Why a lot of big city farmers markets suck

[Keger]

Local grown..........

OK. So at our market I have been doing for 5 years or so, local grown this time of year is okra, purple hull peas. eggplant, a few peppers and squash. Exciting huh? Every week, from August to late Oct, that's about it.

Guess what happens then? No customers. They get tire of the same old boring stuff. So there is the dilemma, what to do? What to do......

I have a few ideas, next year I am setting up and running a new market. Gotta get some variety. No Mexico, that's for sure. Tomatoes from Arkansas? I don't know... Just now sorting it out.

But I do know this, I don't want to hear the word organic unless you have the certification, rule #1..........

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Keger

Local grown..........But I do know this, I don't want to hear the word organic unless you have the certification, rule #1..........

That comment made me think of something.
I have met and know several people that know I am not certified and dont claim anything.
Every one of them out of trust alone and my word said they would love for me to sell tomatoes and produce to them.
Some of these people found out about me at work just through word of mouth and just walked up to me and started talking.
Thinking back now that makes me feel good.
As for organics it reminds me of the early trains.
They were death traps until they developed better steel and the T rail.
If they dont get a handle on these organic mishaps I am afraid it may very well fall on its face.
Sure it will always have a following but never to the point of its full intent.
That is to preserve our waterways and soil.

Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

My step-dad went to a neighboring town's market last week. Green Beans sold by the pound are bringing $50-60 a bushel. The guy next to him told him he buys all of his stuff from the Amish produce auction and re-sells it. He pays just $12 a bushel for green beans.

His beans were Contender, so they are bigger (and tougher) than the Strike that we grow, which means they would be a little faster to pick, but ours take 2-3 hours for one person to pick a bushel. All that back-breaking labor produces a commodity that wholesales for $12.

That's the dilemma facing farmer's markets. If you are producer-only, there might not be any vendors at all. But if you let in re-sellers, then few vendors who grow their own stuff will be driven out by the low prices of the re-sellers.

[Hellmanns]

The common problem with farmers markets I know, is a vendor always wants to rise to power and control the market with rules that benefit only himself. These vendors feel entitlement for some reason, and also try to control the customers. Finally the market starts shrinking instead of growing..

I've watched this scenario play out at one local market, and almost at another.

[Keger]

Robbie. Maybe the answer is to do a little of both. What you grow and bumper crops from local guys that dont set up at the markets.

[Keger]

Originally Posted by Hellmanns

The common problem with farmers markets I know, is a vendor always wants to rise to power and control the market with rules that benefit only himself. These vendors feel entitlement for some reason, and also try to control the customers. Finally the market starts shrinking instead of growing..

I've watched this scenario play out at one local market, and almost at another.

Aint that the truth......

Every market I have been at that let that happen is no longer a market.

[Hellmanns]

Originally Posted by Keger

Aint that the truth......

Every market I have been at that let that happen is no longer a market.

Yes it is!
The saga at the market I was talking about has been playing out for the last 15 years or so.

This market at one time was booming with new producers from adjoining counties joining every year. Competition was fierce,(a good thing) but, on the flip side, everyone was doing well because you couldn't stir all of the customers with a stick because of selection and variety..

Then, the entitled president pulled his board together and banned out of county producers. Once that was accomplished, the president started using the iron fist on his board, by weeding out the weakest, then the strongest. Now the president is the only member, and is asking everyone where all of the customers are!

[Worth1]

Our farmers market is nothing like this.
They even have a garden plot that volunteers work to grow food for the needy.
A simple sign stating not to take the stuff is enough to keep it safe.
To help keep it going people are allowed to make stuff at home and sell it there.
One of the streets that adjoins it is called Farm street and is a wild chicken sanctuary and chickens are protected.
Once a month we have what is called market days where they block off down town so people can sell arts and crafts.
Once a month they have what is called Movies in the park that is free.
Where other small towns have dried up where I live it has flourished.

