Our FIRST STEP to Strengthening Burnaby’s Artisan Farmers Market

“You can change the culture and the economy of this community just by capturing the passion, the energy and imagination of your own people” (Sirolli, 2012).

ANALYZING, DEVELOPING & CELEBRATING
THE COMMUNITY-CONNECTEDNESS OF BURNABY
ARTISAN FARMERS MARKET

Meet Our Team!

Emma Burger
Major: Food, Nutrition and Health
Having the opportunity to travel in the years preceding my university degree at UBC not only introduced a multitude of diverse cultures and lifelong friendships; but it personally clarified my passions revolving community-interconnectedness, sustainability and educating youth about these important issues. I enjoy any free time I have in the fresh air, either exploring the gems of this beautiful world, gardening OR visiting the local farmers markets.  So far I have only been on the consumer side of these markets; however, I am intrigued to learn what happens behind the scenes and ready to contribute my time and knowledge towards the development and growth of Burnaby’s Artisan Farmers Market! 

Katie Bartel
Major: Dietetics
I am a mother of a five-year-old, a world traveller, and a long-distance runner – all of which are centred on food. And the basis of this project is at the root of food – the farmers who grow it. I chose Triple Bottom Line – Burnaby for several reasons. As a board member of the New West Farmers Market, I already have experience working with farmers’ markets, and interacting with vendors and market clientele, which I believe will be an asset to this project. I also grew up on a hobby farm, but as a child, I wanted nothing to do with the farming aspect. When my parents sold the farm a few years ago, it was the garden and its edible contents I missed the most. This project, I believe, will give back some of that element. Last, but most certainly not least, as a mom, I am always looking for ways of getting my son interested in fresh, local, healthy foods. Farmers’ markets have been integral to that. With this experience, I hope to better understand the choices farmers have to make in participating at farmers’ markets, and the barriers standing in their way.


Rachel Mah   
Major: Food, Nutrition and Health
My name is Rachel Mah and I am currently in my 3rd year at UBC. I love food – especially desserts and exploring new places! What I like most about food is that everyone needs it and it is something that can bring people together – that’s why I enjoy cooking, baking, and sharing them with my friends and family. In my spare time I like to exercise, hang out with friends, and try new places to eat. My dream is to own a coffee shop/teahouse/bakery that would give me the opportunity to not only use my passion for arts and baking, but to also feature local and seasonal items and cater to those with dietary restrictions. I’d also like the opportunity to travel the world trying different foods as well as showing others how to prepare healthy meals with what is available. Although I don’t have much experience with farmers’ markets, I am excited to learn and hopefully add to this community. I am glad that I got Burnaby Artisan Farmers’ Market to collaborate with because the question of what drives where vendors decide to sell or not to sell, is something that is not only important to the community and the future of farmers’ markets, but could also be of importance for potential small business owners.

Leon Gu(Hongpu Gu)    
Major: Nutritional Sciences
My name is Hongpu Gu, AKA Leon. I’m a third year student AT UBC. My academic interest would be the physiological process of nutrients when they are consumed and the impact of them towards our health. The reason why I’m interested in this program is that I’m also interested in the behaviours of the people and data analysis.

Kaitlin Fraser
Major: Dietetics
My name is Kaitlin Fraser and I am a 3rd year student at UBC. As a dietetic student I have big interest in nutrition, health and of course food is a big part of it. I grew up on Saltspring Island, which itself has a Saturday market that is a big part of the community. Because of that, participating in this project is of interest to me as it is something I can relate to and I have first hand experience in the impact that a thriving farmers market can have on a community. By participating in this LFS 350 project I am hoping to build my communication and interview skills, as well as gain a better understanding of how farmers markets operate.

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What We Gathered Before Our First Meeting With Community Partner Tara Immell:

Interests: Our team has a wide range of interests – from nourishing ourselves with wholesome foods, to nutrient data analysis, to educating the community about the importance of local and sustainable food systems.

Goals: We collectively developed the following goals to further ourselves, as well as Tara and her organization: Work together efficiently and collaboratively, especially when those moments of uncertainty pop up; accomplish all of our community leader’s objectives; successfully utilize asset-based community development towards improving the Burnaby Farmers’ Market; and increasing food justice around the area. 

Reasons for Choosing Project: Our groups reasons for choosing this project were quite varied. Reasons included familiarity of farmers’ markets, a strong passion towards supporting local and sustainable businesses, wanting to learn more about the farmers’ market scene, and an interest in the nitty gritty realm of data analytics and finances.

What We Wish to Gain from LFS 350: Strengthened communication and interview skills; increased understanding about how farmers’ markets operate in general; practice in the field with asset-based community development for future use; AND expanded knowledge about food justice within our locale.

