It's Easy Being Green

The whole reason you have a farmers market is to support local agriculture. Apparently the City of Evansville and GAGE have a different idea.

I think the title of this post says it all.  It was another attack on a family farm.  Within the past 24 hours here in Evansville I’ve seen a local farmer and his products accepted, shunned and then welcomed once again at the downtown farmer’s market.  The weekly farmers market is put on by an organization called GAGE or the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville.

There have always been problems with GAGE’s attempt at trying to create a farmers market for the city.  When the market was first created it was the city’s creative reuse of an old brick warehouse type building that had sat empty.  Before we moved to the area I’m told the inside portion contained a deli and other fun food merchants like that along with the weekly spread of produce and other goods.  The City of Evansville and GAGE have always run the market for only three months out of the year.  It’s an idea which makes little to no sense, especially in our area that sports a growing season at least 6 months long.  The indoor market essentially failed.  The city couldn’t keep up with the cost of keeping the building empty for most of the year.

Now the market has been brought back around again, this time as a way to attract people to the downtown area.  The market is held in an open field in the center of a city block every Friday morning and every other Saturday.  To most of us who go, that schedule has never really made sense either.  Most are working on Friday mornings and to only have it every other Saturday just gives more time for people to forget the opportunity to shop at the farmers market even exists.

On Friday, the farmer we buy our locally grown, grass-fed organic meats from as part of a CSA, was banned from selling his frozen meats.  Keith Canon who owns Stonewall Farm was inspected by the Vanderburgh County Health Department at opening day of the farmers market and passed inspection.  He was told he was following all code.   But GAGE, in talks with the Vanderburgh County Health Department, decided that it wasn’t a good idea to allow the sale of frozen meat at the farmers market for fear of mishandling.

Stonewall Farm already has a decent customer base and uses the downtown farmers market as a stop for customers to pick up their monthly take of meat, eggs and other goods bought as part of their CSA.  By shutting out Stonewall Farm, GAGE was essentially turning away a huge base of potential customers for the other vendors.  Stonewall Farm is also offering a locally grown product.  Many of the fruits and vegetables currently sold at the market aren’t even grown nearby and the people selling them aren’t even farmers, they’re distributors.

Many of us who support eating locally and organically were outraged by GAGE’s decision and let them know it by inundating their telephones and emailing.  An impressive social networking campaign also kicked up just a couple hours after the initial decision to ban the meat sales.  People who were angry contacted them via Facebook and Twitter and let them know it.  My favorite local coffee shop, Penny Lane, also reacted.  They’ve announced they want to start a farmers market with all locally grown products.

Today we drove out to Stonewall Farm to pickup our monthly take of meat and eggs.  Keith told us the good news that the upswell of support for Stonewall apparently made GAGE reconsider their decision.  They will once again allow Stonewall Farm to sell their frozen meats!  This just goes to show how bureaucratic decision making can sometimes be changed by simply speaking our minds.  I think that’s great.

I hope the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville has learned an important lesson.  They have a golden opportunity to create a worthwhile farmers market.  A farmers market that actually supports and cultivates the idea that local farmers do actually have a place they can sell their goods and that people looking for local produce can find it.

Other suggestions for GAGE’s Evansville Farmers Market:

1)  Make it every Saturday instead of every other

2)  Consider extending the season beyond just 3 months of Summer.  I know several farmers in the Evansville area with greenhouses that would be willing to heat them and grow if they had a place to sell.

3)  Find a permanent and covered location for the market so it can go on even if there is inclement weather.  There are awnings along the back of the old Greyhound Station, what about using that space?

4)  Force vendors to label where produce is coming from and if it’s organic or not.  I think too many people believe they’re buying food from a local farmer who may not use pesticides and other harsh chemicals when in fact they may not be.

5)  Grow the market.  Make it a true event with food and entertainment.

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