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The Peaceful Revolution in Farmers' Markets
A peaceful revolution is taking place across North America. While it is neither underground nor covert, it may soon be quashed by local and provincial policy-makers. They potentially could assert that the revolution is too risky and that laws must be enacted in the public interest.
The revolutionaries in this case are ordinary consumers and farmers wishing to trade directly in local food products via farmers' markets. Despite the growing popularity of these markets, they have had to overcome and still face ongoing legal and regulatory barriers that inhibit their expansion. These barriers have been justified in the name of food safety and public order.
Local decision-makers maintain barriers by refusing to alter the Vancouver city bylaw that makes it illegal for anyone to sell fresh fruit and vegetables outdoors without an annual "special event" permit. Farmers' markets are denied the same five-year space allocations granted to community gardens located on parklands, based on the argument of discouraging flea markets and illegal sales. This lack of longer-term security for farmers' markets reduces the willingness of farmers to participate and ultimately reduces access to local foods for consumers.
Another example of official barriers to farmers' markets is the 2007 provincial regulations that have closed down smaller meat processors, thus denying cost-effective access to slaughtering facilities for small-scale farmers raising animals. This change also makes it difficult for both producers and their customers at farmers' markets to have ensured traceability of the products that are sent off to distant slaughterhouses. This traceability is an important element for consumers wishing to have assured food quality and concerned about issues such as hormone additives, pesticide use and genetically modified ingredients.
The rules governing provincial farmers' markets require that there be a direct interaction between the grower or processor and the consumer, which ensures traceability. This attribute is lacking in the conventional food industry, which depends on food grown or processed an average of 1,300 miles away and handled by up to six people before it reaches the consumer's mouth. For growers and processors, direct interaction with people who are going to eat the food they produced is one of the main reasons for selling at farmers' markets.
My research involving interviews and surveys with both suppliers and managers at farmers' markets confirms that barriers from laws and regulations are retarding growth of this sector of the food industry despite growing consumer demands. These barriers are compounded by other issues such as the loss of farmland through exemptions from the Agricultural Land Reserve, the rising price of farmland and the lack of adequate support for the sector from public officials.
Yet not everything is bleak, and governments in B.C. are slowly coming to see the virtues of the farm-to-fork revolution. This change has been spurred by initiatives such as the 100 Community Food Action Initiatives established by the regional health authorities in 2005 to encourage eating local produce for improved health and food security, the B.C.-originated 100-Mile Diet book and a growing number of food councils that advocate for increased access to locally grown and processed foods. Just this year the B.C. minister of agriculture and lands cited farmers' markets in the province's new agricultural plan, Growing a Healthy Future.
Nevertheless, my study found that important obstacles stand in the way of the success of the local food revolution, beyond the impermanence of sites for farmers' markets and the new meat slaughtering regulations. Officials still perceive small-scale growers, value-added food processors and farmers' markets as a boutique niche of B.C.'s overall food industry, and this attitude permeates a wide range of public policies and practices that create barriers to accessing local foods.
Several policy recommendations follow from my analysis of institutional, survey and interview materials. Changes must be made so that farmers' markets are viewed as an integral part of the provincial food system. For example, the B.C. Association of Farmers' Markets should be included in the B.C. ministry of agriculture's online InfoBasket as a producer/processor association in every commodity category. Farmers' market representatives need to be included in the initiation and consultation processes for any proposed legislative and regulatory changes that could affect them. In addition, municipal practices need to be revised to provide longer-term security of venues for farmers' markets.
It's time not only to dismantle the barricades, but to welcome the farm-to-fork revolutionaries as an important and growing part of the provincial food industry.
Lynn Perrin is a graduate of the master's degree program in public policy at Simon Fraser University.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
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12 Comments so far
Show All"While it is neither underground nor covert, it may soon be quashed by local and provincial policy-makers. They potentially could assert that the revolution is too risky and that laws must be enacted in the public interest."
To a large extent, this seems to be already the case in the SF Bay Area where who is allowed to participate as a vendor is highly controlled often by individuals who represent local police departments.
Also, the farmers that once were are often replaced by individuals who simply use the markets as outlets for agribusiness goods obtained at warehouse distribution centers.
It looks neighborly and wholesome... on the surface... but these markets are a far cry from the organic ideas that arose during the UFW days.
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Also, it is impossible to become an entertainer at these markets (even if you are willing to play for free) if you are known to the police as a progressive songwriter no matter how talented you are.
"the farmers that once were are often replaced by individuals who simply use the markets as outlets for agri-business goods . . ."
This does not have to be so and the Tanana Valley Farmers Market (farthest north on the continent !), which has been active since the early 1980's, is living proof . . .
Our Articles of Incorporation specifically state that 'all items offered for sale shall be 'Made, Grown or Produced in Alaska' by enterprises which are specifically limited as to number of employees, etc. (We don't have agri-business up here, but the number of employees clause would forestall any problems like that.)
