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  • From: Home Grown Kansas! <hgkansas AT sbcglobal.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] farmers' market forms
  • Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:22:10 -0700 (PDT)

I would have to respectfully disagree with you on this.  There is a place for products to be resold at markets.  Yes, I have been in the situation you discuss at the beginning of your post.  I don't know where you are located, but here in the Midwest there are items that cannot be grown and we have weather concerns - last years late freeze stopped the growth of peaches and apples.  Bringing in apples and peaches from outside the area was a good thing to enhance our market.  With that said, strict rule enforcement and monitoring is important so as not to inhibit the marketing of local products.  If proucts are available locally, product from outside the area is not allowed.  This has worked for our market because of good mangement practices.  All items have to be approved and labeled as to orgin, nor can the product travel through a wholesale facility on the way to market.  The customer makes the choice as to what they want to purhcase.     
 
Elzie
Wichita

"Wiediger, Alison" <alison.wiediger AT hart.kyschools.us> wrote:

With this sentiment, I have to assume you have never been a grower
trying to sell in season produce at a farmers market where many, if not
most, of the vendors (can't call them farmers) were selling produce they
bought at a nearby wholesale produce place, in another state, and
calling it "homegrown". Then, behind the customers' backs, chortling
over how stupid the customers were - after all, everything is grown at
someone's home. Rules - oh yes, there were rule that "most" of the
produce had to be grown by the seller. "Most" is impossible to monitor,
the worst offenders (Liars!) ran (and still run) the market. Not about
to take folks like that at their word. There will always be people who
think they can break the rules, we had one at our market last year. He
brought huge bell peppers the Saturday after he had been inspected and
on inspection, he had just set pepper plants. If we had not inspected,
we would have had to take him at his word - which would have been a lie.

Growers don't mind an inspection - except maybe for the time involved
which we try to keep as minimal as we can. We all know that re-sellers
will ruin our market, many of us have been there, we won't allow it to
happen. Some customers don't understand, some don't care, but many (and
more all the time) do understand and care. We are "vetting" the grower
so they can have confidence they are "buying local".

If it is a farmers market, it should be producer only. If it is
producer only, inspections keep the "producers" honest. Your pledge only
works if all humans are honest - and they aren't.

Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm


If I cant be taken at my word and sell my product, they can kiss my fat,
old, pimply, pink yankee arse. Years ago I stood many times and recited
a pledge that, in part, said that "economic justice can best be won by
free men through free enterprise". I cannot believe that the products of
our modern public shool systems have turned their backs on such a noble
sentiment.

Bye Bye
\
MAsteveINE



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