Page 12 RAIN January 1977 FARMERS' MARKETS The farmers' market remains one of the central institutions of cities and villages throughout the world. In Africa, Asia, Latin America and much of Europe, public markets are a beehive of activity. The market serves as the place where small farmers and gardeners can sell their surpluses of fresh vegetables, meat, milk and eggs, providing them with enough income to keep on the land. And it is also where consumers can get to know the farmers and find the best prices on wholesome, locally-produced foods. Farmers' markets serve as important cultural centers as well, providing consumers with an intimate connection to the foods they eat and farmers with the opportunity to meet and share knowledge and skills. Such trading centers were a common part of our experience too, until a generation ago. Farmers' markets reached their peak in this country during the Great Depression when in towns and cities across the land hundreds of farmers would queue up at daybreak in preparation for another marketing day. No sooner than the crates were unloaded, early morning shoppers would begin crowding around to haggle over prices, seek out the best buys and purchase the day's groceries. Then business would slack off until late afternoon when the crowds would return for last-minute bargains as farmers would begin packing up for the return home. With the end of the Depression and the return of "good times" once again, FOOD DISTRIBt the number of farmers' markets dwindled rapidly in this country; a trend which paralleled the rise of giant supermarket chains such as Safeway and A&P. This shift didn't occur in isolation, of course, but rather was promoted by such factors as cheap energy, longdistance transportation and new technological developments such as improved refrigeration. However, a reverse trend may now be emerging, with one of the key indicators being the tremendous revival of farmers' markets around the country. There are many reasons for this new interest in farmers' markets. In purely economic terms they offer the promise of providing the consumer with lower grocery prices by purchasing directly from the producer, thus eliminating the "middle man." The growers, in turn, can get better than wholesale prices for the crops they bring in, helping to make it possible for them to stay in business. But economics is only one of many reasons why farmers' markets are sprouring up all over. The new markets are serving to make small farmers visible once again. People are once again able to get to know the people who grew the food they are buying and learn about where and how it was grown. In the process, urban people are discovering that an abundance of food can be produced in their own local areas and they are becoming a part of a growing constituency concerned with the preservation of small-scale agriculture close to urban areas. Thus AN farmers' markets have cultural and political as well as economic functions, and they have a key role to play in the new agrarian movement. Organizing Farmers' Markets, Natural Organic Farmers' Association, 1975, $2.00 from: NOFA RFD 1, Box 247 Plainfield, VT 05667 There are many areas of the country that have been by-passed by the rush toward bigness and agri-business, and it is here that farmers' markets find their most natural home. One such area is Vermont, and this pamphlet, while written from the experience of forming markets in New England, can be a helpful guide for any region of the country. Farmers' Market Organizer's Handbook, Deborah Bowler, 1976, $1.00 from: Hunger Action Center Evergreen College Olympia, WA 98505 The Northwest corner of the country is also experiencing a re-birth of farmers' markets, and this handbook grew out of a day-long workshop which brought representatives of many of these markets together for the first time. The handbook recognizes that, nowadays, a city person is very likely to be the organizer of a new market, representing the needs and interests of both consumers and producers. Several organizational models are presented as well as details on market management (equipment, location, rules and regulations and food stamps), plus sample budgets, a listing
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