You get a true seasonal choice, some of the potatoes are even from my town. This is the large indoor market in Nimes. In the market there is the best cafe on tall stools for lunch. Razor clams with oil and parsley, grilled. Iberian black ham, daube and plat du jour. Sensational
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Great pics Mrs. G.
I think you’ve mentioned most people buy their food from local markets vs. grocery stores? This food is obviously excellent in quality and freshness.
I’m curious, do you think the French eat less food overall than Americans?
Also, curious what is the rate of sales tax in the markets?
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Nice-looking taters!
Anymore, all the produce comes pre-packed here, for fear of the virus
There is no sales tax in the markets. All cash. They eat a third of what we eat. I’m convinced the women are the largest consumers of lettuce leaves on the planet. They are all tiny and very thin! The big meal of the day is at lunch. You meet with friends etc. Dinner is with family. Usually a salad, baguette, a little cheese. Desserts are for special occasions. The rest of the time you have sorbet or just ice cream, maybe a thin slice of tarte. But here the latter is spectacular. France doesn’t use credit cards. Debit cards yes as it is instant cash. Olpea, all,of the orchards are neat as a pin. No mulch. Now the apples trees are all netted. Actually all of the fruit trees here are netted except for the sweet cherries. I do not know why not. Oh and yes, we all eat toasted baguette or croisant for breakfast, also yougurt with fresh fruit is considered a dessert here. Yogurt is huge here ! And they love peaches and plums! We go to the super markets for toilet paper cleaning materials etc. There are three excellent butchers in my town six bread makers and 3-4 patisseries. There are separate green grocers. The super markets are enormous and about three times larger than ours. They are like supermarkets with an attached Car rental, tire store, all small appliances ; They are exhausting to walk through, so why bother? I like the idea of smaller and fresher is better, I’m becoming a little French. In two days itbwill be a year that I am here. Please send questions. These are very happy people who just like to complain!
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Love the pics.
Are tropical fruits widely available?
I watch a lot of video from Japan and everything there is just perfect too (the food). They also don’t seem to use cards in Japan…lots of cash (coins). I believe in China you use your cellphone for most purchases (some sort of pay app).
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Yes many tropical fruits! As we are so close to Africa!
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America is one of the very few first world countries that puts sales tax on food. (non junk food)
I love that this is what france considers packaged 
Think of how rich even the poor people are that get to eat this food. They also do not have laws making it hard for businesses to donate old food, we should ask mrs g but i believe that donating old food is encouraged.
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Not sure I’d have gone past the dessert shop to even see the potatoes there 
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The fish also look much better than anything at a generic grocery store here. I want me some Turbot and Daurade.
Mrs.G,
Those pics paint a thousand words (and more). Very interesting. Those potatoes look good and reasonable priced considering they are sold per kilo, not lb.
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I’d like to see a list of developed nations which have no sales tax on food. I can’t find evidence that the U.S. is one of the few first world nations which has sales tax on food.
In most U.S. states, food is exempt from sales tax, or taxed at a nominal rate:
My question to Mrs. G was more specifically about whether the farm markets were exempt from collecting sales tax. From what I read, France does charge tax on food
But perhaps the farm markets are exempt (like they are in some states here in the U.S.). Either that, or the farm marketers simply pay the sales tax out of the sales price, and don’t add it on, which is what I do (because unfortunately my state charges sales tax on food).
For example, this season I charged $2 per lb. for tomatoes, then paid the sales tax out of my proceeds, vs. adding it on at the end of the sale. I’m sure most customers don’t think there is any sales tax charged, because I pay it. It’s sort of an invisible tax to my customers. Just about all farm marketers here do it that way.
Honestly olpea i think you should only have to pay income taxes and it makes me sad we make farmers lives harder (especially small farmers big ones got it easy) by forcing them to pay sales tax as most eat it like you to make dollar numbers easy.
Well canada and the 27 EU countries do not. South korea does not. Japan does not. Its hard to name one see. Most places charge for junk food and processed fake foods and luxury items but not basic groceries.
Consumption tax in Japan , known in other countries as VAT, GST or sales tax , is a flat 10 percent on all items except food , drinks and newspaper subscriptions for which it is 8 percent (not including alcoholic drinks and dining out).Feb 16, 2020
Only 13 states out of 50 tax groceries and 5 out of those 13 at a very low rate (3% or less).
In France, the sales tax on all food items (except alcohol) is 5.5% (this includes both groceries and prepared food), but unlike in the US, the sales tax in France is included in the price so customers do not see it. Only 3 states in the US have sales tax on groceries that is higher than 5.5%. The standard sales tax in France is 20% (once again, the price seen by the customer already includes the sales tax). In Germany, the standard VAT rate is 19% and 7% for food. In the UK, the standard VAT rate is 20% and 0% for food. In Italy, the standard VAT rate is 22% and 4% for “listed food, drinks and agricultural products”. In Spain, the standard VAT rate is 21% and 4% for food. In Portugal, the standard VAT rate is 23%, a reduced rate of 13% for some items, and 6% for most food. In Switzerland, the standard VAT rate is 7.7% and 2.5% for food. In the Netherlands, the standard VAT rate is 21% and 9% for food. In Poland, the standard VAT rate is 23% and 5% to 8% for food. In Canada, the sales taxes vary by Province but most have it between 14% and 15%, with 0% for groceries.
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From this webpage, only 3 of the 27 EU countries have no sales tax on food.
https://epha.org/living-environments-mapping-food-environments-vat/
Re: Andrew Yang video
I’ll ask you to refrain from posting political content in the lounge. Anyone who reads the forum is familiar with your political view point, so there is no need to post political content outside of the Politics category. I edited your post to remove political content.
Discussing facts like which countries or states have sales tax on food is not politics. It’s simply trying to understand which states or countries have sales taxes on foods. I’ve not mentioned whether it’s good or bad for countries or states to have sales tax on food, other than to mention it’s unfortunate for me that I have to pay them myself, in my state.
My interest in this line of discussion is that since I pay the sales tax for the customer on food I grow and sell, I was curious in farmers in France do the same when selling at the farrmer’s market.
Oui, oui! 
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Yes
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Btw, I’m sorry Mrs. G the discussion got so far away from discussing the beautiful displays of food your pictures demonstrate, which I think was your point in posting the pics.
At least all the sidebar discussion had the unintended consequence of continually bumping your pics near the top of the forum, so a lot of people were able to enjoy them. 
I myself am interested in different aspects of different cultures, since I don’t travel outside the U.S., which prompted my questions.
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The EU heavily subsidized farming. I believe that Mississippi is the only state that imposes the sales tax on unprepared food.
My understanding of the “fit French” is essentially that they enjoy food, but do so in a way that allows them to control their portions a lot better than especially the US, but even a lot of the rest of Europe. Combination of social norms and the way they eat.
I don’t know how they control their portions with such great food. I’d engorge in that environment!
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I love your French pictures. If I were to visit France, are there any agricultural tours or agricultural touristy things I could do? Obviously checking out the local market is one of them.