Monday, June 2, 2008

Old Oakland: Economics

By Maria, Laura, Miguel and Jackie B.

At the farmers market in Old Oakland, people were selling different things. Some people would sell fruits. Some had samples of the fruits so you can taste it before you buy it to see if you like it. People came frome different places just to sell their products. Another person was selling crepes and was giving out crepes to people so they can try them, they were really good. Some people were playing music trying to sell their CDs. They were selling food to eat too, like chiken, hot dogs, ect. They were also selling jewlery like rings, earings, and bracelets. They sold many things in the farmers market in Old Oakland just to make some extra money.

There were many things being sold in the Farmers' Market in Old Oakland. The people decide to sell their products in this market every Friday because they can sell them there at a higher price. They say that if they sell it to the supermarket, they get paid really low for their products. Therefore, they decide to come from far away places such as Fresno, to be able to directly sell to the consumers.

At the Farmer’s Market, there were a lot of people selling pretty much the same thing (cherries, strawberries, greens, etc.); most were priced the same. For example, almost every stand that had cherries were selling a regular basket for $3.00, maybe 50 cents more at one other stands (a dollar more at this one in particular). But if you look for bargains, they will find you. We found this one cherry stand where they were selling a regular basket for $2.00! They were the only ones, too (we bought some from them; they were delicious). That’s why these Farmer’s Markets are so great, because you have a lot of people selling the same thing in one area for different prices; and they’re a lot healthier for you too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's interesting about the farmers wanting to sell directly to the consumers. I've heard that a lot of neighborhoods are doing this now because farmers are finding it hard to survive on the low, low prices the supermarkets pay them. If you cut out the supermarkets, then things are cheaper for the people and the farmers get a better price. I think this is why some people don't go to supermarkets, but do go to the small neighborhood shops instead.

Sam, Australia

Square Bear (Jackie) said...

Hi, this is Jackie B from the Econ group. Yeah, cutting out the middle man saves you A LOT of money. And not only that, they money goes back into the community. Thank you for responding, and we hope to hear more from you! (^-^)