ba·zaar also ba·zar (b-zär) n.

1. A market consisting of a street lined with shops and stalls, especially one in the Middle East.
2. A shop or a part of a store in which miscellaneous articles are sold.
3. A fair or sale at which miscellaneous articles are sold, often for charitable purposes.
[Italian bazarro and Urdu bzr, both from Persian; see wes-3 in Indo-European roots.]

We explored the idea of naming our Festivus market a bazaar back in 2002 as we were designing its structure. We had planned on inviting churches, immigrant organizations and entrepreneurs with ties to their home culture to sell during the holiday months. Instead we focused on the artists who were doing more New Orleans cultural gifts and recycled material products along with fair trade items. After five years of Festivus, we decided as an organization that we had concluded that pilot. There is a Greenpaper on our website over at marketumbrella.org (under the marketshare tab) if you want to read about what we learned from Festivus. I do know we felt honored to work with the artisans that do so much to create a vibrant culture along with our farmers and fishers.

As we continue to create a typology for markets in our evaluation suite of tools (SEED and Market Portrait now, NEED and FEED soon), I am back to thinking about where a bazaar fits in the public market arena. Seems the words miscellaneous and/or cultural displays are key to its description…Love to hear from any of you if you have used it to describe your market and why.

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Mapping America-NYT

These maps are so very useful. Useful to see an overview of housing, ethnicity, income and education for market purposes.

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Here is one of the hard parts of what we do…

Here in my own city of New Orleans, on last weekend’s bright and beautiful Sunday I happened to be on site to see the closing by our police of a Mardi Gras costume bazaar .
For 20 years, costume designers have collectively set up on Frenchman Street in the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday to sell their one-of-a-kind creations. The need to gather artists in one place, to allow for casual walk up traffic as well as those seeking out the designers and the mix of shops that might benefit from this event has made for a happy relationship with the Frenchman community. Well maybe…
This year, the New Orleans Police Department showed up and quite quickly shut it down. They cited the organizers for not getting a permit. Did a store complain? Sounds like no, that the NOPD just happened on them, But, as we know in our market world, it’s best to prepare for conflict and know what needs to happen to avoid it to keep the sales flowing. So, I assume this is the tip of it, that random stores may complain even if it benefits them and so we need to solve this issue once and for all.
For many of you in the market world, this would seem like a sensible action. Sure, you might say, you simply go to your city hall and ask them what you need to do beforehand and get it all straight…

And if you have that type of process where you live, I envy you.

What we have here is a morass of rules for some vending and not for others. When the artists that were participating in our fair trade/handmade market “Festivus, the holiday market for the rest of us” went to City Hall in the first year (2003) to register because we asked them to, they were told there was no way to register for this.
Chiefly, they were told it’s like this: if you have a storefront, you register that. If you want to vend on the street for Mardi Gras along parade routes, you can register for that. Other than that, to sell at market, especially if you do not have a storefront in Orleans Parish , well it may depend on who in city government you talk to…

In the local food system here, my organization marketumbrella.org has decided all along the way to lead rather than wait. Back in 1996, we were able to get a “fairs and festivals” ruling for our weekly farmers markets, to ask for some zoning clarification and wrote a food handling guide and submitted that to the state to make sure no one would show up telling us we were illegal. And since most of our vendors are exempt from collecting sales tax (as farmers and fishers) they were okay themselves but we continue to tell our value-added vendors to make sure they are right with city government-although again if they live outside the city, its hard to do that. That was pretty much the last time we had a formal interaction with the government- that is until the NOFD came to our markets last year and ask for new permits and fees.
Based on that issue and others we were hearing about, we wrote a grant to do research and form recommendations to the city for open-air farmers markets. We have an RFP out locally for someone to take on the policy work and then will send a RFP out to update our food handling guide.
That work should be completed over summer and we hope the city accepts our recommendations. So, we feel our artist colleagues’ pain when we see them go through a process that has parts that are still to be decided and lacks clarity from our government, as happened this Sunday.
I guess with our experience, we saw this coming to them in a way. As much as I prefer to leave entrepreneurial activity as informal as possible, when you gather collectively you probably need some systems in place. Especially in incorporated towns and cities.
And this is where my work (in the marketshare project) is mostly felt: to add capacity and to professionalize market management so the risks are mitigated.
I feel for them, those amazing artists and designers. I will do what I personally can to support their work and professionally to encourage markets to thrive in my region.
MGshutdown

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What is your food rule?

