Mid-week markets cancelled

CITING a lack of interest from consumers and a lack of support from local and state government, the final mid-week My Local Feast Farmers’ Markets will be held today.

Founder and manager of the markets Josie Howard said the decision to close the mid-week farmers’ markets would allow her to focus on the Saturday My Local Feast Farmers’ Markets, which will continue as usual.

“There’s many reasons why I’ve decided to close (the midweek markets). One of them is because of the lack of support from local government,” she said.

“The other is you get tired. It’s been one of those things where it’s just been depleting me and I’ve had some beautiful, loyal customers and farmers and we’ve had this really strong, close-knit community.

“But that’s not enough to sustain it.’’

Ms Howard said she had considering “on and off” whether to keep the mid-week markets going, and finally came to a decision on Monday.

Ms Howard hoped people would come along to Blank Space this afternoon from 2-7pm to support local farmers on their final mid-week market.

She pointed to southern states like Victoria where the state and local government “heavily invested in food and agri tourism with microgrants”.

“Whereas here there’s ... there’s talk but there’s no investment.”

The Saturday My Local Feast Farmers’ Markets will continue to run 7am until noon, every weekend, with the exception of December 29.