I went to the Durham Farmer’s Market this weekend and it was a very unpleasant shopping experience, with the exception of running into a couple of friends. Way too crowded, impossible to do any real price/quality comparison, and full of extraneous non-farm craft stuff that got in the way. 

In contrast, a trip to the korean grocery store on 15-501 was a pleasant shopping experience as have been recent trips to Compare Foods on Avondale/Roxboro (I’m still amused that the salon in there always has at least one person getting their hair done). For the most part the stores seem less expensive too, and a friendly customer at the KoGro helped me figure out which kind of seaweed to buy to make a good soup stock. 

I’m going to try the farmer’s market again during their Wed afternoon hours and see if it’s a better experience, because I really like the concept and want to support them.  They all seem like good people and they even put recipes from local chefs focused on local farm ingredients on their website.  I just can’t stand the crowds.