Last year I published Food Rules, a short book offering 64 rules for eating well. Food Rules struck a chord with many people, who found that it helped them navigate what has become a treacherous food environment, whether in the supermarket or restaurant.

Many of the rules were submitted by readers, and since publication I have received a number of excellent new ones.

So I’ve decided to publish an expanded edition, with additional rules and also illustrations, which the painter Maira Kalman has agreed to create. I hope you’ll consider contributing to the new book.

What are some of your food rules? I’ll pick my favorite three rules from within the Slow Food network and give those people signed copies of the book. Let me know your food rule here:

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5986/p/salsa/web/questionnaire/public/?questionnaire_KEY=541

Thanks in advance for your help,
Michael Pollan

PS – the deadline for submission is February 27th. Don’t forget to forward this email to your friends so they can share their food rules too!

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Don’t just think about the traditional grocery stores when comparing prices

Dollar stores might be where some of our shoppers are also shopping: This report talks about the biggest increase in their shoppers are among households earning over 100,000 a year.

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Good explanation how to see The Tipping Point in context

Was recently chatting with Stacy Miller of Farmers Market Coalition about the book, The Tipping Point. She was asking if I thought it had relevance to our work. I found this quote from the author that explains what I think makes it useful to read, although with a caveat that we are not trying to start a social epidemic in markets, but to actually make long lasting economic and behavior changes. So limited relevance.
In any case, the language is useful to see how one might use word of mouth to spread a piece of your message…

it takes theories and ideas from the social sciences and shows how they can have real relevance to our lives. There’s a whole section of the book devoted to explaining the phenomenon of word of mouth, for example. I think that word of mouth is something created by three very rare and special psychological types, whom I call Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. I profile three people who I think embody those types, and then I use the example of Paul Revere and his midnight ride to point out the subtle characteristics of this kind of social epidemic.

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Remember that 96%

As much as we can use retail techniques to fashion our markets, I think we should. However, there are times when it is clear that the techniques do not match up so well to our market world. Here are some retail techniques that we should be aware of and know how to either adapt and adopt, or just realize that sometimes the point of view from the shoppers will include a perception that we do operate in the same way.
Loss Leaders– the idea that you “give away” some products at cost or just above to entice people to buy other more expensive products. Things like newspapers and magazines are often loss leaders. Believe it or not, so is milk a lot of times…So as a result, people see those costs as actual, rather than a loss. When they come to us and see the actual cost of those same products, they are horrified, so it has to be communicated that our farmers cannot afford to offer things at a loss.
Add-ons– When you go into a coffeehouse and the barista asks if you want a muffin with your latte, they are doing that because they have been told they must offer other products. I have heard shoppers complain that the market vendors are not “friendly” often enough to watch interactions and notice that shoppers are sometimes uncomfortable when farmers stand there silently with an open bag. Add-on sales could be as simple as market managers spending time on the shopper side pointing out a newly seasonal product. Or just a smile and a nod when the shopper picks their own products!
Rotating signage-I wish more markets used seasonal signage. Farmers do, but markets rarely do. Just a thought…
Easy Shop technologyIn essence, we offer this: the chance to buy and bag each item while in the aisles, skipping the lines. Interesting that stores are coming closer to us, rather than farther away…
WiFi available an interesting idea that might be developed in a few larger flagship markets. Could be a bloggers corner or simply access to wifi during market hours under a tent. Some savvy tech-centric market could have a public computer that has the market website with a recipe database for customers to access.

There are many more techniques in the retail world to notice. Again, no question that some will never fit all markets and some may never fit any, but let’s keep our eyes open.