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What We Gathered During Our First Team Meeting With Community Partner Tara Immell:

Objectives
After talking with Tara, we formed 5 main tasks for our community project*:

1. Paper documents input into excel for electronic records
2. Burnaby Artisan Market Visit (8:30-3:30)
3. Create interview questions/venue categorization
4. Undergo interviews (At market of choice – question dependent)
5. Results & Conclusions

* The imperative objective is to convert the paper data into electronic data to help determine why market vendors are attracted to the Burnaby site, what keeps them there, and what causes them to leave.

Community Organization

The Artisan Farmers’ Market Society is a non-profit organization that oversees three markets, including Ambleside, Lonsdale and Burnaby. Its overall purpose is to celebrate B.C. farmers, food, and handmade items in vibrant, welcoming, community connected markets. By doing so, it aims to connect consumers with local farmers, small food producers and artisans in order to support the community’s financial, social and environmental objectives (Source: http://wiki.ubc.ca/Course:LFS350/Projects/Fall2017/CoV_ArtisanMarkets).

Basically, it’s about supporting our local farmers and small business people who grow, make or bake their product in B.C. It’s about taking away the go-betweens and connecting consumers to the root of their food: the farmers.

Tara Immel is the general manager of all three artisan markets, and is our community project leader.

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What We Gathered After Our First Meeting with Community Partner Tara Immell:

First Impressions:

Before this meeting we had a pretty good idea of the overall project we were getting into, but we were not expecting Tara to walk through the door with three bags stuffed full of binders and notebooks and loose-leaf papers – all needing to be inputted into electronic form. These documents dated back 10 years and were filled out in pen, some of which had running ink, and smudged pencil. Although we followed Ernesto Sirolli’s advice of “shut up and listen” (2012) and kept most of the shocked feelings to ourselves. We felt somewhat overwhelmed, uncertain about how we were going to develop a deliverable, and just simply “whoa” to the masses of paperwork we were asked to analyze.

Ernesto Sirolli’s (2012) quote, “the first principle of aid is respect,” reminded us that in order to help Tara with the project to the best of our abilities, we would need to listen to everything she had to say first, without jumping to conclusions. We are commencing this project open-minded and with respect to the current processes that the Burnaby Farmers’ Market has in place. We have planned to visit the market on September 30th, which will help us effectively utilize asset-based community development by observing how the market is run, volunteering in the market environment, talking face-to-face with vendors about their market opinions and understanding what has or hasn’t already been tried (Yakini, 2013).

Another thing we noticed right off the bat was Tara’s strong passion and excitement for this project, which as Sirolli (2012) explained in his TED talk, is a key element for growth of the organization. Despite the slightly overwhelming data analysis that will be required, it’s hard not to feel the desire to get engaged. In line with the asset-based community development model, we felt our group listened well and was mindful of the issues that Tara is currently experiencing (Yakini, 2013).

With our diverse range of interests and passions as a group, we are excited to contribute our skills and knowledge towards this project, thereby increasing the concept of food justice around the area. By interjecting our knowledge and ideas in addition to the assets that the Artisan Farmers’ Market Society already has, we hope to raise awareness and help teach the community (and possibly government organizations) how to see food justice – just as Dixon (2014) argues is possible. This idea of food justice – where citizens have the ability to access wholesome food – has the potential to sprout from the growth of community-connectedness that these Artisan Farmers’ Markets demonstrate (Dixon, 2014).

After talking through this project thoroughly with Tara, we began to find direction and form ideas about how to approach this very interesting under-taking. Our team is more than excited to volunteer at the Burnaby Artisan Farmers’ Market on September 30th. We all have at least the basic knowledge in modern technology and are aware that having business documents filed electronically is noticeably more effective and efficient. With that said, we as a group are ready to begin the crucial first step of this exciting project: data input.

Check in soon to view our project proposal, see how our market visits went and to see if we ended up making it through those STACKS of paper documents we plan to electronically file.

BRING ON THE PAPERWORK!!!

++ More pictures to come after our Burnaby Artisan Farmers Market visit ++

References 

Artisan Farmers’ Markets: Triple Bottom Line of Farmers’ Markets (Burnaby). (2017, September 6). Retrieved from http://lfs350.landfood.ubc.ca/community-projects/2017-fall-projects/artisan-farmers-markets-triple-bottom-line-of-farmers-markets-burnaby/

Dixon, B. A. (2014). Learning to see food justice. Agriculture and Human Values, 31(2), 175-184.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1007/s10460-013-9465-3

Sirolli, E. (2012, November 26). Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen! [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXsLtHqfdM

Yakini, M. (2013, May 3). Working in communities as partners, not missionaries. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO9_dgcxdj4