Remember these kids when your vendors complain about market rent…
Mobile-probably. Market?
I wrote a greenpaper that is available on marketumbrella.org’s website about the lack for balance in mobile markets. I should have taken more issue with the name and the sustainability of them as some are not that mobile and some, many are not truly markets if you term that in the same vein as farmers markets (meaning competition) or if you believe Wikipedia:
For a market to be competitive, there must be more than a single buyer or seller. It has been suggested that two people may trade, but it takes at least three persons to have a market, so that there is competition on at least one of its two sides.[1] However, competitive markets rely on much larger numbers of both buyers and sellers. A market with single seller and multiple buyers is a monopoly. A market with a single buyer and multiple sellers is a monopsony. These are the extremes of imperfect competition.
It’s possible that a mobile truck could serve well as a long-term grocery store in some remote areas where resources especially capital and electricity are limited. Check out the briefs from The Center for Rural Affairs on rural grocery stores:
cfra
What I find though, is that mobile markets are another example of the industrial food system expecting to change little while getting the credit that they are feeding needy people. Sure they are getting food out there, but the mobility is overstated in some cases and as far as I know have not been shown to make long-term changes in food insecurity or to necessarily support growers or small businesses (Even with this headline generously given to it by HuffPost: Next Level Food Trucks: MoGro Eliminates Food Deserts). What is true to me is that they could serve a very important purpose, just like a buying club can or a food security farmers market does (that term comes from an emerging typology of markets, more coming soon on that…) by priming the pump for food system changes, if they would work hand in hand with farmers and potential market or store organizers.
This story is fascinating; check out where the guy worked before retiring and starting this project:
MoGro
Getting Real
RIP Chris Bedford, Michigan activist and filmmaker.
Getting Real about Food & the Future from Christopher B. Bedford on Vimeo.
Vermont Enhancing Farmers Markets with Evaluation Tools
What: Enhancing Farmers’ Markets with Evaluation Tools
When: Monday June 20. 11 am – 2 pm
Where: Vermont Agency of Agriculture Conference Room, 116 State Street, Montpelier, VT
Note: We will provide coffee, tea, and light refreshments
Led by Market Trainer/Researcher Darlene Wolnik, sponsored by NOFA-VT
Michael Pollan explains food chains
A great video to embed on your market websites or in your email newsletters. Simply explained for many audiences.
A town’s new agricultural plan
Thanks to our friends the Greenhorns (well in the way that all farmers are our friends, not like we share a car or anything like that), we heard about this town named Cato in New York that has adopted a comprehensive agricultural plan to preserve farmland for the future. The town has 13 strategies, including conservation easements, the adoption of a Right-To-Farm Law and changes in zoning.
Read about it on the Greenhorns site “The Irresistible Fleet of Bicycles” where they blog well about food and community.
Cooking Up A Story
The opening of the 2010 Portland Farmers Market is filmed and then found on Hulu.
Farmers market from a farmers perspective
Map of shrinking food deserts in Pittsburgh
this map shows smaller food deserts in the summer, when farmers markets are open. I find the new graduate student focus on farmers markets fascinating. It seems since so many probably grew up with the latest iterations, they assume their longevity. Glad of that.
Not sure its news that food deserts shrink when markets are open. Although, if it helps officialdom realize that we open farmers markets where they are needed, it could help.
I do prefer the Diego Rose (Louisiana Public Health Institute) definition of “food swamps” rather than food deserts to be more descriptive usually. Meaning areas swamped with bad food, rather than no food.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John-The Movie
How did I miss this movie?
A must-see movie for all food organizers. Farmer’s mind, farmer’s point of view.
Commodity farming, artist colonies, devil cult paranoia, homeopathic remedies, Rudolf Steiner, CSAs, body image remade by picking tomatoes, cancer, love, Mexico, giant bee costumes, community barn raising, and John’s mother Anna Peterson are all shared.
Independent Lens
Objectified-The Movie
A movie that looks at industrial design through designers explanations and theories. Well worth your time. You might be asking, why is this a post on a public market blog?
I believe that engineering of the market space itself is something in which many market organizers and vendors excel. Add to that how many innovate by designing/inventing new systems or appropriate tools when necessary.
So, designers? Yes, another title for a market organizer…
Two great quotes from the movie:
“If we understand what the extremes are, the middle will take care of itself.”
“Let’s put great design into everyday things.”
Some younger people expect to pay more for heathier options when dining out
A study by The NPD Group reveals that when dining out, Americans do not expect to pay more for healthier food. According to the study, nine percent of all restaurant visits are based on a customers’ desire for lighter or healthier fare (down from 10 percent in 2007). The results did vary a bit by generation, with over half of consumers aged 25 to 49 years old expecting to pay the same price for healthier items and standard fare. Thirty percent of consumers aged 18 to 24 would be willing to pay more for healthy menu items.
Helping Farmers Markets Grow 