I WRITE in reply to Mrs Sylvia Dunn's letter regarding the high costs incurred when shopping at farm shops closely surrounding York (July 4). I wholeheartedly agree with the points she is making over the high costs associated with these shops.

The problem is that many of these places are merely scaled down supermarkets selling a whole range of products that are "locally sourced", "locally processed" or crafts that are "locally made", with very few products actually grown or reared on the farm where the shop is.

Indeed why go to the bother of growing something yourself to sell, when you can buy a jar of pickle with a sticker with your name on it instead. This is not value adding but merely farmers playing at being shopkeepers.

By shopping at farm shops that only sell what they produce themselves Mrs Dunn would be able to buy the fresh quality food that she desires at a price that is kinder to her purse. The reason for this is that as the farmer is taking the whole of the margin from "plough to plate" he is able to increase his income to sustainable levels whilst producing a product which is of a higher quality at a competitive price to supermarket equivalents.

If Mrs Dunn would like proof of this theory I would be glad to invite her to our farm where we grow over 30 different types of vegetables to sell over the year, where she could choose a basket of fresh seasonal vegetables and I will wager with her that she won't find cheaper or fresher in any of the surrounding shops!

Peter Stark,

Shop On The Wall,

Corner House Farm,

Coulton,

Hovingham, York.

Updated: 11:12 Tuesday, July 12, 2005