Farmers market: safer than the supermarket?

Probably not, but there is no accounting for public opinion. Here is a story passed along by K-State's food safety network that cites statistics from a Food Marketing Institute survey of consumers noting a decline in the total confidence consumers have in food sold at supermarkets. Here is the link to the article "Where the food is fresh" published in the Sioux City Journal.

From the story:
According to an online poll conducted by the Food Marketing Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based outfit that does research and public relations for its 1,500 member food retailers and wholesalers, of the 2,307 shoppers surveyed, the number of consumers "completely confident" or "somewhat confident" in the safety of supermarket food has decreased from 82 percent last year to 66 percent.

Later...

Earlina Huffman and James Black of Sioux City visited the Floyd Boulevard Local Foods Market's farmers market for the first time on Saturday.Huffman said freshness and foodborne illnesses are a concern for her and Black when shopping at the supermarket."He wouldn't let me get spinach for a while," she said of Black. "Here, you know where it's coming from."

TK: Down is up and black is white. And farmers markets are safer than supermarkets. If I ran a supermarket, I would be none too happy that my consumers believe my produce is less safe than the mud-caked potatoes at the farmers market.