Expert says re-sellers should be allowed at farmers’ markets too
Vendors who sell produce they haven’t grown themselves should be allowed at farmers’ markets, says one advocate – just as long as they identify themselves as re-sellers.
“It fine as long as these vendors identify themselves – and consumers get to choose,” said Philip Powell, a former chairman of Farmers’ Markets Ontario and retired manager of Ottawa’s By Ward Market.
Powell was one of two speakers at a public discussion about local food at Seeds of Change on Thursday night.
About 100 people attended. There were farmers who sell at the Saturday Farmers’ Market, re-sellers and customers too.
It was the first event organized by the Peterborough Regional Farmers Network, a group of farmers and their supporters who want to spur public discussion about local farming and fair marketplaces.
Some of the earliest members include farmers Andrew Flaman (or Circle Organics in Millbrook) and Josh Blank (a farmer who worked most recently for Chicka-biddy Acres).
Peter Hughes, a local beekeeper and community organizer, moderated the discussion. He said this may be the first in a series of public gatherings where people discuss local food and the Saturday Market.
“It’s to get more people talking,” he said.
During his talk, Powell explained that at the ByWard Market - which is run by the city of Ottawa - each vendor is identified using a prominent sign.
Either they’re farmers, (who sell only what they grow), farmer-vendors (sell 60 per cent of what they grow) or vendors (re-sell only – they do not grow food).
The signs are four feet long and issued by the city. “There’s no fudging it,” he said. The Saturday Farmers’ Market has been operating in Peterborough since 1825. It’s not run by the city – it’s run by the vendors themselves, and there is no signage to distinguish farmers from re-sellers.
Recently a deep rift has formed at the market: some vendors want to maintain the traditional ways of operating the market, while others want to modernize business practices.
A minority of vendors - seven of the 130 - want changes such as having a full-time business manager, for instance (instead of the current part-timer).
But the majority says that kind of change could harm the market because the cost to pay a fulltime manager - $40,000 annually – would be too much.
There’s also an element of farmers-versus-re-sellers at play: those who want new business practices happen to be either farmers who sell homegrown food.
Many who want to stick with tradition, on the other hand, re-sell produce.
The public discussion on Thursday wasn’t meant to resolve the conflict. But Powell and another speaker, Melissa Johnston, talked about ways other markets operate.
Johnston recently earned her MA in sustainability studies from Trent University; her thesis explored how farmers’ markets across Ontario are run.
Shoppers should speak up if they hear about conflicts between farmers and re-sellers at their market, she said.
It’s fine to “vote with your wallet – or your fork”, she said, but she also encouraged people to tell fellow shoppers why they buy from certain farmers.
“It’s important you be vocal with your support,” she said.
Nobody was at the meeting from Peterborough city council, but there were several councillors from townships in Peterborough County.
Tim Belch, a councillor from Cavan Monaghan Township, was once the president of the Saturday Farmers’ Market in Peterborough.
In a question-and-answer period, he said he thinks farmers and resellers should peacefully co-exist at the market.
“Everyone can participate – but be transparent about it and not pretend you’re a farmer,” he said.
For more information about the Peterborough Regional Farmers Network, visit http://ptbofarms.com/.