OK, I will say I just moved here. Just moved from a city with a great Farmers Market, amazing I…read moremight say so I am a little bias...but this is not really a bias things, more a question.
I have spent the last 25+ years going to the Minneapolis Farmers Market every weekend from April to Sept/Oct. Even on weeks that I wasn't going to be home I would come down for the people, the sounds, the smells, the fresh produce. I have this thing in my mind about Farmers Markets and supporting local businesses, local growers and buying good clean healthy products from people who do this year after year! Watching young and old, rich and poor come down to buy locally grown, seasonal products! As a trained Chef, lover of food, lover of people and crowds everything about a farmers market hits for me! I have been to a lot of famers markets in a lot of Cities and States as well, all along those lines for the most part...
Now the Boise Farmers Market is very nice, lots of great vendors, good food trucks, Awesome Bagels (shout out to @Good Time Bagels) but the pricing for produce is quite honestly bizarre !
I have been here only 3 months but I find Boise overall to have a much lower cost of living to what I am used to. Restaurants, stores, coffee, alcohol...the little things I enjoy in life are much less expensive...except veggies at the Farmers Market! I would routinely pick up fresh lettuce of various types at the market for $1-2 dollars a head...Boise $7-10??? $7 dollars for a bag of lettuce, are you kidding me, $10..WTF??? $3 for a very, very small bunch of carrots...something that I would expect for $1...This is NOT the markets you would pick up your weekly need of veggies at, you couldn't afford to. $11 for a loaf of fresh bread, really...that's like double what I would pay at Whole Foods (whole paycheck as it's known).
Now I get getting a fair price for your product, for your work, what you do...but it's a head of lettuce, it's a carrot...are the costs of growing that much more? That is a general question. MN is a very high tax State, especially compared to ID...not why I moved here at all, love the Boise vibe from the first time I came for work! I very much love this city, the people are so nice but the farmer market both confuses me and disappointed me all at the same time!
I will come down ever weekend, I will enjoy the people, the smells, the food and coffee...especially the Bagels...but I will NOT buy lettuce which is such a shame! If you have ever eaten freshly grown lettuce compared to the stuff you get from the grocery store, everything about it is so much better. It actually has flavor, a crunch, taste...but not for $8 (using an average) that's just stupid! Where do the chefs buy fresh produce? Where do the families who want to buy local, want a healthier life for their families...where do they shop? Curious!