I was recently sent a scathing email from a lady accusing VFMA of limiting our Vandenberg Village Certified Farmers’ Market by only affording organic growers the opportunity to sell their produce at the market. She went on to say that this “disservice to our community” was the reason she doesn’t visit the farmers’ market, and why she continues to tell members of the community to avoid it. She further stated that VFMA’s “relentless plug for all things green” was offensive to her and others who choose not to lead an eco-friendly lifestyle.

I could/will not bring myself to apologize to the email’s author for VFMA’s attempts at making our earth and community a better place. I did inform her though that her information was dead-WRONG. VFMA’s farmers’ markets are not all organic, and I have NEVER turned a farmer away because of his/her growing practices.

I have had to turn numerous farmers away because of where they grow their crop/produce. Only after we’ve exhausted ALL attempts at convincing a local grower of a specific product to sell at our market will we then consider a farmer from outside of the local area. I’ve been told many times (usually by farmers I’ve had to turn away) that this policy will in the long run cripple our small market’s ability to make much money. To which I inform them that our farmers’ market organization is ALL volunteer (something I’m sure they have never heard before), and our financial bottom-line is NOT mentioned in our mission statement. The support of: local food, farmers, and community is.

VFMA’s vision for a farmers’ markets is derived from why they were created in the first place: to support local farmers which in turn will support the local economy, bring fresh healthy food to convenient locations, and reduce the amount of fossil fuel used to bring food from farm to fork.

A little about VFMA’s California Certified Farmers’ Markets:

• ·         The ONLY local farmers’ markets hosted by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This is the only type of nonprofit recognized by the IRS making contributions tax deductible. It is also the hardest to qualify for, in VFMA’s case, it required hundreds of hours of paperwork to complete the application process.
• ·         The ONLY local farmers’ markets hosted by ALL volunteers. NONE of VFMA’s board members, volunteers, or workers are compensated in ANY way. Yes, this means the 4-5 person crew out there every weekend from 8:30am – 3:00pm are volunteering their time.
• ·         The ONLY local farmers’ markets that consciously picks its farmers based on their geographical location. VFMA considers Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties “local.” This means that if a product is grown locally, VFMA will exhaust all efforts to convince the grower of the product to come to VFMA’s market before considering a farmer outside of our local area. This may limit the variety of products at the market, but it ensures VFMA sticks to its founding pledge of support local food. If you visit any other local farmers’ market, pay attention the farmers’ banners and what city they are from. At some markets, the majority of their farmers are from half-a-state away. Meanwhile, these same markets more than likely have long waiting lists where local growers wait years for a spot.
• ·         The ONLY “North County” farmers’ markets that accept WIC and SNAP benefits. It’s important to VFMA that locally grown fresh food is available to everyone.

Prior to 1977, due to strict agricultural regulations, there was no way for farmers to sell their products directly to the public. They could only sell to commercial markets, or the more likely option: to large packing houses that pack, label, and distribute produce from numerous farms under one label/brand.  Designed to smooth transactions between growers and the produce industry, these regulations specified exactly how fruits and vegetables were sorted, packed, transported and sold. These regulations made it impossible for a farmer to survive without relying on numerous middle-men who each took a piece of the pie.

But in 1977, after a peach harvest with prices so low that some farmers protested by dumping excess fruit on the state Capitol lawn, then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order exempting farmers from those regulations if they sell their produce at farmers markets.

In the late 70′s farmers’ markets began to spring up in southern California. These markets afforded small farmers who were struggling with the hostile world of commercial agriculture to sell directly to the public. This new way of selling which caters to small farms allowed them to make livable wages and even prosper in an industry that is known for swallowing up smaller operations. It was also a way to get fresh fruits and vegetables into urban areas that had become “food deserts” due to fleeing supermarkets.

In this era of failing local economies, a farmers’ market with local farmers allow you (the consumer) to keep your food dollars in your community. The most recent USDA study from 2007 reported that direct agriculture product sales amounted to a $1.2 billion-a-year business, and most of that money re-circulates locally. If you spend money with a local farmer, he/she’s likely to put that money back into your local economy in the form of business and living expenses for him/herself and his/her workers. Compared to industrial agriculture, this is all also done relatively unsubsidized by your tax dollars. Last year, for example, the USDA spent $13.725 billion in supplemental assistance payments in support of  large industrial farms. The same year, less than $100 million was spent to support local and regional food system farmers.

