Deal doesn’t compel vendors to state where produce is grown

The Saturday farmers’ market association must try to ensure manufactured goods aren’t being sold at the market, states a new licensing agreement with the city, but there’s nothing in the agreement to compel vendors to advertise where their produce is grown.

Meanwhile the city does expect to see audited financial statements from the Peterborough and District Farmers’ Market Association (PDFMA) at least once a year, a stipulation that Coun. Keith Riel said he wanted to see in the agreement.

The 12-page legal agreement was released to The Examiner by city staff on Friday following a request through Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.

The agreement was signed Feb. 2. It allows the PDFMA – which is a non-profit corporation – to run the market on city-owned property at Morrow Park until April 30, 2019.

The PDFMA’s last lease expired in 2010; they had been operating the market without a formal agreement with the city ever since.

Coun. Keith Riel asked the mayor to see the agreement last week, but was told he would have to file to obtain a copy through an FOI request.

He filed on Wednesday and hasn’t received his copy yet; The Examiner filed five days earlier.

Riel said he wondered whether the licence agreement would call for clear signage to indicate exactly where the produce for sale was grown.

He thinks that would repair a deep rift that has formed in the market between local growers and re-sellers (vendors who buy produce from farmers or from the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto and re-sell it, without necessarily telling the customer).

Seven local growers and artisans were advised by the PDFMA in December that they faced potential expulsion from the market over allegations of aggressive behaviour (which were never publicly explained).

There was a closed meeting of the PDFMA on Jan. 8, but it’s unclear whether any vendors were evicted: since then, they’ve all returned to their stalls on Saturdays and haven’t commented publicly due to a gag order.

Meanwhile CHEX-TV reported Friday night that one of the seven vendors, Sax Lynn Francisco of Necessitea Elixir, has been evicted from the market.

The Examiner tried to confirm this, but Francisco, PDFMA marketing director Mark Jones and PDFMA lawyer Gabriel Poliquin were all unavailable for comment Friday night.

The new agreement defines a farmer as “a person who owns or operates a farm and who is a member of the association.”

It also says a farmers’ market “means a market where farmers and other vendors who are members of the association” are allowed to sell food such as produce and crafts such as knitwear.

As a condition of using city property, the agreement says the PDFMA must develop a strategic plan “for advancement of its objects, including but not limited to its future operation of the farmers’ market.”

The city also expects the PDFMA to “use its best efforts to prevent the sale of factory manufactured goods during the farmers’ market.”

Although it doesn’t specifically ask that the PDFMA perform financial audits, the agreement does make clear that audits are expected.

It says the PDFMA’s chairperson will meet annually with the city’s director of community services “to review the plans, policies and developments affecting the farmers’ market, association strategic plan, review any association board issues, the audited financial statements and any other issues that either party may request to be reviewed.”

The agreement also gives the city and Peterborough Public Health “unfettered access to the Morrow Building and the outdoor market at all times.”

It also sets out a mechanism for the city to suspend the PDFMA’s licence over “unsatisfactory performance”: if the city doesn’t think the PDFMA has met its obligations under the agreement, and doesn’t correct its performance within 20 days, the city can pull the licence.

When contacted on Friday, Riel hadn’t seen the agreement yet and didn’t want to comment on it.

NOTE: View the full agreement online at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com.