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market-farming - Re: peddlers, politics & convenience

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "Del Williams" <delannw AT dlogue.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: peddlers, politics & convenience
  • Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 07:09:33 -0600


Every one who sells produce at the Saturday market (there is a weekday
market also organized by the Kankakee County Farmers' Market Association) is
what you would call a "legitimate" farmer. We are all growers.

On our market application you have to list the location of your farm by
exact section in the county and indicate what you are growing for the
market. If you don't have a farm you can't sell produce.

We never had a market with all 25 vendors present. One farm paid the fee
and never showed up for the entire season.

The problem I was describing is one where some farms opt to sell at the
usual summer festivals like the Pumpkin Festival, Gladiola Festival, every
little town homecoming (these occur all summer), etc. The produce vendors
consist of small families (maybe just one person) farming for market sales.
So some of these folks decided to bail on the downtown Saturday market to do
sales at these festivals. This left us with a smaller downtown market.
Some people who did this on a regular basis or only showed up once a month
at our market didn't get a new application.

It isn't that they aren't making money downtown. They just think (and maybe
so) that they can sell more at the festivals. I actually argued to raise
the fees to stop this. If they can afford to pay for a space they aren't
using, then the fee is too low.

We don't have experience with people who don't farm, buy from wholesalers
and then sell at farmers' markets like they are farmers. We do have a few
farms that sell for other local farms.

Our climate predictable? Boy, I don't think of it that way!

Del Williams
Farmer in the Del
Clifton IL 60927






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