These big city markets sound like a nightmare.
I have never been to one.

Worth

[joseph]

Originally Posted by joseph

There is one guy that we believe cheats like crazy: buys local peaches from a nearby orchard and resells them. But he has peach trees of his own, so catching him in the act would require stalking him the day before market, or doing a farm inspection while he's supposedly picking peaches, staking out the farm where he buys the peaches, or something along those lines.

I'm glad to report that this guy is no longer a vendor at our farmer's market.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Hellmanns

The common problem with farmers markets I know, is a vendor always wants to rise to power and control the market with rules that benefit only himself. These vendors feel entitlement for some reason, and also try to control the customers. Finally the market starts shrinking instead of growing..

I've watched this scenario play out at one local market, and almost at another.

Now that you mention it, I know a certain person who has taken on officer positions at multiple markets...which seems like an obvious conflict of interest to me, because I see the markets as competing against each other. Coke and Pepsi don't share corporate officers.

This person is a very strict enforcer of the producer-only rule, and frequently offends vendors with accusations that they are lying about being a farmer. The really funny part is...the one who frequently calls people a liar for saying they are a farmer has pale, pasty-white shin, and obviously never goes out in the sun. As it turns out, migrant labor does 100% of this vendor's field work.

And that begs the question, if I pay someone to do something for me, did I still do it myself? How is paying someone to pick beans any different than paying for beans?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Now that you mention it, I know a certain person who has taken on officer positions at multiple markets...which seems like an obvious conflict of interest to me, because I see the markets as competing against each other. Coke and Pepsi don't share corporate officers.

This person is a very strict enforcer of the producer-only rule, and frequently offends vendors with accusations that they are lying about being a farmer. The really funny part is...the one who frequently calls people a liar for saying they are a farmer has pale, pasty-white shin, and obviously never goes out in the sun. As it turns out, migrant labor does 100% of this vendor's field work.

And that begs the question, if I pay someone to do something for me, did I still do it myself? How is paying someone to pick beans any different than paying for beans?

I remember the last person that called me a liar to my face.
I also remember the look on his face when I told him what I would do to him afterwards.

I didn't yell at him or anything.

I simply told the 68 year old man that I dont know how people are where you come from but where I come from you better be able to back it up or get a mud hole stomped in your you know what.
Which will it be, I'm serious.
He apologized and that was the end.

It doesn't sound like me and old pasty face would get along very well.

Worth

[Hellmanns]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Now that you mention it, I know a certain person who has taken on officer positions at multiple markets...which seems like an obvious conflict of interest to me, because I see the markets as competing against each other. Coke and Pepsi don't share corporate officers.

This person is a very strict enforcer of the producer-only rule, and frequently offends vendors with accusations that they are lying about being a farmer. The really funny part is...the one who frequently calls people a liar for saying they are a farmer has pale, pasty-white shin, and obviously never goes out in the sun. As it turns out, migrant labor does 100% of this vendor's field work.

And that begs the question, if I pay someone to do something for me, did I still do it myself? How is paying someone to pick beans any different than paying for beans?

Your story is basically identical to one of the markets I was talking about! Turns out the one in our market was buying most of produce he was selling, which is not allowed.

A position of power, the "in your face" vocals, and "blatant accusations" fit the description of someone who feels entitled to control the market. But, these people also feel as if the general rules that other vendors follow don't pertain to them..I know all to well this type of person, I've seen several over the years and all of them use those tactics to control the other vendors. Most have a "right hand man" at their side at all times to back them up.

They try to control customers too. I've had customers "sneek" to my booth to avoid them. If they "catch" "one of their" customers with an item they offer they will confront, and question them about it too. They will also question customers who even browse the market. They expect "their" customers to walk straight to them, buy their product and go home!

I've been growing and selling produce since '88, and sold at farmers markets for many of those years. I now sell what I grow at a produce auction, mostly to avoid the drama of local farmers markets.