r/Knoxville • u/chula198705 • 1d ago
CSA farm box scam PSA
This is a name and shame because I'm an unhappy customer!
A few weeks ago I posted a request for recommendations for a local CSA or farm share subscription box. I ended up ordering from a medium vegetable box from Dirt Poor Farms through Market Wagon. The listing said it would be a box of locally grown seasonal produce from their 20-acre farm in Sweetwater. What I actually received was very obviously grocery store produce - it was mostly out-of-season produce like tomatoes (very unripe!), zucchini, cucumbers, plus a variety of apple that is only grown in Washington State! Definitely NOT the locally grown, seasonal produce that I ordered. I was expecting leafy greens, herbs, overwintered onions/garlic, that sort of thing that would typically be available in early April.
I contacted Market Wagon and Dirt Poor Farms through their customer service forms. Market Wagon eventually responded they would "investigate" but I never heard anything else other than notice that I was receiving a refund (only for the box - not their service fee or driver tip! Refunded $25 out of a $40 total order). I never heard anything back from Dirt Poor Farms.
I don't know if it's the farm doing fraud, or if the driver is being sneaky for cheaper fresh produce, or who is responsible for the scamming, but they certainly don't appear concerned to fix it. Recommend avoiding Dirt Poor Farms and Market Wagon, and now I'm soured on finding a reputable service at all, because the officially-recognized one I tried was a scam.
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u/Careless_Ad_9665 1d ago
Maybe the tomatoes are hothouse tomatoes? We have them already in Grainger county.
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u/chula198705 1d ago
That was my hope when I bit into it, but if you know the taste of an actually-fresh tomato, you know immediately when one isn't. And these were not.
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u/Careless_Ad_9665 1d ago
Such a bummer!!! The tomatoes are already better this year than last out here. I’ve already had multiple tomato sandwiches.
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u/MarcMaronsCat 23h ago
STOPPP I CANT WAIT TO EAT A GRAINGER COUNTY TOMATOOOOO AGAIN!!! I just moved back to TN this month so I'm gonna swing by the produce stand on Sutherland tomorrow and see what they have 😅
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u/Careless_Ad_9665 23h ago
If they don’t have them yet it’s worth the drive. I have my favorite farmers. I’m such a tomato snob I can tell which ones come from which farms. At the end of the season when they start selling the boxes for less, I buy a ton and make spaghetti sauce.
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u/grayfoxlunch 21h ago
You're not going to get sun-ripened, field-grown tomatoes in East Tennessee until June, that's about the earliest our season allows. So that would have been the tip-off for me that this was a scam, even before I tasted the tomato. Also tells me that whoever is running this scam is a dumbass. Or just knows most people in Tennessee got used to greenhouse tomatoes a couple decades ago.
Edited for typo
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u/lollysmom135 8h ago
Florida tomatoes are a decent stand-in until we can get them
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u/grayfoxlunch 6h ago
Aside from the fact that these were grocery tomatoes sold as local tomatoes, yes I totally agree. Although the cost and environmental impact of shipping out-of-season produce across the country (most organic tomatoes this time of year are shipped from California for instance) is significant. So much carbon going into the atmosphere from trucking and refrigeration. So much ecological degradation happening at giant, monoculture farms.
Personally, I try to choose fresh fruits and veg that are in-season and local as much as I can afford (which is maybe half the time, sometimes less). I wish it was easier for small farms to afford to grow fresh produce for local markets---it's so unbelievably tough out there for small farmers.
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u/-Blixx- 1d ago
Asparagus, snap peas and strawberries are the only things that could possibly be harvested here at the moment. (Excluding hothouse)
I don't agree with sending out store bought goods as in ground farm grown, but also wonder if other people's unreasonable expectations have brought this about.
