It’s Farmers’ Market Week! Enjoy this market-centric food for thought, brought to you by author/blogger/market vendor Devra Gartenstein.
Every farmers’ market is different. The vendors and clientele vary, of course, but the setting–the unique backdrop to each event–also colors how it feels to be there, as well as the crowd that attends.
Can you find the farmers' market in this photo? Seattle's Madrona Market enjoys an unlikely synergy with its host, an area Grocery Outlet. Photo by Devra Gartenstein.
During the summer months, my business vends at a dozen farmers’ markets in the Seattle area. Four of them–Columbia City, Lake City, Magnolia, and Mercer Island–are adjacent to parks. This is generally a good thing for my business: I sell ready-to-eat food. On sunny days folks stick around and hang out in the parks, eating and drinking while they stay. These markets are community events where families go to spend a morning or an afternoon. But they can be especially slow when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
In contrast, the Madrona Market is located in the parking lot of a discount grocery outlet. You’d think that would be a strange place for a farmers’ market: fresh, local food juxtaposed against cheap, mass-produced products. But it somehow ends up being a lovely fit. The market is situated on the edge of a low income neighborhood, and the proximity of the discount store probably makes it less intimidating to folks who can’t afford to spend their entire food budget there. The employees at the grocery outlet are great hosts. (They even let us use their bathroom.) I suspect they feel that our presence helps to upgrade their image a bit.
The Bellevue Farmers’ Market moved this year to a new home right across from the mall. I’ve never been a big fan of malls, but in this particular neighborhood, the location seems to be a draw. As with all markets, its success depends on the good will of neighborhood businesses, who are quite willing to share their parking and help to promote the event.
The Queen Anne Farmers’ Market relocated this year from a schoolyard in a residential neighborhood to a street just off the main drag in that part of town. There was considerable controversy about the choice of location, in fact, the farmers’ market organization that had run the event for the past two years canceled their contract with the neighborhood group that hired them, convinced that the event couldn’t work in such a narrow space. The community came together in spite of the conflict, and did a great job of making the market happen on their own. It’s busier than it was last year and feels almost like a block party. I don’t know if that’s because it’s more centrally located or because there was such a strong neighborhood commitment to make it happen this year, but it feels good.
In the coming years I’m sure we’ll see an even wider range of market locations. Although some market managers believe that the field is growing saturated and new markets “cannibalize” existing ones, I think there could be plenty of room for everyone. If we keep spreading the word about why it’s important to eat local, sustainable food, if we can remove some of the obstacles that make it so hard for young farmers to get started, and if we can achieve moderate economies of scale that enable producers to keep their prices reasonable, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to have farmers’ markets at bus stations and libraries, and even schools, ballparks and museums.
1 response so far ↓
1 Janet Texas // Aug 8, 2009 at 6:30 pm
It is sad the market managers are feeling the market is becoming saturated. I think this is true in our area and at our market in particular. What we need is more customers!
As we have more potential vendors – we need to balance it by attracting more customers to the market, and encouraging people to this of their farmers market as the place they go “grocery shopping.” That I think is our next challenge.
Leave a Comment