When buying fresh fruits and vegetables for your family you want the best quality, but you don't want an outrageous price tag.
I went out to Burwinkel Farms in Ross to talk with a local farmer about the difference in cost for produce that's grown locally compared to at a grocery store.
“I come out to Burwinkel's just to get the corn," said Neal Sackenheim, customer at Burwinkel Farms.
It would be much closer for Neal Sackenheim to get his corn from a grocery store.
“But going here, it's really the good stuff, and it's supporting local," he said.
Karen Burwinkel, owner of Burwinkel Farms said there’s a reason their produce is top quality.
“Our corn is picked fresh every single morning at 6 a.m. You're not going to find that at the grocery store," Burwinkel said.
What you might find at the grocery store, though is a slightly lower price.
"I was just thinking it's been a while since I bought corn here and I saw that said $9 a dozen,” Sackenheim said. “I remember it being around $6. It wasn't that long ago, just a couple of years."
Burwinkel agreed, you may be able to get produce at a grocery store for a little bit cheaper.
“They’re able to offer sales, they can buy stuff in larger bulk quantities to lower the price,” she said. “But when you shop here, you know you're getting it from a local farm. You know your grower; you know that it's fresh.
And just like the customers, inflation is impacting farmers too.
“We’re families too. We have to shop at the same stores you guys shop at,” Burwinkel said. “We see the prices increase, and so we're doing what we can to not increase our prices.
Burwinkel said the cost of production, gas prices, and what they pay their employees has all gone up.
"Employee pricing has, you know, skyrocketed because we want to treat our employees well,” she said.
“We value that, we value them, and we want to make them feel that."
In doing so, Burwinkel said sometimes they're left with no other option but to raise prices.
“It's not a significant increase,” she clarified.
“I feel like, you know, my grocery bill has increased like 25 to 30%. I would say our prices increased maybe 10%"
There are also ways you can get farm fresh produce for less.
“Sometimes we have an abundance of a certain product. So, take, for example, sweet corn. A couple weeks ago, we had an oversupply of sweet corn. We were able to offer bulk pricing at a lower cost, so that you're able to take it home, freeze it, and then enjoy it all winter long."
You can call Burwinkel Farms and ask to get put on their list. They'll call you when they have produce in bulk.
Starting September 28, Burwinkel Farms will have corn mazes, pumpkins for picking, hayrides, a sunflower field, and more.
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