Letter: Plastic bag ban doesn’t go far enough

EDITOR,
The county of Santa Cruz will be preparing local businesses for the upcoming plastic bag ban — it’s about time! And when I shop in the city of Santa Cruz, I’m buying from businesses that don’t hand out plastic bags; there are too many plastic bags out there as there is. Unfortunately, this ban does not include plastic bags for produce. I hope that grocery stores start offering paper bags, even if they don’t have to.
Each time I go to the farmers’ market, I cringe. Almost every booth has big hunks of plastic bags hanging down from their canopies as it if it is the Plastic Bagfest. Where are the paper bags? The sellers want us to pay more for organic produce and vegetables (because they care for the environment?), while they provide customers with plastic bags that pollute the environment. Oh, the hypocrisy.
Our farmers’ markets aren’t walking the walk. And I don’t want to see any “biodegradable” plastic bags either. I don’t trust them. I want paper bags. Yes, I’ll bring my own bags, but for those who didn’t? Have paper bags and charge a nickel. Our farmers’ markets are worse than any store or retailer out there. I thought that they would want to be different, better, they’re not.
Chris Moore, Ben Lomond