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.
Such markets benefit both local farmers and consumers.
Park Se-young has more.
This mulberry farm is located in the suburbs of Suwon, …south of Seoul.
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.
Not only do the fruits have a lighter price tag, consumers are able to verify their quality and freshness right before their eyes.
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.

"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."

Pick-your-own farms have long been popular in the U.S. and Japan.
Now, nearly two-hundred farms across Korea allow customers to pick their own produce.
Consumers can buy fresh produce for 30 to 40 percent cheaper than at the supermarkets, …and farms can save on distribution costs.

"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."

As they benefit both farmers and consumers, pick-your-own farms in Korea are expected to grow in popularity.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.