Farmers' Markets - what are the next steps?

By Peter Young

Farmers' markets have exploded onto the Irish retail scene. From just a handful a few short years ago, there are now 126 farmers' markets across Ireland. This led to a buzz at the first All Ireland Farmers' Market conference in Athlone. Over 300 delegates, including two ministers, turned up to answer the question; is the phenomenon a food fad or does it really have a future? The answer was clearly that it does, but there were some key issues that need to be addressed to make sure it remains a good one.

Futuresteps

• Focus on local produce
• Encourage more producers/farmers into markets
• Follow through on promises of funding (and additional human resources) for local authorities
• Look at setting up national accreditation body.
• The All Ireland conference was organised by Rural Food Company Training Network, and the Western Organic Network in association with comhar LEADER and accel, a Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment initiative

Local authorities change their tune

Castlebar town wants a farmers' market and they want to facilitate it in any way possible, according to local officials attending the conference. It's a sign of how much has changed in the last two years. Many local authorities are realising the benefits a market brings to their town. There has always been mixed feelings from local authorities when they were approached to set up a market on their turf and, with some exceptions, local councils came in for strong criticism at the conference.

Disappointment

Ministers Eamon O'Cuiv and Trevor Sargent, both voiced their disappointment at the attitude of local authorities. Both were keen to send out the message that there was a need for local authorities to be proactive in helping provide quality facilities.

Minister O'Cuiv pointed out that a programme had been set up in the CLAR region that provides some funding and this could be extended outside the region.

The local authorities didn't have a strong voice present at the conference.

There has been some cases of specific town clerks, backed by local traders, coming out against farmers markets. In many other cases, the problem was resources.

Minister Trevor Sargent said he sold at a stall in the past. He is obviously passionate about the cause.

Human resources

However, if he wants to see a market in every town, he needs to increase not just the funding but also the human resources to make it happen. Having one person in each local authority as a farmers market development/support officer is good, provided it just not another brief thrown on an already full workload.

Trust - vital component of market success

Trust, natural food and the social aspect of meeting the producers, were the three main reasons why Irish customers shop at farmers markets, according to Una FitzGibbon, Manager Small Business, Bord Bia.

Trust resonated through many of the presentations and statements at the Athlone conference.

Many feared that if trust is broken in any of the markets, it will have a ripple effect across the country. To build up consumers trust, Darina Allen said each farmers market must start by having a controller, a code of practice and a protocol that must be strongly monitored.

National body

The major question was should this be taken one step further with a national body set up to check the standards and give accreditation.

FARMA in Britain provides this service for over half of the 550 farmers' markets in the country.

Garrett Jones, FARMA, was delighted to see the number of farmers markets in Ireland. He had figures that showed the density of markets (customers per market) in Ireland were much higher than in Britain or the US but nowhere near France (see figure).

However, he said it was evident that there was real issues on what exactly were farmers' markets in Ireland. "This is dangerous and would eventually lead to confusion among consumers,'' he said. "Successful farmers' markets in Britain have focused on local produce.

"The accreditation system that FARMA run focuses, not just on local food but, that there is at least one producer behind the stall and that all food comes from within a specific radius. Local markets who want to be accredited send in their rules which are checked by an independent person.

"Farmers markets that have stuck closely to the protocol have done well while customers have drifted away from ones that have not,'' said Garrett.

I felt the majority present at the conference favoured going down this route. However, ordinary producers clearly saw it as additional workload on an already hectic schedule.

There a need for the ministers, agencies and the champions of the farmers markets to look seriously at a national accreditation system. If set up, it would allow the farmers' markets to come on board. Mark my words, if something does happen to rock the consumers trust of farmers' markets, having an accreditation scheme will be vital. As one speaker said, the rise of farmers' markets has been all good news. We need to think long term to ensure this continues. There is no point in having great facilities for a farmers' market in every town if the consumers don't turn up.

What can you earn?

Recent headlines of stall holders pulling in €3000 to €4000 at one market was the talk of the conference. However, the facts being presented were more realistic, especially for the smaller town and cities outside the capital.

Patrick Killeen, Food and Alternative Agriculture Development officer, Tipperary LEADER, reporting on Kilkenny farmers' markets, put the average turnover of the stalls at €670 each with a range of between €100 and €2000 depending on what the vendor was selling.

In many cases the farmers selling the basics such as meat, vegetables and bread have the biggest turnover. Michael Gleeson, Rural development officer EIRI Corca Baiscinn, Clare pointed out that selling at one farmers' market is a good way to get an extra €5,000 that some farmers need to be viable on the land. "A full-time income is very unlikely from one farmers' markets. If farmers want that they have to be prepared to do more than one market,'' he added.

Three types of markets in Ireland

Oliver Moore, Sligo IT, told the conference that three main types of markets had evolved in Ireland.

Pioneering - started by a strong alternative agri-food network and wider community mainly in the south-west. "These stubborn, pioneering characters were willing to fight for their rights.''

Privately run - mostly around the wealthy areas of Dublin where one person, often the 'benevolent dictator', set up big markets with lots of stalls and high rents. These lead to a global array of organic fresh fruits and vegetables with fewer actual producers.

Participatory - like pioneering but enrols wide range of stakeholders, especially rural development organisations and local authorities. There are common in the rest of Ireland.

Darina Allen was clear in her view that the most successful ones operating were the ones run independently by a local subcommittee. "Some privately run markets are charging so much for stall that real artisan producers cannot afford to attend,'' she stressed.