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Answer a farmers market application's local-sourcing question

Practice: Keeping the AI to your sources. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

The farmers market application asks you to describe your product and where your ingredients come from, under 75 words. The market only counts farms within 50 miles as local, so name only the farms that qualify, with their distances, and name your product line specifically. Skip superlatives ('best', 'finest', 'world-class', 'amazing'), and include your cottage food license number, CF-20417, which the market checks. Write a prompt that gets that answer.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 75 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part: "4 sentences, each under 16 words."
  • Counting every farm as local. The AI lists all your suppliers, including the one 80 miles away, under 'local'. Try: Say it: "Only name farms within 50 miles. Leave out Blue Ridge."
  • Staying vague. The AI writes "homemade preserves made with love" without the product line or flavors. Try: Add: "Say small-batch jams and fruit butters and name 2 flavors."
  • Selling too hard. AI applications reach for "the finest" and "amazing", which judges ignore. Try: Ban them: "No best, finest, world-class or amazing." And add: "Include license number CF-20417."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Sets a word limit
  • Applies the 50-mile rule
  • Leaves out the far farm
  • Names the product
  • Bans superlatives

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