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| - Ah, the lazy, cheap liberals of the internet!
With regards to pricing whines: shut up. Seriously. It's a little more expensive than Ranch Market, Food City, Sunflower, or Sprouts, but on an item-by-item comparison, you can definitely very easily save over Basha's, Fry's, or Safeway, and you can DEFINITELY DEFINITELY save over "fresh" produce options like Whole Foods, AJ's or Trader Joe's. Like any other shopping experience, you just have to be savvy and cognizant.
There is one word why this market is awesome, and should be the envy of every other city in the winter months. It starts with "p" and rhymes with "vulture." Out of guesses? PERMACULTURE!
Phoenix, far from being the completely unforgiving desert most imagine it to be, has been an agricultural valley for centuries, largely because the weather and lack of harsh frosts allow for nutritional plants to be grown year-round.
Try finding fresh produce at a farmer's market in Chicago in December! Or better yet, don't. I've tried, and it sucks.
The prices of produce vary here on natural factors: when a crop is near the end of it's growing season, price will go up, as less product will be available. In the spring, you can get beautiful chard for $1.50 a bunch - I don't know if you can beat that price anywhere - and other fresh greens for about less than you pay for "organic" crap in grocery stores.
Depending on the vendor and the conventionality/ease of growth of the veggie, you can definitely feed yourself here with modest to zero increase in your produce budget. For example, carrots, potatoes, onions, and garlic are super duper cheap - and shallots even come in at way less than they do in the usual grocery store. But if you want heirloom tomatoes, eggs, milk, or cheese, yeah, you're going to have to shell out a little more - but not to an outrageous extent.
As for atmosphere, if you want the whole farmer's market experience, definitely drop in on Saturday morning, when families and dogs are out in full force. There will be a wider variety of vendors, live music, and a general lazy Saturday party feel . Wednesday nights are great, too, though, if you are one of the awesome people who lives in downtown Phoenix and you want to make it to the weekend with fresh veggies.
Also, there are tons of cool vendors who sell homemade crafts for affordable prices. I've gotten many gifts here for my mom, lady friend, and assorted others.
Also, they accept food stamps, which is awesome.
Bottom line: if you think adding another two or three bucks to your grocery bill in order to support local, sustainable and delicious produce is going to break your bank, that's understandable. But don't complain about the prices here unless you are on the verge of bankruptcy. ::Insert longer rant about how American liberals like to talk about sustainability and the environment but balk at even tiny increases in product expenses::
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