Market Farming

[Leslie Moyer <unschooler AT lrec.org>]

No--classes aren't for farmers, exactly (though many are relevant for 
backyard gardeners) as they are staffing their booths while the classes are 
going on. I say "it's a stretch" because they're really run by ONE volunteer 
(who is not a member of the FM board) and not facilitated by the market much 
at all because of poor communication (the market manager's fault), therefore 
they are publicized poorly and have poor attendance--sometimes no one at all. 
 In fact, the market failed to even put the classes on their website this 
entire year. The classes run the gamut and have covered things like sewing 
with kids, vermicomposting (home-scale), greenbuilding, home canning, various 
cooking classes, spinning wool/fiber, recycling, solar cooking, tatting and 
other handcrafts, master gardeners at the market, etc.  

The volunteer put a LOT of work into these classes the last 3 years, but 
because of frustration over poor communication and terrible publicity for the 
classes, she has said she isn't going to do it next year.  (I don't blame 
her--I wouldn't, either.)  I don't think that anyone else currently 
affiliated with the market is capable of putting these classes together week 
after week.  (They're not capable of doing a SINGLE market event! They had 3 
events planned for last year and cancelled all 3 of them.) 
So, in my mind, it puts the market's tax exempt status at risk as they 
applied based primarily on the fact that they would hold these kinds of 
classes.

I have another email to write about my market, but I'll start a fresh email 
about it.

--Leslie

On Jan 3, 2011, at 6:56 AM, Marty Kraft wrote:

> If the classes are about the benefits of organic, no-till and carbon 
> sequestration methods or the benefits about eating local and fresh, the 
> educational effort might help for years to come. I tend to shop with my 
> conscience when i understand why.
> 
> Marty
> 
> On 1/3/11 3:08 AM, Leslie Moyer wrote:
>> 
>> I think most markets in my state are 501(c)4, but a tiny handful of 
>> markets are 501(c)3.  The market I attend is a 501(c)3, but we have 
>> educational classes every week in order to justify that status and the 
>> person who has been arranging those for the past 3 years is tired of 
>> trying to coordinate them.  Personally, I think it's a stretch anyway.   
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