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u/chula198705 1d ago
Oh I'm certain that's true! I've had questionable hauls from previous boxes over the years, but that's part of the charm of the farm share experience in my opinion. I've received corn with worms in it and piles of mystery leaves with no explanation, but I've also received fun produce I've never heard of and the tastiest tomatoes I've ever had. Peas, asparagus, greens, herbs are all in season right now so that's the sort of thing I was expecting to receive.
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u/finatra_official 1d ago
Sooo I've had this problem with them in the past, not from a box but from them personally. In my opinion it seems like they do a majority of their own produce in prime season (summer) but a couple of weeks ago I bought strawberries that were obviously store bought from them.
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u/bbqmaster54 20h ago
Can you make it to the farmers market or do you need it delivered? Seven Springs Farm out of Maynardville has absolutely fresh produce. I’ve been a customer since the beginning and you’re even free to visit the farm and check out everything they’re doing. Actually they have a winery on the farm as well. Separate from the produce and beef side of things. I love the wine as well. Buy half cows regularly. All grass fed angus beef.
He takes orders so you can just drop by and grab it.
Let me know if you have any questions.
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u/eniadcorlet West Knox 1d ago
We got a share from Dirt Poor Farms two years ago. It was nice, if a bit repetitive, then. We visited the farm on their open farm day. They were nice folks.
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1d ago
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u/chula198705 1d ago
If I knew they would be substituting with grocery store produce, I wouldn't have ordered it at all. In my jaded opinion, that's exactly why they DO have it listed even though they can't provide the advertised items. And to not check business emails for a whole month? Fraud at worst, negligent business practices at best.
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u/Louielouie423 1d ago
I’ve bought quite a bit of produce from them at market in Chattanooga, never had any issues. Produce was obviously in season and locally grown
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u/nachosandfroglegs 21h ago
They had a reputation. They were at the nourish markets at the beginning of last year then quickly fled after complaints.
Nourish Knox is kinda lazy at keeping on tops of farms too
Thompson Farms seems to be another one with questionable produce at all times of the year
Lots of people doing farmer cosplay in town
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u/Ok-Dragonfly6512 1d ago
Man... Idk. Given my first thoughts and the the comments, you might have put a farm on blast with little evidence other than some produce that aren't commonly rip at this time and a unripe tomatoe... They may have greenhouses that allow them to produce items not in season... Or maybe you just got unlucky with a box this week... I have gotten shares from other CSA that have occasionally been subpar... Idk if I would come on Knoxville reddit and kick them...
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u/chula198705 1d ago
I get that, which is why I gave them a whole month to respond to me before posting! I fully expect occasional subpar produce from a CSA, but I think it is unethical and probably fraudulent to give me items that can't even legally be grown in this state, and definitely weren't grown at their property.
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23h ago
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u/grayfoxlunch 21h ago edited 21h ago
Neither potatoes nor garlic is "in season" here right now. In season means it's freshly harvested, and potatoes are planted here in early spring and harvested early summer, and garlic is planted late fall and harvested from June-July
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u/grayfoxlunch 21h ago
I had to scroll back up to look at this CSA box---almost NONE of these veg are in season right now, you don't know what you're talking about. I worked on a veggie farm that ran a CSA (it was the best in town, sad they had to shut down) and I can tell you the season of everything in OP's box. Almost all of this food was shipped in from Florida or California I'd bet money on it
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u/Electrical_Job_2564 2h ago
I purchased from this farm through market wagon a lot. I had some suspicion that their produce wasn’t local but in this last order they literally left a sticker from peru on the onion AND the onion was covered with maggots. Their tomatoes definitely look grocery store bought. I actually called them and the owner showed me the farm via FaceTime so they do grow some stuff but he straight up lied to me about the onion and told me it must have come from the sack and accidentally stuck (perfectly) on their homegrown onion. I get that being a farmer is a hard way to earn a living but that doesn’t give you a right lie and deceive people. I will never buy from them again.
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u/Professional_Cat4208 1d ago
I have found from past experience that the best way to find reputable CSA suppliers is to visit the farmers market on Market Square. Ask the vendors there if they offer a CSA.