| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| gil |
Setting up a Farmers Market - Pt4 Lessons learnedIf you're thinking of starting up a Farmers Market in your area, here are a few areas you might need to tackle. We've certainly found them to be important issues.1. Getting a Constitution sorted. If you're doing the Market as a not-for-profit -distribution venture, for the benefit of the community at large (producers and consumers), you need to make this very clear. Use the press to announce the fact. Otherwise (especially in a small town / rural area) there may be all kinds of tittle-tattle about how the organisers (i.e. you) are trousering loadsamoney from running the Market. 2. Get the Stallholders Policy/Rules sorted out as soon as you can. You will end up amending the version you start with (in the light of uncomfortable experience), and you need to issue updates to all stallholders, and then the final version. 3. Make sure all producers actually sign and return the form that says they have read and agree to abide by the policy/rules of the Market. 4. A Market Supervisor (not a producer or other committee member) is invaluable for setting-up the venue, directing stallholders to their pitch, and acting as a neutral enforcer of the Market rules. They should be paid something for this. But they need to be properly briefed. 5. For a Farmers Market, getting the right proportion of food to craft stalls is crucial. People come to a FM for the food, not the crafts. Not too many crafts (aim for 70% food minimum). You will get a lot of crafters wanting a stall - put them on a rota / waiting list, and be very choosy. If there are enough of them, and there is no local craft market, why not suggest they go off and start a market of their own ? 6. In our experience, it is the crafts stalls that have caused the most problems / been the most arsey and difficult to deal with. They infringe the Market policies, bicker, stir unpleasant gossip and rumour, and throw tantrums. The result has been to convince the entire committee that we actually would prefer to have no craft stalls at all, other than those few we know to be professional and high-quality. 7. Inspect the produce/crafts of all applicants for stalls before agreeing to give them a pitch (unless they are already known to you as of an acceptable standard). The diplomatic way to deal with low-quality craft or produce stalls is to put them on a waiting list indefinitely 'until a vacancy arises'. Otherwise a polite rejection letter is the way to go. 8. Food producers with potential should be given advice to reach the required standard for stallholding (re Trading Standards, Env Health, insurance, packaging, production volume) before being accepted as stallholders. 9. Be seen to be fair with the craft stalls rota. 10. Producers on the Market management committee should be seen to abide by the market Rules, same as everyone else. Here are a few more things we think we have got right : Keep it LOCAL. Don't let outside people in unless there is a really good reason, and check them out thoroughly first. Otherwise you will get 'regular' market traders who sell imported/rubbish food. Beware the 'local producer' who is a franchisee of some centralised cheap food importer. Ask probing questions about sourcing of ingredients / animal welfare etc. Don't let in general market traders (the cheap crockery/pans, and knockdown toiletries etc) because you are desperate to get stalls filled. A few genuine local food producers are far better. More will come as word gets round. |
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| dougal |
IMHO this ought to up there as an "article".
And point No 8 is an obvious missing article (or three)... 
Please...
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| Calli |
Article material certainly.
Pertinent and informative. |
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| Jamanda |
Yes, it could be helpful for people planning one off days too. It seems a shame for them to get buried in the threads. | ||||||
| Darma1 |
Excellent. Would you mind if I saved it?
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| Aeolienne |
What day of the week is best for a farmers' market? Weekday or weekend?
I've hardly ever been to Exeter farmer's market because it takes place on a Thursday morning when I'm at work. There used to be a "Slow Food" market one Saturday a month (as it happens, the same Saturday as the Exeter Recorder Orchestra's monthly meeting, so I only managed to get to the market in the last hour before closing), but it went into hibernation last autumn and has since moved to a new location in Topsham. |
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| Jamanda |
Thanks for resurecting this one Aeolienne.
Gil - Shall I turn it into an article? I might get time over the weekend. I didn't even know Exeter had a farmer's market, but I can say if you want to buy cheese in Exeter go to Quickes, and I know Brown Bear knows a good farm shop local to Exeter too. |
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| jema |
Fantastic stuff, clearly has to be articalised 
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| Jamanda |
Jema has spoken 
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| Aeolienne |
It's on the corner of Fore Street and South Street. It used to have a more central location off the High Street until the new Princesshay shopping complex pushed it westwards. Reading has a great farmers' market - I was last there in 2003 but it's still going strong from what I hear. Every other Saturday in the cattle market near the railway station. As for Quickes, their shop is in Newton St Cyres which is even further away than Topsham. Still, at least you can buy some of their cheeses at the Bon Gout deli on Magdalen Road. |
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| Jamanda |
Ah - I come in from Torrington, going right past Quicke's farm shop. It's the treat that makes it worth going to the big city. Topsham's on the wrong side for me. |
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| ros |
Jamanda, which road is that? I mark my road map with visited and recommended farmshops so I remember where they are for our annual Devon holiday. EDIT: found it on their website, eyes weren't properly open earlier. |
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| Vic |
Topsham also has a rather fine cheese shop
http://www.countrycheeses.co.uk/ |
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| gil |
That would be good - there is also relevant material in Parts 1-3, and I can update what we've learnt since I started this thread. Would you want to stick it in Publishing, so that I can tinker with it ? I might take some photos tomorrow, if I remember / have time. |
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| Jamanda |
OK. I'll do that tomorrow. |
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| Jamanda |
OK - It's in publishing. Tell me when you've tinkered and I'll have a go at doing the rest of the publishing stuff. |