In the past 10 weeks at farmer's market, I've had the state meat inspector, the state health inspector, and most recently the state 'consumer protection services' scale inspector visit my booth in their official capacities. The first two were cool, but the last got up my nose.
I do not have a scale at my booth. The majority of what I sell is meat, and that is weighed at the processing plant. My whole cheeses are cut into twelve pieces, wrapped in Saran with a label and sold by the piece, not the pound, in $5, $6 and $7 increments. I've done it this way (by sight, according to what I think is fair) for the past eight years.
So State Guy tells me I can't sell cheese this way because "consumers don't know what they are buying", and in my recollection, called it "fraud" to my face. Now, don't get me wrong, I've been inspected before, and everything has been fine with selling by the piece - but that is apparently "the past".
So, let's be clear about this. There are radishes, parsley, beets, carrots, flowers, and scallions for sale by the bunch, not by weight. I can go to the local Hannaford and buy two lemons for $.39 each, but I can't sell a piece of cheese for $5 flat without a weight from a state-inspected scale on the label. They have got to be kidding me.
If someone asks me the price of cheese I tell them, I show them. If they don't want it they are free to walk away, and some do. No one is getting ripped off.
What did State Guy say when I complained about being singled out? 'You're going to make more money if you sell by the pound'.
"Well, no Honey, I ain't."
The State of Vermont just handed me a bill for $250 (the cost of a scale) plus extra labor each week, and if you know anything about me by now, that is the exact way to get up the wrong side of me. Cause even if I have a scale, even if it takes me five hours instead of four to cut, wrap and price cheese for market, I'll still be charging $5 for a piece of cheese that's priced at $5.16. I don't deal with small change - it's all part of market, I can charge what I want.
Farmer's markets are not outdoor supermarkets. There's some haggling, there are bargains at the end of the day, and vendors price their products at cost plus a profit, not what the commodity index says it should be.
I don't want this kind of trouble; I'm assuming some awful punition if I do not comply. And I have to mention that no other cheese/meat vendor I spoke to has been hassled by "The Man".
Does the state really want to put farmer's markets under the exact same level of regulatory scrutiny as retail grocery stores right across the board? Somehow I doubt it - but here we are.
