Speak up on independent farmers markets!

[Scott--DFW]

Kim Pierce continues to be a fierce advocate for local growers and producers with this Belo Eats Blog post, in which she calls for letters to the editor and signatures for a petition started by Celebration (whose independent market was recently shut down by Dallas Farmers Market protectionists). Read Sherry Jacobson's DMN article on the topic.

If you care about this, let your voice be heard.

Scott

[Kirk]

Simple concepts like independent farmers' markets make sense in lots of places, including Washington, D.C.

If the local-food revolution is quietly under way, it has a surprising new booster — the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's behind the pilot program, which is part of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's push for small changes in the way food might be grown and distributed in the future.

"In the last five years, we saw 108,000 new farming operations get started with sales of less than $10,000," Vilsack says. "These are very small farms, but they are a very important component of our agriculture.

"There is a real opportunity for us to grow those smaller operations to mid-income-sized operations, and the way to do that is by creating opportunities locally for local production to be consumed locally."

[sanderw]

What I honestly don't understand is if the health code inspectors requests are unreasonable. I heard they were asking for electronic refrigeration and some other sanitation things. What are the main objections the farmers' markets need to overcome to be legal?

[nickloubuc]

I spoke with Ed Lowe at Celebration just after he was visited by the Health Dept. Besides the refrigeration issue, they now require a vendor to pay $150 for a permit to sell at the market and limit the number of permits to four a year. That's $600 for only four days of selling.

[Scott--DFW]

I would love to see Nancy Nichols, Leslie Brenner, Kim Pierce, Dave Faries, and Teresa Gubbins publish a joint statement urging the City of Dallas to take action to implement regulations and enforcement schemes that encourage, rather than stifle, the growth of independent markets like these. Turn that into a petition, put it in front of thousands of food-loving readers, and maybe the city would get the message.

Scott

[nickloubuc]

Kim, TG, and I have talked about forming a “united front” but it is unlikely to happen for a variety of reasons. I am staying in contact with as many people as I can to monitor the situation—the city, health dept, a few vendors, etc. I feel the most effective thing I can do is to keep blabbing about it on SideDish while Kim and Teresa do the same on their blogs. I’m hoping to get a column on the situation in D but we don’t have room until Feb. There is a lot of information that needs to be exchanged in order to get a clear picture. Frankly, I think the city is recoiling a bit, but that comes from some casual conversations I’ve had with people. At first, I jumped to that conclusion that the city set out to shut these little guys down to save the downtown FM. Now, I’m not so convinced. I think they were a little taken aback by the reactions posted on SideDish and Eats and in TG’s brain. I’m not letting go of the issue—that market at Celebration was wonderful. I think I will go and burn a few bras and pray.

[FatCap]

...I think they were a little taken aback by the reactions posted...in TG’s brain.

Um, I would think so. I mean, is it safe in there? And are there any pecans?


Happy weekend, all.