The Rural Voice, 2004-06, Page 30'New' old
markets
Farmers' markets
have been around for
more than 200 gears
in Ontario but
they're showing new
popularity
By Keith Roulston
Right: Food producers and
customers build long-term
relationships at farmers' markets.
For most farmers, the closest
they come to the ultimate
consumer of their products is if
they take cattle to a local livestock
auction. Most consumers are just as
isolated from the primary producer of
their food, buying their food from
huge supermarkets operated by
gigantic corporations.
But a small but growing number
of consumers are looking to put a
face on their food by buying directly
from the farmers who produce it,
either through farm -gate programs
like community share gardens or
through farmers' markets. There are
now 120 farmers markets across
Ontario that are members of Farmers'
Markets Ontario as well as others,
like the sprawling Keady Market,
that aren't members.
Midwestern Ontario has a goodly
share of markets, ranging from big,
year-round markets in Stratford and
Owen Sound, to small markets in
towns and villages like St. Marys,
Mitchell, Goderich, Walkerton and
Flesherton.
What does it take to make a
market successful?
"Local, local, local; produce,
produce, produce! That's the
mantra," says Robert Robert T.
Chorney, Executive Director of
Farmers' Markets Ontario and a
tireless promoter of farmers' markets.
26 THE RURAL VOICE
"We've done two major pieces of
market research (1998 & 2002)
across Ontario and clearly people
come to our farmers' markets
because of fruits and vegetables and
the local farmer. Supply that and you
have a winner.
It might surprise farmers to learn
just how much consumers care about
the Zink between their food and the
local farm. The Region of Waterloo
Public Health Department conducted
a survey recently and found 87 per
cent of respondents believed it was
either somewhat (49 per cent) or very
(38 per cent) important to buy local
food. Those surveyed also wanted to
support local farmers (88 per cent),
wanted to preserve local farmland
(44 pei cert) or felt the food was
fresher if they bought locally (58 per
cent). Farmers' markets are one
easily-acessible way to do that.
While it might be the perception
that the typical shopper at a farmers
market would be 'middle income or
higher, three Vendors at local markets
say the prim: customers are often
senior citizens.
Brenda Voisin. a Teeswater-area
market gardener who sells at
Walkerton and District Farmers'
Market, says many of the customers
there tend to be older Laurie
Neubrand, mho sells at the Mitchell
and. Area Farmers Market says
customers there tend to he older as
well. perhaps because the market.
held on Fridays in the morning
(changed from the afternoon last
year), is more accessible for those
who are home on weekdays.
Even in Flesherton, in an area
with a high volume of visitors, the
majority of customers come from the
local vicinity, including seniors, says
Ron Barnett. chair of the Flesherton
and District Farmers' Market.
Weekenders make up a smaller
portion of the clientele.
For farmers, the prime attraction
of selling directly to the consumer is
capturing the full consumer dollar
instead of sharing it with several
different levels in the food chain but
there are other benefits as well.
Voisin, who also sells at the
vast St. Jacob's Farmers'
Market, says she enjoys
meeting the customer face to face.
Neubrand also likes meeting her
customers and building a bond with
her clientele. Customers come to
know, for instance, that her four -acre
market garden operation has fresh
asparagus and lettuce early in the
season and can extend the season
through its three greenhouses (in
early May she already had tomatoes
on plants in one of her three
greenhouses).
Barnett, who started at the