We have faithfully enforced these guidelines and this has really made for a fine Market, where locals and tourists alike are confident of buying fresh local produce and authentic Alaskan handcrafts. Naturally there are some 'gray zones', we have lively and sometimes heated discussion over acceptability in which all interested Market members get to have their say before a ruling is made by the Market Committee . . .
Even with our short growing season, we have been so successful that several years ago, on our own, we purchased 6 acres of prime property and moved our building from its previous location on the state fairgrounds. The only help we have had from government agencies was a grant to build a public restroom building on the new site.
Vendors pay a per-day table fee of $10 or $15 (depending on table size), plus 10% of the day's gross sales. The 10% is on the honor system and works very well. We have a permanent Market Manager (full time in summer, part time in winter) and cover all payroll, land payment, insurance, maintenance, and upgrade costs ourselves. All this from revenue from a Wed/Sat Market open from May thru Sept.
I have been part of the Market for a long time and it has been a real privilege to watch it grow while keeping to its founding standards.
It's all in how you define the parameters as to what your Market will be . . .
Street theater is something we no longer have in America;
especially anything political.
Tomatoes grown locally in polution free soil, arn't quite as deadly as the killer tomatoes grown in Mexico, probably!
Killer tomatoes from Mexico sound like justice to me considering all the anti-Mexican sentiment in this country lately.
Farmers markets...what a joke
Boutique produce
itsanaziworld.....
An interesting point about phoney farmers at the farmers market. I have seen that too, but, on the otherhand, anyone with the least bit of vegetable gardening experience would notice the difference between produce from the agribusiness distribution warehouse and from a small local grower.
Farmer's markets are a reflection of the community itself.
If ChakraKhan'c local farmers market sells "boutique produce" then that's just a reflection of the community itself.
Where I live, the farmer's market, is within an agricultural area, where there are experienced farmers, and a knowledgeable public. works great!
U-Pick farms and community co-ops are great as well.
"To a large extent, this seems to be already the case in the SF Bay"
What would you expect from the most intolerant city in America?
GKL June 16th, 2008 10:16 pm
"Killer tomatoes from Mexico sound like justice to me considering all the anti-Mexican sentiment in this country lately."
I don't see any anti-Mexican sentiment here in Texas, quite the reverse in fact. Where are you seeing this?
We've got Farmers stands popping up all over the place here. Signs that say "support your local farmer" abound. And we do. We've bought only locally grown produce for over a year. None from grocery stores. And boy, do the tomatoes taste better!!
The prices to set up at the various markets has risen so high, and gas prices have gone up enough to make it difficult for farmers and others to afford to set up. The cities and individuals who have set up the markets have gotten greedy and the result is declining markets. They have not yet made adjustments for the declining times we exist in.
The Cities have gotten so greedy that at community events that craft and food booths are way overpriced and the vendors are far too many for anyone to earn enough to make it worth while to participate. Greed crushes everything decent today. The vendors in the local Antique Malls are falling like flies and yet the Mall owners refuse to lower their fees. Greed has driven common sense into the ground.
Ebay fees have risen to the place where individuals selling small items cannot make it there anymore. Even flea market fees have gotten so high that it's impossible to make enough return to continue. Instead, counterfeit clothes, shoes, watches, glasses, etc., have taken over and ruined the local nature of the markets.
Fortunately the commercialization stops at my property line. I manage to grow much of my own produce and the lapidary work that I do is done mostly for gifting. I have eliminated the purchase of new things almost completely and I use virtually no gasoline. The only way to beat greed is to starve it's lifeblood, money. Let it collapse, it isn't worth saving.
I winter in a remote section of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. People are poor and always in search of work. The land in this area is good for agriculture especially market gardening due to the water run-off and soil collection from the surrounding mountains. Crops include corn, soy beans, papaya, sorghum among others. The main crop is tomatoes however and it is disturbing to see workers with manual spray pumps walking through the crops spraying pesticides. They wear no masks,gloves or goggles and usually have only sandles on their feet. Their pay is very minimal and at the end of a long day they get on their bikes, many to peddle long distances home. Killer tomatoes from Mexico indeed. They kill the workers and the eaters.
Grow your own. I do. I've been doing it since I was 5. I sold vege's out of my little red wagon as a kid. Now I grow a big garden out my door, participate in 3 farmers markets and supply several families in our valley as a CSA farm. And I do it without the use of machines. All work by hand in lovingly developed, black, velvetine soil on a rocky bench in short season northwest Montana. And by root cellaring we are able to eat from our garden year-round. I save many of the seeds and replant them year after year. It's not expensive to garden, it just takes dedication and perseverance. In fact, it can be quite profitable. If I can do it here in the northern Rockies, it can be done by almost anyone anywhere. Grow A Life!