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I saw no markets but lots of food carts…

My schedule was too tight to be in Portland OR on a market day but of course, I was happy to see good food in local co-ops, and entrepreneurs in their food trucks all around town. I am told that the food cart system in Portland allows for long time stationary food carts in one place rather than having them roam the city. Although the consensus was that there may be some backlash to these food carts. I can imagine…
As a matter of fact, the entrepreneurial spirit is definitely alive and well all over Portland. But why not more year-round markets?
But that German deli was fantastic…

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Lexington Market-Baltimore

I continue my winter travel schedule that takes me to markets hither and yon. Mostly conferences on the state level and after the workshops or keynotes are done, I try to see at least one, two or a dozen markets while there.
Stacy Miller our Farmers Market Coalition leader, took me to this market for lunch and a look. I loved its vibrancy, size (it seems intimate because of how it is laid out) and multitude of uses. A market has been in operation here since 1782 and looks like it should expect to be here for some time.

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Markets of NY

This is an enthusiastic blog of markets throughout New York City-and not just farmers markets. Flea, artisan and wholesale markets too. I just ordered her book which will be great to have the next time I find myself in NYC. It may also assist our research of typology of markets that we are doing at marketumbrella.org. I will add a review of the book when I finish it.

Her blog includes a very useful evaluation from a shopper’s point of view of markets:
What constitutes a market and what makes it one of the best?

Markets are places where traditionally people come to buy and sell goods directly to each other, items the seller has personally grown, handcrafted, or collected. They are usually temporary in nature, built in the wee hours of the morning and dismantled at dusk, or at the end of a season. But they can also be permanent locations where several vendors each have their own spaces.

I use the word “best” in this context quite subjectively. I am not a critic; I aim to connect markets and market lovers. So the questions I think of when I go to a market may include:

– What is the level of quality and innovation of the items and vendors?

– Is it an attractive or at least interesting location? Is it easily accessible by subway and bus?

– Is there an overall good vibe? Is the merchandise just too good to pass up? What about the food?

– Is the market important to its surrounding neighborhood?

– Is there something particularly unique about that market?

These are the things that are important to me personally. But they also are important for a market to really “stick” and become relevant to its local constituents and then to visitors from further afield.

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Map linking farmers markets, fruit consumption and BMI

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Another study on happiness

Way back in 2006 when the Ford Foundation asked how we were planning on measuring social capital in markets, we answered “happiness.” That’s right, we thought about measuring happiness, and the many ways that people felt when they came to buy, sell or just sit at a market.
Unfortunately, they thought maybe we should find another proxy and so we did (trust). But we never forgot our first love and often longingly think of what could have been.
Just read ANOTHER study on it and now this from Bhutan:
In an interview with Yes! Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley attempts to explain how his country is pursuing the goal of happiness for all:

First, we are promoting sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development which can be measured to a larger extent through conventional metrics.
Second is the conservation of a fragile ecology, [using] indicators of achievement, [such] as the way the green [vegetation] cover in my country has expanded over the last 25 years from below 60 to over 72 percent….
The third strategy is promotion of culture, which includes preservation of the various aspects of our culture that continue to be relevant and supportive of Bhutan’s purpose as a human civilization….
Then there is the fourth strategy—good governance [in the form of democracy]—on which the other three strategies or indicators depend.
And then there are the critics who say the very pursuit of happiness is shallow and contributes to much of the suffering in the world. Guest references books like Bright Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich and Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges, summing up their ideas—maybe over simplistically—as, “Do you think gaping economic inequalities, unjust wars, and ferocious un/underemployment are problems? Don’t worry, be happy.”
So, are there ways to pursue happiness, both as an individual and as a nation? Guest says it may “come back to a formulation that Freud famously (and perhaps apocryphally) proposed a century ago: love and work.” That is, healthy relationships and meaningful work seem to be important factors in measuring happiness

Read more: http://www.utne.com/Spirituality/Bhutan-Gross-National-Happiness-Being-Happy.aspx#ixzz1Cce6jRV9happiness index

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Adding incentives for healthy living

Another sector heard from on how to reward behavioral changes: The fitness/gym world. By adding discounts up front, they reduce the costs to join. But talk about “conditional”: they charge you 10 bucks per day if you sign up and don’t use it! Can’t imagine farmers markets ever getting that punitive…

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Price Comparisons

I like the myriad of ways that I see markets doing and advertising price comparison studies. Just saw a very in-depth one that NOFA-VT did, and I like this blogger’s attitude and take on it. So that brings up a very good idea: if you see a good food blog in your community, contact them and ask them to communicate news about your market to new people interested in technology and food.
In any case, every market should do price comparisons, even if its for internal use only.

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