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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Local Farmer's Market
  • Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:21:33 -0600


Good to see your enthusiasm. Check to see if FL has a growers market
association. See how other markets are organized. Visit some other markets.
There's a ton of them listed with contact information at
http://www.farmersmarketonline.com/fm/Florida.htm . I'm jealous of the sheer
number of year round markets in FL. We're lucky to get in three months here
in NM.

Where any organization has money coming in and going out, there should be a
committee or board in charge with a separation of money accounting and money
spending. Usually a treasurer and a manager and record keeper or secretary,
and so on. Any vendor taking part has an absolute right to see how finances
are handled - or refuse to take part. And yes, $25 a booth per day is too
high for a startup market in a depressed area. Once you have some information
from other markets you can easily talk it up with the vendors there. Strength
in numbers. You can do it and make it go. After all, you're not peddling
tasteless garbage from the China-Mart. Growing local and buying local keeps
money circulating in the community.

I have a great deal more information and online resources for market managers
and vendors if interested. My long term goal is to see a million more local
market growers in this country, plus far more home growing. There's no other
way to food security with everything going downhill - except the cost of
living.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 7/7/2008 at 10:08 AM D K wrote:

>I have a question, or am looking for feedback about farmer's markets.
>
>We have a little town nearby that wants to be vibrant and bustling;
>until a couple of weeks ago, they offered a once-a-month sort of
>thingie where they closed off the street and called it a "market", but
>only a couple of vendors showed up.
>
>Now they have started it every week, but here's how they are doing it:
>They charge vendors $25 per booth (this is in a county based on
>development and super Wal Mart, with the 4th highest rank of
>foreclosure in the state, because all the developers have been put out
>of work, i.e. this is not a rich county), and so far there have been a
>max of 5 who show up. The lady who is running it says it is for
>advertising and helping the homeless. I haven't spoken to her yet, but
>this is what one of the booth farmers has told me. Also, I'm not a
>curmudgeon who doesn't want to help the homeless, but I think there
>are better ways of helping the homeless, and developing a working
>market at the same time.
>
>Wouldn't it make more sense to charge like $5/booth and have a wide
>variety of vendors to create the sort of festive atmosphere they are
>looking for? You're not going to have a vibrant downtown with 5
>vendors who are paying for the privilege to have 10 or 12 people come
>look around.
>
>I am going to speak to the organizer this week, as one of my angles is
>to see more market gardeners involved, and to really see this be a
>place to get unusual varieties and such. I have ZERO experience
>starting or running a market, but I have high hopes (thanks
>substantially to this list) of bringing some items to market in the
>fall. I wondered if some of you with more experience might have some
>pointers or suggestions on creating a more alive marketplace, a place
>where people WANT to go every Saturday morning. I could use some ideas
>for speaking with the organizer.
>
>Thanks in advance!
>Diane K in Florida
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