immensity of this market location, as it was a complex of 13 drive-in theaters,  a huge in-door air conditioned flea market, a sprawling outdoor swap meet , circus and located on the outside of the two  entrances to the permanent building were vendors selling fresh fruit and vegetables. There were not very many people there on this Friday so it was a little easier for me to talk to some buyers and vendors who were not so rushed with crowds.

I first observed what types of food was available that day. I saw a lot of grapes, pineapples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelon, bananas.  Most food items I recognized, some I did not….so I figured these unknown items to me were available to cater to the local shoppers.  I assumed at first that most of these  fresh  products were grown in Florida, a big agricultural state. Having warm winter’s  (not this one), like Hawaii, Florida has a conducive environment to grow lots of food.  As I looked closer at the labeling I discovered a surprising generality……..a lot of the food here came from outside the United States. There were bananas from Honduras, pineapple ( Del Monte) from Costa Rica, grapes from Brazil,  mango from Ecuador and Peru, watermelon from Guatemala, ah…….. oranges labeled ‘Florida, product of USA’!

Then I got up the nerve and  approached a vendor , explaining my research project and asking her if  her  customers asked questions about the food other than the price of the food, that was available at her booth.   She had been working at her booth for the past four years,  and said that more and more,  people have been asking her if some  products were organic but mostly they would choose whatever was the cheaper priced items. She said she buys from wholesalers in Miami.

As I tuned into other vendors talking to their customers,  I noticed the vendor’s first language was not English. They would converse in another language with some customers and in mixed English with English speaking customers. I wondered how much simply language communication difficulties affected finding out information about the food product, if a buyer wanted to know more.

I was ready to approach a consumer and ask if they look for where the food comes from when making their selection.  After briefly explaining  my research project to a young African American women in her twenties, who was selecting food at another booth, she said she sometimes looks for where the food comes from. It depends on what is in season, but mostly she looks for freshness, and the what the quality of the the food looks like.  She also said she goes on line sometimes and looks for direct farmer to buyer markets…saying they are mostly in the Miami area.

I was on a roll. Seeing a group of 7 people I came up to them, explained my research project and once again noticed a welcome attitude to answering my few questions. These people were actually a family of siblings and their spouses. One of the women was a Fort Lauderdale resident who was formerly from Wisconsin and the others were her family on vacation from Wisconsin. They said they have begun wondering more and more where their food comes from in general. They question the packaging/labels in the market because they felt that the vendors are just interested in selling product and therefore labeling there might not be what it really is.  They concluded that they  trust more about where the food comes from when they buy more direct from the farmer.

By the end of the day at this market, I began to get a glimpse of others perspectives in South Florida on food shopping at an open market. While I myself have some concerns with  advertising and labeling in general,  for some reason I never associated it with the face to face encounter in open market situations.So I began to think more about trust issues we have in food purchasing. Whether it be verbal or label information. Also I realized my own assumptions, that I have heard echoed from others since, that one at first assumes the food that is sold at farmers markets is grown locally (definition to be discussed on anther post). I remember thinking after a day at this  market, “You don’t have to leave the U. S. anymore, at least not in South Florida, to have produce available almost anytime when it comes to purchasing fruit and vegetable”.