Avoiding a glut of farmers' markets
The number of farmers' markets in the US has jumped to about 7,000 today from about 4,000 in 2005. The Globe and Mail says the same phenomenon has appeared in Canada. In the city of Toronto, there are 23 farmers' markets.
Increasingly, there are reports—from cities such as San Francisco, New York, and Portland, Oregon—that with so many markets operating, some of them are struggling. Some of the farmers are not selling as much as they used to.
Vancouver, British Columbia, is attempting to strike a balance between support for existing markets and expansion to additional locations, the paper says. Vancouver Farmers Markets, which operates five markets in a city of 640,000, has been careful about not expanding too rapidly.
Whether Vancouver's example can be followed by cities in which farmers' markets are operated by a variety of independent organizations is unclear.
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City-wide food strategies
Vancouver really has been leading the way for food policy in cities. They have a government office for food policy under the Department of Community Services and have put together a food strategy - an official plan that will help Vancouver focus on specific goals and actions to improve the food system. This sort of Farmer's Market forethought demonstrates only a small part of why cities should be taking food seriously. Everyone has to eat and the what, where and how of it can have a huge impact on economy, health and even the built environment.