In the South Korean countryside... relatively close to big cities, you can often find pick-your-own farms, …where you can pick and choose your own own produce and buy it for a cheaper price.<br />Such markets benefit both local farmers and consumers.<br />Park Se-young has more. <br /> This mulberry farm is located in the suburbs of Suwon, …south of Seoul.<br />Residents from nearby apartment complexes come to the farm …because they can buy the fruits for half the price if they pick their own produce.<br />Not only do the fruits have a lighter price tag, consumers are able to verify their quality and freshness right before their eyes.<br />The owner of the 16-hundred-square-meter farm is happy too because it saves him the cost of harvesting, packing and transporting the fruit.<br /><br /> "I can't harvest and pack all these mulberries and sell them at the market on my own. When consumers come to harvest their own fruits, they can enjoy cheaper prices and I don't need to hire workers."<br /><br /> Pick-your-own farms have long been popular in the U.S. and Japan.<br />Now, nearly two-hundred farms across Korea allow customers to pick their own produce.<br />Consumers can buy fresh produce for 30 to 40 percent cheaper than at the supermarkets, …and farms can save on distribution costs.<br /><br /> "The new market format is expected to expand with the aging rural population, increase in single-person households and growing consumer consciousness towards agricultural product safety."<br /><br /> As they benefit both farmers and consumers, pick-your-own farms in Korea are expected to grow in popularity.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News. <br />
