Farmers' Market Integrity 101
MAKING THE HARD CALLS
As Farmers' Market managers, it's our job to monitor what's happening at our markets so you - as shoppers - can feel confident that you know what you're buying.
For us this week, that means we'll probably be taking a farm stand out of our Thursday North Park event that has been there since before we took over this particular market. The man who runs that stand is hard-working, reliable, and personable. This will probably affect his income, and he likely has a family to support. That's why decisions like these are not made lightly.
Unfortunately, validating suspicions that we had started to develop, the County Agriculture Department's most recent inspection of that vendor (I'm hesitant to say farmer right now) turned up several issues that can't be ignored.
The letter of the Direct Marketing law requires that farmers, their immediate families or bonafide employees sell only what is produced on their farm, so that the origin and growing conditions can be verified. Since Certified Farmers Markets in San Diego are often combined with a weekly event that includes non-farmers, non-certified produce sales can be included in a different area of the event, but we believe that generally violates the spirit of the law. If you buy fruits and vegetables at our markets, we want you to be buying them from the farmer. Click "Read more" below for the rest of the story...
Farms are allowed to cross-certify with other farms so that farmers that know one another can cover more ground in getting their crops to the public. Display and signage must make it easy for shoppers to determine which produce comes from which farm. The stand we're scrutinizing now held five farm certificates at a recent market. The staffer is not a family member, and it's unlikely he's employed by all those farms. We're checking.
So, what's the problem with one farm stand selling for five farmers? One, that's creating a distributorship, not a direct farm-to-shopper transaction. Two, it's not playing by the rules, so if they're breaking that rule we don't know if they're breaking others - maybe buying non-local produce and reselling. In this particular case, the display and signage did not clearly reflect the origin of the fruit, depriving shoppers of the opportunity to make informed decisions about their food sources. And the quantity of a particular crop at this time of year was suspect; if it wasn't imported from out of CA then it was likely stored.
The folks at the Ag Department are in a better position to scout that last issue, since they see how many markets a farm vendor participates in, and can gauge whether it's possible to produce X amount of fruit from X amount of trees in a single season. Again, the letter of the law doesn't prohibit farmers from selling stored fruit, but we think you come to a farmers' market to find what's fresher than what's heaped in bins at less diligent grocery stores.
We'll make a difficult decision this week. If it goes the way I think, I suspect some shoppers who have come to like the staffer at this farm stand will be unhappy. A local farmer we know very well will be able to provide most of the same crops, but people get to know a certain vendor and many of us will miss this man. We wish we had a different choice, but food source transparency is Market Integrity 101.
You trust us at SD Weekly Markets. We plan to keep it that way.
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Great Article and this is an important message to get out to the consumers. These are tough decisions and it is never easy. I too am in the investigation stages of a particular farm. I echo the extreme difficulty in knowing that the workers are often the victim here, who depend on this as their primary income to raise their families. We come to know them, trust them, and they are often unknowingly breaking the rules... (however, sometimes they know very well what they are doing). Hats off to SD Weekly Markets for maintaining markets of integrity.
I personally am frustrated that we have the largest number of small farms county wide in the nation and such an incredible selection of fruits an vegetables within local range, yet consumers still will buy produce from imported sources trucked from "who knows where" when our farmers can grow it locally! Our local farmers are ready to produce the best produce, and most have the capacity to grow more. However, when less the 5% of the SD population shops at farmers markets, the farmers are forced to cut back on their growing capacities. They have to know that the investment will be worth it. This is why it is important for consumers to ask questions, and demand that it be, at least CA grown produce and certified of course. This is the backbone of the farmers markets and why it is incredibly important to ensure that all growers are in fact certified CA growers. I will not allow produce in my markets that are not certified, and I know Catt remains committed to this practice too, as do other managers. (some managers, however, do not see the importance)
As the customer you have the power to make this happen at your local farmers market. It is simple: Ask to see their certification, or ask the manager, if it is not certified don't shop there. As managers we will do the work of maintaining the integrity of the certified status we are carrying. As the consumer vote with your purchasing power and the non certified farms will leave. Sorry for the rant... but his article struck a chord.
Kind Regards,
Brian (of Brian's Farmers' Markets)
I understand the position that the farmers market managers are in, but as the consumer I wish that I was informed when a producer was no longer going to be at the market (even if the particulars about the situation are not revealed), along with information on how to connect with that producer again either via a link to their web site, or alerted if they have moved to another market. It is always sad when I come week after week expecting a favorite vendor and I can't find them. A little more information would be nice in a newsletter for example. I don't need to know that they have violated the code of conduct necessarily, if there is a problem releasing that information.
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