Working behind the scenes at the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market, I'm starting to really understand how our local food system works. From farmer/grower to farmers' market, to restaurants and food trucks, to local stores and big grocery chains... and somewhere along the way onto your plate... it is a fascinating and complex system.
Farmers markets are
incubators for small businesses. They act as a testing ground for products and
for ideas. They are safe places to begin a business. Some vendors are content
to stay at the market level, while others see it as a leaping ground… a place
from which they can establish a valuable clientele and launch themselves into
the big leagues, once they are picked up by larger businesses or open a store
front themselves.
Many vendors, whether they be
selling produce, meat, prepared food or craft items start at farmers’ markets
and never leave. They are content to maintain connections with their customers,
keep their operations smaller and more manageable, and avoid paying the middleman,
so they see more of their profit. Many start there, love it, and never leave
it.
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| Janelle of Riverbend Gardens |
Attending multiple farmers’ markets, as Janelle Herbert
of Riverbend Gardens does, creates a hard, demanding life. When asked what the
biggest hurdles were when attending multiple farmers’ markets, Janelle said, “Capacity!
Having your head in more than one place at a time.” And then there are the
organizational challenges of staffing many markets, some of which occur all
over the map on the same day. There are long days to put in with a lot of
travel, a lot of set up and take down manual labour, a lot of work spent
preparing goods for market, and a lot of time spent standing in very inclement
weather…. not to mention, in the case of Riverbend Gardens, all of the planting,
harvesting and nurturing their crops, maintaining the land, managing a staff of
labourers, and dealing with a city’s land expansionist visions, processes and
plans… to endure.
Vendors who sell at multiple
farmers markets have to be strong, hearty people! As Eileen Kotowich, Farmers’
Market Specialist at Alberta Agriculture says, “You have to love the market
channel to stay in it for years and years.” And yet many chose this life, never
desiring to move into large-scale production. Never wanting to lose touch with
their loyal customers. Never wanting to lose control over their product’s
quality or the integrity of their creative vision.
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| Ron & Teena of TR Greenhouses |
There are also some who
dabble in both ends of the food system spectrum: they still attend large
farmers’ markets, but they also step up their production to meet the demands of
big business agriculture. Eileen gave me the example of Doef’s
Greenhouses (at the City Market & Old Strathcona). They, along with TR Greenhouses from our market (& Old Strathcona), are part of Pic ‘N Pac, a
trio of greenhouse growers that supply hot house vegetables to local grocery
store chains like Save On Foods.
This is one of the reasons
why it is so important to support your local farmers’ market. The money that
you spend there is money that stays in the local economy and doesn’t go to huge
retailers whose head offices may be in other cities, provinces or even
countries.
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| Eggplants at TR Greenhouse's Stall at the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market |
Another
interesting part of Doef’s story is their eco-friendly pest control involving growing eggplants. According to Deborah O'Connell of the Grower Talks article,
"Using Plants to Fight Pests," eggplants are grown as an
eco-friendly way to manage whitefly populations in contained environments like
greenhouses. Eggplants act as trap plants, luring whiteflies away from the
tomatoes, peppers, beans and cucumbers that the vegetable greenhouse growers in
Alberta grow. Doef’s doesn’t raise enough
eggplant to sell them commercially, so they need a smaller market to sell what
Eileen calls “their odds & sods.” Farmers’ Markets create this opportunity
for them. And what that means for us as consumers, is that we get to experience
more variety.
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| The Mallow Fellow's marshmallow treats |
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| Jewels By Amy's sets |
Some businesses use farmers’ markets, not just
as a way of selling individual products to market shoppers, but as a way of breaking
into the profitable niche market of wedding planning. It allows them the
opportunity to take their selling up a level,
while not taking on the financial
risk of opening their own store-front. Two vendors from The Southwest Edmonton
Farmers’ Market create items that are used as party favours for wedding
receptions. The Mallow Fellow creates custom-flavoured, custom-coloured marshmallow
treats for reception place settings. Rebecca, of the Violet Chocolate Company, creates decadent and
spectacularly beautiful chocolate truffles for the same purpose. Yet another
vendor, Jewels By Amy, creates necklace, earring & bracelet sets for brides and
bridesmaids, custom created to suit the dress colours and tastes of the wedding
party. The markets are used as an ordering and pick-up place, saving them
delivery time and saving them having to use their own homes as places of
business.
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| Violet Chocolate Wedding Truffles |
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| Evangeline of El Mercado Tortillas (on right) |
Farmers markets, like our Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market, can be incubators of sorts for businesses that want to start off small, test the
waters, get immediate feedback on their products, have an agreeable audience
for the reworking of their products or ideas, build a customer base and then
grow big, moving into a larger store once they’re ready. El Mercado Tortillas
is a good example. Evangeline Lopez began her business supplying some
restaurants like Tres Carnales and the Southwest Edmonton Farmers’ Market with
her authentic Mexican corn tortillas. Part way through the season, she realized
that she had made a big enough name for herself so that there was a large
demand for her product that would involve stepping up her production. Now her
tortillas are found in many South and Central American grocery stores, like Mi
Casa Market, Tienda Salvadorena, Paraiso Tropical, Argyll Foods Tienda Latina
and places like Acme Meat Market, the Italian Centre Shop and Gluten Free
Mart… all here in Edmonton.
For any businesses wanting to
follow this route, there is a lot of support. Alberta Agriculture has a Market
Development Team that works with people across the province to help them meet
their ultimate goal of getting into a larger retail store. As Eileen says, many
of the big chains are “looking for products that are retail ready” and Alberta
Agriculture is ready to help a vendor get to that stage:
- Darcy Peters (780-638-4756) has a lot of experience getting growers, farmers and food producers into grocery stores. Save On Foods is an excellent example of a large-scale chain that is actively searching out local produce, meats & value-added foods for its shelves and aisles. Darcy can help coach you through that process, teaching you about the requirements of stepping up that production and giving tips and tricks about what the large store buyers are looking for.
- Nicole Schroth (780-643-1003) specializes in helping vendors get their produce, meat and products into the food service industry… from restaurants through to institutions (like Northlands).
Farmers’ Markets play an
essential role in the health of our local food system and, lucky for us all,
they are on the rise. The 2010-11 Alberta season saw 104 markets spread across
the province. As of last year, that number had increased dramatically to 131
markets. The support is out there. We are all becoming more consumer savvy… we know where
to get good quality, locally produced goods, we know how to vote with our
dollar and support the local economy, and we are starting to see the impact of
the decisions we make about where and how we shop.
Visit our website at http://www.swefm.ca
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Contributed by Sheri Hendsbee
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