How can I find out the source of produce at a market chain?

August 22, 2015 6:04 PM

I go often to this market, but I hesitate with the produce?

West Coasters, maybe you can help---or foodies wherever you live, I'd like your input. There's a fairly large Mexican grocery chain store in our town that features low prices, authentically scrumptious deli items, a wonderful butcher section with especially good marinated meats as well as great prices on fish and meat, and a wide variety of very inexpensive produce. For examples, the apples are featured at about 1/2 to 2/3 less than the price of other chain groceries. The produce is marked "grown in USA". Some of the produce items are a bit smaller than other chains feature, but on the whole the produce looks, and tastes, the same.

The meat is not fatty, the fish is fresh, and the chimichangas are heavenly.

I go often to this market, but I hesitate with the produce. How can I find out the source of the produce---without being untactful and gringa-ish? We're a bit worried about heavy pesticide use. I have looked online extensively, but can find no information.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

posted by ragtimepiano to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Have you asked the manager? It shouldn't be a secret.

Friends who work in grocery stores have told me that the price can be dependent upon where on the route you are from the same produce provider. So for instance, Whole Foods gets first pick, then Stop & Shop, then Shaw's, then finally Market Basket. I don't know if I'd take that as gospel, but I've heard it a couple of times, so there may be some merit to it.
posted by xingcat at 6:30 PM on August 22, 2015

I'm sure there is stuff from all over - not just one source. Anyway, just ask the produce manager!

BTW, produce is pretty cheap, generally. Different stores have different mark up policies. I don't know where you live, but there is usually a main distribution hub somewhere close to urban centers. If you went to a market near/in the distribution warehouse neighborhood, the prices would be similarly inexpensive. This price is what their customers will pay, so that's what they charge. Folks who go to the Ralph's down the road expect to pay more, so Ralph's charges more.

Also, do you have info I don't? I just assumed the farms in the San Joaquin valley are just as bad as the farms in Mexico on so many levels. Do you really think there's that much of a difference?

I know certain fruits and veg pick up more pesticides than others, so instead, I let that be my guide if I'm not at a Farmer's Market. (And sometimes farmer's markets are dodgy, too, so caveat emptor and all that.)
posted by jbenben at 6:30 PM on August 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Speaking to xingcat's comment, there are definitely different grades of produce, and sometimes bruising and freshness comes into play. Most of the time, though, what I buy at WholeFoods is exactly the same as what I get from the little market across the street for a 10th of the price. WholeFoods throws out slightly bruised but otherwise sellable produce, or they use it in prepared foods. With them, you are paying for the waste on product that is slightly unpretty so their displays always look fabulous, rarely is the higher price about quality or higher farming standards.
posted by jbenben at 6:38 PM on August 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

USDA grades don't tell you anything about pesticide use (PDF). I would assume, all other things being equal, that lower grade (i.e. smaller, less cosmetically perfect) produce would actually have lower pesticide use simply because farmers who grow more "perfect" produce tend to use more pesticides to achieve this.
posted by ssg at 7:22 PM on August 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

I live in Australia, and fish and produce at my local SE Asian / Indian grocer is usually caught by "recreational" fishers, or from their own farm (or a relative's farm, friend of a friend's farm etc). New migrants in both communities often take up harvesting work, so they'll occasionally get to take home boxes of cosmetically imperfect fruit, which they'll on-sell to small grocers to top up their income.
posted by travellingincognito at 6:50 AM on August 23, 2015