Recently at the Vandenberg Village Certified Farmers’ Market we’ve had a new farmer: Jim Silva. Jim sells lemons he grows in his backyard. Jim sees the farmers’ market as an opportunity to sell some of his surplus lemons, make a little extra cash, and (prob most of all), a chance to socialize with his friends and neighbors. Jim is a Certified Producer of lemons through the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office. It doesn’t get more local than just a few streets over from the market. This to me is an ideal example of how our food-system SHOULD be; small producers being compensated for food they’ve produced. NOT concerning themselves with “feeding the world,” making billions of dollars selling to huge conglomerate supermarkets, exporting to foreign countries, or relying on tax payers for handout to fill their pockets.

Before a farmer can sell at a California Certified Farmers’ Market, they must first certify their crop with their County’s Agricultural Commissioner’s Office. An Agricultural Commissioner’s Office’s Inspector certifies what crop(s), how much of the crop(s), if it is grown organically or conventionally, and what chemicals were used during its production. This “Ag. Cert.” ensures the farmer is indeed capable of growing the produce he/she intends to sell at a farmers’ market. The purpose of this paper-trail is to ensure farmers aren’t selling produce at a farmers’ market they didn’t grow.

An Ag. Cert. also ensures all produce sold at a California Certified Farmers’ Market are from…California. Produce sold at local swap meets for instance are NOT regulated, no one verifies where this produce is from. When I contacted the person in charge of the Lompoc Swap Meet, he stated that produce sold at the swap meet comes from Santa Maria.  As far as I know, Santa Maria doesn’t have commercial production of: papaya, mango, pineapple, coconut, citrus, and many other fruits/veggies found at the Swap Meet. My guess is that the produce is from somewhere south of the border. Which brings many issues into question: agricultural regulations in the country of origin, chemical use, food safety standards, labor laws, and of course: when the produce was picked.

Only certified ag. products can be sold at a California Certified Farmers’ Market. Processed foods such as hummus, pies, or orange juice’s primary ingredient has to be grown by the farmers selling them. Baba Foods from San Luis Obispo grows the garbanzo beans that are in their hummus, Marcie’s Pies grows the fillings in their pies, and Smiling Orange grows the oranges in their orange juice.

VFMA collects 5% of gross sales from each farmer at the end of each market. This money is used to sustain the market which is an incredibly costly venture. County and State permits alone cost over $1,500 each year, this is added in with the equipment (road signs alone were over $1,500), insurance, and marketing needed to run the market. This income also affords VFMA the opportunity to coordinate the numerous community outreach programs we do during the  year. This includes the upcoming VFMA Earth Day Celebration, last October’s Santa Barbara County Local Fest, and the other educational programs coordinated by VFMA. This reiterates the point of your food-dollars leaking back into your community.

Americans are obviously making an effort to fix the current food-system. In 1994 there were 1,700 farmers’ markets in the Nation, in 2011, the USDA reported that there were 7,175 markets. From 2010 to 2011, the number of farmers’ markets reported in the USDA National Farmers Market Directory on the Agricultural Marketing Service website jumped 17% during that time period. They also reported that From January to July, 2011, the USDA Farmers Market Directory had over 1.8 million page views. Which was a tripling from the same time frame in 2010. These numbers are impressive to say the least, but until more people are made aware of the problems with our food system, and way to fix them, the majority of Americans will continue to eat food that taxes our finite natural resources or that supports farmers that have nothing to do with their community’s well being.

Visiting your local farmers’ market is the first step in fixing our broken food-system. While supporting farmers that sustainably grow quality food, your also supporting farmers who don’t rely on hand-outs from Uncle Sam to buy pesticides and herbicides manufactured from petroleum by companies with dozens of  lobbyists ensuring the current broken food-system continues to put money in their pockets. Farmers’ markets are about more than fresh local food. They’re about change.

VFMA will continue to host farmers’ markets that align themselves with our vision for a market derived from their creation in the 1970′s that caters to LOCAL farmers and that benefit OUR communities. I hope this post has answered any questions you may have had about farmers’ markets (and some you never knew you had). Thanks for visiting and supporting this blog and your community’s VFMA farmers’ markets.

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