Well Preserved

What a bizarre day today!

It was a rare day when I worked from home (the crunch of a deadline keeping my team running at 100 and most of us being locked behind a machine longer than any one person rightfully should on such a sunny day).

Things were going well until the gunfire started.  It continued (off and on) for about 12 hours.  The back alley and front of building are being used as a television set today.  It was fun to watch and the people were very friendly – random bursts of “gunfire” would derail solid thought and it was time to get out of the neighborhood for an hour by later afternoon.  We decided to have a quick tour of a Farmer’s Market we would not typically be able to attend.

It was surprising to see the market crawling with people at 4:00pm mid-week.  It is exciting that people attended en masse and we were excited to make one of our first outdoor markets of the summer.  It will be my last for another 3 weeks as travel will once again take me to the south west US over the next two weeks.

A gentle banjo filled the air, smiling people filled the paths and some great looking food was being served up.  Amazing volunteers who added to the community were present, everything was organized and it was a wonderful event.

There was a lot of great stuff at the market.  It specialized in organic faire.  We were thrilled to pick up some smoked lakefish from the Owen Sound/ Wyerton area (I know that’s a broad range ).  Asparagus as thick as my thumb, home made polenta and mushrooms raised with great care were highlights.  We’ll spend time featuring some of the fine purveyors of these things in the near future – they were truly the highlight.

You will notice we’ve not mentioned the name of the market in this post – this has been an intentional omission.  We found ourselves struggling with some of the booths – and what we struggled with is appearing at every farmers market in Ontario that we have seen and this is post raises questions not about a specific market but the state of farmers markets overall.

There is no set rule over what a farmer’s market is to sell.  Some offer more crafts than food, others are exclusive to food and some offer specific niches, such as organic food.  I’m not suggesting this is a bad thing – each market has its own personality, its own essence and character and this often is matched to its community and volunteers who work so hard to bring them to life.

What we struggled with was some of the food itself.  A few tables were covered with produce from the US.  It was organic and it was raised by a farmer.  It was quality food, likely purchased at the food terminal.  It wasn’t local – nor did it claim to be.  It certainly offered items we can’t purchase locally yet.  I appreciated the variety but the purpose of a drive across town was to find unique products specific to a small market such as this (albeit, that is MY interpretation and expectation and others are not required to agree with it).

Where is the line between a farmers market and a produce market?  Do we need a distinction?  Is it appropriate to simply purchase something and resell it there?  What can be done if people are genuinely deceiving?

It was a great conversation with few answers and even more questions.  The only definitive decision was that we have committed even further to finding the artisans who grow, create and share their own food and we will do our best to highlight those who are closest to the food they are selling.  We’re not suggesting that others are inferior – merely that we will do our best to support the people who are connected closely with the food they offer for sale and we will do so by sharing their stories.  Of course you will ultimately decide who to support. 

Great event, great food (dinner was AWESOME) and a nice market.