Ask A Farmer?

What Are North Carolina’s Farmers Saying About New Master Plan For Raleigh State Farmers Market?  We will be updating often so please keep checking back.  If you are a NC Farmer please send in feedback [email protected]

“Our family sells about 20,000 boxes of produce per year at the Raleigh Farmers Market to other farms and to the wholesalers on the market. We depend on this market for a lot of our income. We also buy produce from others on this market to sell at our stores. Please take care of our NC Farmers.”  Whitaker Farms, Climax, NC

 

“You need to keep the wholesale combined with the retail so everyone has one spot to go to and buy anything,” Burch says.  “They are the ones that made this market, why kick them out now? That makes no sense to me. They are the reason people go there,” Burch says. “I understand if you want to add restaurants and bars–yeah, sure, great, I’m all for that. That’s wonderful–but don’t cut out the reason people started going there in the first place.” Burch Farms – Faison, NC  Indyweek

“Perkins Orchard will be forced to close PERMANENTLY if redevelopment takes place at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh in exchange for high end condos. It would bring the end to wholesale operations for thousands of farmers and businesses like Perkins Orchard.

If this happens you might as well just replace the cornucopia in the state seal for a high rise condo.”  Perkins Orchard – Durham, NC

 

“Farming is what my family knows!  There are over 3 million people that visit the Raleigh Farmer’s market per year.  This is why it is one of the top markets on the east coast.  If they take away the Wholesale house this will decrease.  The food available at the grocery store is different from the foods you can buy at the Farmers Market. Local foods at the market are picked hours before delivered to the market and are contain fewer pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and are free of irradiation.

Currently there are a lot of wholesale buyers that come to this market from Virginia, Maryland, and etc. to buy as much local (fresh squash, tomatoes, peppers) as they can and then pick up the apples, oranges, etc. at the wholesale market.  If the whole sellers leave so will the buyers.  They will not come here they will travel to the Columbia Market where they can get everything at one place.  This will hurt us and the local economy really bad.

The park is one thing and the market is another.  Why do we need to do away with one for the other? There are plenty of vacant condos, homes, and shopping centers around the Raleigh area, why don’t we utilize them for a luxury, high end, expensive Park. 

The Farmer is the last one that anyone cares about until they sit down to eat and there is no food!”  Lee’s Produce – Meadow, NC

“If y’all divide, then we all fall.” This is what Don Driver from Rob’s Fresh Produce Farm told me one Friday afternoon in early November.

I was at the Trucker’s Shed located next to the craft buildings on the retail side of the market, and Don was there selling whole cases of North Carolina grown produce. Rob’s Fresh Produce is a GAP and food safety certified farm, and some of their crops are organically grown on contract. Driver is the marketing specialist for Rob Glover’s farm, and he explained that it is essential that all of the different entities at the market—wholesalers, dealers at the trucker’s shed, and farmers alike—are located in one central location. “This has gotta stay for us to survive. I gotta have more than one customer,” Driver said. Driver will bring boxes full of fresh produce from the farm in Nash County to sell to multiple customers at the market at one time, like Ward’s, Ford’s, L&M, R&H, and dealers at the Trucker’s Shed. This produce will find its way to eaters in a myriad of ways, either through grocery stores, restaurants, or roadside produce stands. Rob’s Fresh Produce Farm – Nash County, NC

“We are a 3rd generation farm and have been selling fresh produce at the State Farmers Market for over 15 years. We work countless hours and pour our heart and soul into this farm because this is US, the Moore family.

This thanksgiving and every day don’t just thank a farmer… Thank his wife for cooking, cleaning, delivering meals, going for parts, all while taking care of her usual jobs. Thank the farmer for working endless hours on sleepless nights to ensure the crop comes off. And thank his children who are ok with seeing for just a brief moment while he eats his meal in the field. Thank the wholesalers who help purchase and distribute produce on our behalf as farming is a full time job that does not always allow us to both grow and distribute.

Farming is a family business just like almost all of our neighbors in the wholesale terminals businesses are, and just like our family business there are hours of sacrifices and work made from those families to provide fresh, local produce to all of NC. We stand by our wholesale neighbors and want to keep the same family atmosphere that we think makes our Raleigh State Farmers Market so special.” Ronnie Moore’s Produce – Stephanie Moore & Cheryl Moore – Newton Grove, NC