Quality Controls
Hawaii Imports Ball Park 90% Of Its Food
With the islands importing such a large percentage of its' food it isn't much of a surprise that the farmers' market can be challenge when seeking out locally produced organic, or beyond organic, produce, meats, dairy, & more.
A few tips for roaming through the market places looking for organic, or beyond organic, food.
- Look under and around the booth tables. Organic producers will often have large coolers that they bring their organic produce & organic meat to the market. Vendors who pick up their produce at a wholesale seller often show up with the waxy boxes stamped with the large industrial food suppliers logo stamped all over the boxes.
- Ask! Simply ask the seller if they work on the farm, what position they hold, and if the products are organic. A great thing to ask is if you can visit the farm. Often times organic or beyond organic style growers are excited to have people out to the farm to show off their operation. People who aren’t growing organic but claim they are won’t have you out to the farm.
- Look for items that aren’t the standard. Many times people who are carrying items that are your standard products found at every other table indict a good place to dig a little further.
- Get a referral from a grower. When you find an organic grower ask them who else at the farmer’s market might be an organic grower.
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