im looking forward to this sunday. ive looked forward to every sunday morning this summer. why? because i head down to the farmers market in my neighborhood. i get my produce, i wander about and run into other folks who live nearby, i eat a crepe from La Boulangerie that just opened up, have a coffee from the local coffee shop New Wave Coffee [shameless plug].
why do i do this? yes, you're saying 'well duh' and thinking how im this green minded bike lover. but there are a few factors to consider here. when was the last time you looked forward to grocery shopping? when was half the importance of the trip about not what deals you got, but instead who you might wind up chatting with?
farmers markets serve a number of purposes, and [since i've been reading Tipping Point finally] these are the things that make them Sticky.
1) you can get trustworthy produce: not only do you know that it's organic, you know what farm it came from. in fact, if you dont like what you get, you can tell the farmer to his face! with all the scares about salmonella and contaminants, even as Dole is instituting farm tracking, farmers markets are inherently transparent in their sources.
2) you can feel good about the produce you're buying: it's a nice perk to be able to feel like your purchases are going to a good cause. it's not quite the charity argument [over 60% of people are willing to pay up to 50% more on a product if they know some of the proceeds go to charity, and will stick with a brand despite deals by competition if they know their chosen brand does 'good things']. its more how you'd almost always be willing to give your neighbor a cup of sugar for free.
3) you get to know people: yup. its that simple. now this is sure to be different in more rural communities where folks in a town really do know eachoter. but in the city and even in the suburbs it's rare to really know the people on your block. farmers markets serve as a casual mecca for people to congregate and get to know eachoter. i pet more dogs and talk to more strangers every sunday than i do the rest of my week combined . . . and then the following week they arent strangers anymore.
NOW! mass retailers are realizing that they're losing out to these upstart food purveyors. Target has opened their Fresh Stores to compete with the move toward buying at grocery stores, Walgreens has started offering fresh foods to give people more reasons to wander into their drug stores, so 'fresh food' is obviously in. but the most pernicious move is in the new 'copycat farmers markets' that are popping up. [im kicking myself because there was an article about this happening in australia recently... and i cant find it now].
so what's the impact here? well, there's the argument that it dilutes the 'farmers market' meaning. the whole reason for these markets is that local growers can't otherwise make enough money selling via grocery stores. Whole Foods has made big moves to have local produce and foods in their stores, but with their continued 'Whole Paycheck' association, they're not really moving this toward the masses.
im going to go back to that third reason why farmers markets are actually important, the reason i really look forward to my sundays. there are fewer and fewer ways for urban dwellers to connect in real time to those in their neighborhoods. [yes, the local bar might still exist, but even that is disappearing. and drinking is bad for you, right?] this has lead to closed door communities, and id even say is a big reason that participation in politics has dwindled over the years. if you dont know who's around you, if you are not connected to them, you lose the feeling of being able to have an effect on their lives. if you can't effect your city block, how can you change the nation?
shifting people back to grocery stores would take us back to that same separatism.
here's an anecdote: in Beijing they knocked down many of the old neighborhoods to expand the city. yes, many of them were in need of rebuilding. they built beautiful high rises with bathrooms for every unit and kitchens and running water . . . and people hated it. what the urban planners failed to realize that for all that many of the old neighborhoods were falling apart, people used them as a community. they cooked together each night, ate together. yes, there were improvements to make, but the importance of shared space and communal living was lost.
just some food for thought.
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