First of all, don't believe everything you see on the telly. An awful lot of those markets are nothing more than self-employed traders selling the cheap imported veg they bought at the wholesalers that morning for twice the price you'd pay for the same consignment that was delivered to a local supermarket. And if you go to any of those supermarkets, you'll see plenty of "Walmart" types firing punnet after punnet of pre-packed industrially-grown veg into their trolley without so much as a casual glance at the label.Ncdjd2 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 08, 2021 2:55 pm Is the veg box thing their only source of income though ? From what I can see France is way ahead of us here with regards to markets and how people value fresh produce.. I could be way off in that CR that's the impression I get from watching programs about France. The way I wanted to operate was to grow a crop, harvest it, get paid for it and prepare for the next crop. Like when my father, myself and brother used to do it when I was actively involved in farming.. but these avenues are gone now.. it's all contracts and big farm named distribution companies who are as bad as Larry when it comes to how much money is offered for the crop.
That said, there is a general appreciation for food - moreso how it's been cooked than the food itself - that you don't always get in Ireland, but it's swings and roundabouts. I think Irish black pudding, for example, is far superior to anything you'll get in France, and Irish beef is waaaaaaaaay ahead of what the French will serve (coz the feckers only hang it for 7-10 days ) On the whole, due to a deeply ingrained fear of being accused of "la concurrence déloyale" - unfair competition - there's a certain tradition of mediocrity across most of France.
But where the French have a sizeable advantage is that that mediocrity leaves plenty of room for quality producers to make a significant impression. Or rather for people farming in France, and it's quite often non-French farmers that raise the bar.
The other advantage farmers-in-France have is the price of land. To answer your question, yes, a veg-box scheme can serve as someone's sole source of income, and give them a reasonably good income at that, because their overheads will be considerably less than anyone doing the same thing in Ireland. Only yesterday, I had a look at the price of land (have my eye on a bit of the neighbour's field) and was surprised to see that our area is "quite expensive" ... at 3500€/ha. Half an hour down the road, I could get a field for 2000€/ha, and an hour and a half down the motorway and up in the mountains, it'd be around 1700€/ha. Most of the "new" market gardeners I know are in that half-hour-away sweet spot.
Then I looked at the price of an acre of bog in the Wesht. W-T-F !
These "market gardeners, though, wouldn't be doing what you and your father and brother did. Single-crop farming is a job for the big industrial contractors here too. My acquaintances would be growing more or less the same range of fruit and veg as I am, but on a larger scale, and selling it direct to consumers via a box scheme, or have a stall at local markets, or sell it directly to local (independent) supermarkets. They may or may not have an additional line in eggs or honey or jam or the like. But chances are they won't have a YouTube channel - too busy enjoying their time off and dancing with me at the weekend to be shooting, editing and uploading videos!