The ThunderBlogs

Tucked away on a street called Comox parallel to the Davie Village is a small hidden gem of the West End. There operates a quaint Saturday farmers market that unless one lives nearby or happens to saunter across, is difficult to find.

But fear not –the Vancouver Farmer’s Market is a non-profit organization that operates four farmers markets in Vancouver as well as a weekly winter market. The West End farmer’s market in particular draws a dedicated and eager weekly crowd every Saturday afternoon, rain or shine.

Anne Duffy, a friendly elderly woman offering delicious jam samples to everyone walking nearby and chatting easily with her customers. Duffy and her husband have been making jam for 14 years and despite her retirement she tries to sell her jam at two markets a week.

As Anne Duffy’s pleasant interaction with her customers expresses, the experience of a farmers market expands far beyond the shopping experience. Within the crowd, shoppers stop to chat with other neighbors and vendors are busy packing plastic bags full of fruits and vegetables.

Customers stop at each stand to sample the wide array of locally produced products including a woman who offers a bread sample to her child who smiles in delight.

The benefits of the market, however, also reflect on a broader scale.

“We give farmers the opportunity to sell directly to consumers and to maintain a semi-healthy lifestyle. We actually keep 35000 acres of farmland running a year,” said Public Engagement Manager, Shaye Hoobanoff.

“We are also a certified climate smart business. We work with recycling companies and try to be rid of unnecessary waste and packaging,” she added.

So, support for local business farmers, promotion of sustainability issues and community interaction. Sounds idyllic, yes, but over the past several weeks the farmers markets have become the center of heated tensions, which were only recently made easier.

“There are a lot of challenges: finding a place to operate, permits, signage laws,” said Hoobanoff, “we had to pay employers to put up signs indicating where the market was every week.”

A lack of signs did indeed make the market difficult to find.

After a public debate on July 20, 2010, the councils finally approved changes that reduce fees and allow markets to operate on private land, making Shaye’s job and the future of the market more optimistic.

As said by Executive Director Tara MacDonald, “as non-profit organizers of authentic, producer-only farmers markets for over 15 years, we’re thrilled to finally be on the road to legitimacy and long-term security”