CBC
Marketplace has caught vendors at farmers’ markets lying that they
grew the produce they are selling.
They
were caught on camera buying produce at the Ontario Food Terminal in
Toronto, removing it from packaging and putting it in baskets and
bushel baskets so it would look like they had grown and picked it on
their own farm.
Ontario
Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal said his ministry wants to ensure
integrity and investigates if and when it receives complaints.
While
some shoppers may be misled, it’s common knowledge to most who
frequent the largest one – the St. Jacobs Farmers Market – that
there are many vendors who buy what they are selling, including some
that stock up at the Ontario Food Terminal or at the produce auction
market north of Elmira.
How
else, for example, can they offer bananas, oranges and other fruits
and vegetables out of season?
It
is common for some farmers’ market vendors to supplement what they
have grown with produce they pick up at the Elmira auction or buy
from neighbours.
