Before anything else, HELLO! Guess who's back! Haha! I am so sorry for the long hiatus; it was much-needed. I had been busy with work, house chores, and adjusting. Because yes! We're back in the city. Short recap: We arrived back in Cebu last March, spent the entire summer here too. Yuri is enrolled at CIC-Cebu (more of that in later posts), and Ace is currently working at a government agency. It's an okay life. We're happy.
So moving on to the topic at hand.. Well, we've only seen the promotions to this farmers' market project on Facebook. It's been posted over and over on former mayor Tommy Osmena's page. Ace and I decided to visit.
So yesterday, after picking Yuri up from school, we went and fed our curiosity. True enough, the prices were incredibly low (much to our delight) and the produce? Freshest ever! Imagine our excitement when we found bell peppers priced at Php80 per kilo (at the Metro Ayala grocery, that's Php170/kg). We were like kids in a candy store, to say the least.
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| A burst of color at the Farmers' Market in SRP |
What's great about this project is that it eliminates the "middle man," which is usually the cause for high prices. It hurts the consumer and the farmer as well. So two thumbs up for this project because this is definitely a win-win situation!
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| Look at those prices! Spell S-A-V-I-N-G-S! |
The farmers' market, in my opinion, is especially beneficial to small business owners of eateries, food stands, small-time catering businesses, sari-sari stores, and the like. They have five-kilo (wholesale) corner, where you can get more discounts! That would be Php5 off the price per kilogram! Of course, it's also beneficial to us, the commoners of Cebu City, because let's face it---with prices on everything shooting up, isn't this just a breath of fresh air?
They also sell freshly cooked bibingka, budbod, and coconuts! Don't worry about the heat. They have tents for the consumers. There's only a parking lot, which charges a minimal amount of Php5 to cover costs for maintenance and stuff like thatz. Also, they play really rad music! Their DJ/music guy must really have taste! LOL
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| Here's Yuri munching on some organic sweet corn, and Ace sipping fresh coconut juice! |
For commuters, free rides are available to the public. I believe the shuttle is available every 7 minutes. And they give out a cellphone number to contact, to let them know that people are waiting at the Mambaling SRP gate (sorry, forgot to take not of the number, but I'll look for it and update this). They also have FREE WIFI! Ha!
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| Map to the Farmers' Market from Tommy Osmena's Facebook page. |
This project is awesome! It's a win-win situation! Farmers don't have to deal with middle men, and consumers don't have to suffer with the burden of ridiculously high price. I just hope though that people would quit haggling! My gosh! When we were there, this man who was in a crisp shirt and pressed pants kept asking the vendor for a hangyo on his purchases. Can't you just cut these farmers some slack? Pfft.
Things I liked:
- Low prices! I felt like crying.
- Fresh produce! I felt like crying.
- Ample parking space
- Neatly spaced stalls and booths
- Snacks! I felt like crying.
- FREE WIFI! I felt like crying.
- Helpful and friendly customer service people
- Free shuttle rides
- Accessible
I wish they had:
- More vegetables like broccoli, lettuce
- More native delicacies
I suggest you visit the Farmers' Market now! Fresh and organic produce, newly harvested and at low, low prices! It's a dream come true! They are open from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day! See you there sometime soon because we will definitely go back to stock up on our veggies and fruits and lamas some more!
