Having lived in rural Devon for the last 7 years and building up a network of farmers to supply our business we have become very familiar with Farmer's Markets. While they act as a great way of the public being able to gain access easily to farmers direct - cutting out the middleman, they do realtively little to help the long term future of farmers in this country. I would argue that the likes of WholeFoods and other retailers whom support good farming ethics are more likely to do good in the long term by paying a fair price to farmers.
We came across Barnes Farmers market in South West London the other week. A fairly lively market with a good number of stalls including: a hog roast from Somerset, a fishmonger and a couple of London organic bakeries. It was actually a lot better than some we have found in smaller market towns in the west country. It does always strike me though - as a commercial person, that farmer's, being natural producers, should concentrate with exactly that - producing, rather than selling. Retailing in itself is an art form (as is producing) and the most successful retailers in the country are the very reason why these farmers markets have sprung up so rapidly (because the retailers are too powerful and in many instances run by people with no understanding of the food chain/industry). So - we have a situation whereby as if farmers have not got enough to do making sure they farm responsibly, they now have to take time out of their week to retail their products, essentially because very little exists in any retailing format to support their efforts.
We had thought that we could attend a farmers market as a way of 1. helping our suppliers (the small farms that make very little money out of their produce and find it vital to have a market for their produce when available) & 2. letting people make the connection between what we do at SCOFF and farmers in the UK. It turns out this is not achievable because the rules governing farmers markets in the UK are in danger of stifling the very people the markets were set up to serve. An article appearing in the OBSERVER interviewed Richard Counsell of Somerset Organics. I reproduce below part of the article (for the full article click here):
"The whole idea (of only being able to sell ones own produce ast farmers markets) is a nonsense that will put some farmers out of business,' argues Richard Counsell of Somerset Organics, a partnership of West Country farmers which sells regional produce (organic meat, cheeses, apple juice, poultry, salmon, game) through a mail-order outlet near Cheddar. 'We used to do a lot of farmers' markets,' he adds, 'but now we only do Barnes [an affluent riverside suburb in south-west London].'
The problem is mainly one of economics. 'Say you are a sheep farmer with a couple of hundred acres in the West Country,' Counsell explains. 'At a farmers' market, you are literally going to sell only two lambs if you're lucky - so the most you will get back is £200. You can't sell a range of meats, you can't sell specialist cheeses. By the rules of the farmers' market, you can only sell your own product - and in my opinion, single-product sales just don't work.'
In the past few months, Counsell insists, some excellent producers have lost faith in farmers' markets 'because they can't get them going; they don't have the variety in what they sell'. The solution, he believes, is to follow America's lead - learnt from bitter experience - and set up 'micro-producers' groups' representing four or five local farmers. 'You would have, for example, a North Somerset stall selling a range of local produce,' he says. 'On market day, one farmer sells for all the others - and you do that on a rotation basis. That way, you don't lose valuable time at the farm; you always have a presence at the market. Each knows about the others' produce: they can talk about the farms, the food, the methods of production. To me, that seems like the best way forward.'
Counsell is similarly unimpressed by the proposed geographical limits, which to him seem arbitrary. 'The 100-mile rule for London is especially ludicrous,' he says, 'because it doesn't strike me as being any different from 200 miles. In market towns, people are more clued-up about the local environment - but London is so far removed from that. Frankly, they wouldn't care if the stuff came from Azerbaijan.' Add to this the odd 'local farmer' who is actually a large-scale, metropolitan baker or a suburban housewife baking quiches in her Aga, and certification is a travesty. 'With all that going on,' says Counsell, 'why persecute people who have set up a mini-producers' group and are helping the rural economy? We've now got small farms in Somerset with new barns, better stock, better hedges, putting money back into the land. Just because we have a viable business model, we shouldn't be excluded from passing on benefits to farmers.'
I agree wholeheartedly with Richard. Let's not pretend we don't live in a market economy. It is not only innefficient to have farmers only being able to represent themselves but it drives certain farmers away from the market. Why? because the market is not supported by the local people - WHY? because there is not enough choice at the market - WHY? because of the following rules taken from the London Farmers market website:
What's a farmers' market? How do I qualify?
Only Farmers can sell their own fresh produce directly to the public. You may not purchase and resell another farmer's produce. You must grow or produce the ingredients in processed foods, such as cheese, apple juice, or sausages. You must also make the cheese, juice, or sausages yourself (with one or two exceptions). You or a family member or someone who works on your farm must run your market stall.
It seems absolute madness that the idea of farmers markets to enable farms to get the full price for their produce (and actually be able to sell it to the public) has a set of rules that disallows true 'retailing' What's more, the food miles that 5 producers clock up travelling to Barnes Farmers market from Somerset directly contradicts the idea of 'local produce and minimal food miles'.
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