We put a lot of time and effort through the spring, summer and fall into our produce stand. We grow some of the produce in our own garden, which anyone who gardens knows, takes time and effort. The rest of the produce comes from various Amish and Mennonite auctions throughout the Finger Lakes region. It takes an hour to an hour and a half to drive to each of these auctions, typically 2-3 hours at the auction evaluating and buying produce, then the drive home. Once home we have to move the produce into storage and get it out on to the stand. Depending on the week, we are at 2-3 produce auctions. Over all, this combines in to probably 25-30 man hours between the two of us, not counting help from our kids, to keep the stand up and going. This, in addition to the financial investment to purchase the produce equates to a significant investment on our part. We do all of this, and work hard to keep our prices down, so that we can offer the best possible produce at the lowest possible prices.
We have never expected to get rich doing this. Heck, for the last two years we have barely broken even. We feel that this is an OK tradeoff for us being able to have almost unlimited access to fresh produce for our family. What we have agreed is that we should not lose money if at all possible. Some weeks, this is difficult to do. The cost of produce can fluctuate wildly with the weather, and we try not to have huge fluctuations in the prices we charge. Additionally, we have individuals who believe that they should have access to our produce without paying for it. Over the last year that has related to around $40-50 a week in produce on average. This year however has been different.
The first time we got hit hard by theft we lost probably $75 or so in one afternoon. The last two Friday’s we have been hit exceptionally hard. Last week we lost around $120 from one individual. We had just gone down to the stand and restocked, emptying the money box at that point. After we returned up to the house, our kids noticed a white SUV pull in. They always get excited when cars come into the driveway and people go to the stand, so this isn’t unusual. About 10 minutes later our daughter mentioned that she saw the lady from the vehicle loading “lots of bags” into the car, and asked if we should go see if we needed to restock again. We walked down to check and found that the individual had indeed loaded about ½ our produce into their vehicle and driven off, leaving an empty money box behind. In addition to the produce, the individual had taken off with 7 of the 12 flower bouquets that my wife had bought and was excited to try selling at our stand.
Yesterday my wife had to work and I spent the day at two produce auctions setting up for this weekend. When I returned from the second auction, I stopped at the stand to see what I needed to restock. Looking over the stand I did a quick calculation and figured out that there was about $150 to $175 of produce missing. I was pretty excited that our hard work had paid off for the day, and opened the money box. Reaching in, my heart sank. There was way less in there than I was expecting. As I counted the $14 that had been put in the box, a car pulled in and an older couple stepped out. I moved out of the way so that they could shop. The wife selected two peppers and then stated “Where did you move your price signs? I want to make sure I pay you the right amount.” My initial thought was “What do you mean? Our signs are right above the produce.” But as I looked up, my jaw fell and I noticed that our signs were gone. I thought maybe the signs had fallen off in the rain storm that went through earlier in the day, so I looked around under the stand and in the ditch and brush near the stand. Not finding them, I realized that this week, not only had the thief stolen much of our produce, but they had taken our price signs as well.
Now, let me explain. In September 2017, my wife was crazy enough to say “I do” and hitch herself to me for the rest of our lives. We got married at our farm, and some of the decorations included wooden signs with chalkboard paint on them. A few weeks ago my wife pulled those signs out and thought it would be a nice touch to use them as the price signs for our stand. So when this thief stole our signs, they not only stole wooden signs with chalk writing on them, they stole a part of our history, a part of us becoming us.
More important than that for me, they broke my wife’s heart. I could hear it in her voice as I told her the news over the phone. I could see it in her face as she drove up the driveway on her way home from work. And I could feel it in her body as she collapsed in to my arms and began to sob. She cried the cry of a broken heart. And it made me mad. Not mad at her, but rather mad at a selfish, heartless individual who carelessly saw what didn’t belong to them, coveted it, and took it, without so much as a thought about the ones to whom it belonged. You can steal my produce, you can take just about anything from me, but don’t, not now, not ever mess with my wife’s heart!
Yesterday we felt violated, frustrated and ready to give up. Today, we have decided that we are better than letting one individual ruin what we do and what blesses so many people. We have decided to move on. But, to the individual that stole our signs from us, let me make one thing very clear. If I ever find out who you are, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent able. As much as I would like to be able to curse you out or beat some sense into you, I will do what you did not do, I will do the right thing. I will let our judicial system handle it. But, I will not let it slide. Not because you stole some produce from us. Not even because you stole our signs. But because you broke my wife’s heart. As the husband of the most amazing woman I know, I am NOT OK with that!