VANCOUVER, B.C. - As she prepares for the opening of the farmers market season in Vancouver this weekend, Susan Davidson is busy packing root vegetables, herbs and salad greens.
The Aldergrove, B.C. organic farmer has been selling fresh local produce in east Vancouver since 1985, before she diversified her business to include more than locally-grown salad greens.
But this year, Davidson is feeling the strain of added pressures which sellers at the city's four farmer's markets didn't have to worry about before.
Lack of space, increasing traffic congestion, and municipal regulations which prevent market operators from securing permanent venues are just some of the challenges.
To make matters worse, some market venues, like the WISE Hall in east Vancouver used as a venue this past winter, are nearly impossible to navigate with a delivery truck full of food.
"It's a residential community, there's not enough space, and we can't even get the truck up close,'' Davidson said.
Davidson is not alone in feeling the strain.
The breaking point
Tara McDonald, executive director of Vancouver Farmer's Markets, is also concerned about the lack of amenities that are available at farmers markets.
"We're at the breaking point in terms of space,'' she said.
Currently, the city's four markets, including Trout Lake, Kitsilano, West End and Riley Park are allowed to operate under city-issued special event permits without permanent venues, leaving the markets to squeeze into any parking lot or clearing they can find.
If that isn't bad enough, Vancouver Coastal Health Board's regulations have put a crimp on their flexibility by requiring market sellers to pre-portion and pre-wrap any edible samples -- like cheese -- that they plan to sell.
It is organizers of Vancouver Farmer's Markets (also known as Your Local Farmers Market Society) who have been lobbying city council to change its bylaws for the past year and a half.
Fed up with no response to their calls for help, the Vancouver's Farmers Markets board decided to hold a public press conference two weeks ago, and this time, the city listened.
The role of the city
Councillors Heather Deal and Raymond Louie submitted a motion at city council to secure more permanent venues and signage, and to look at ways to support the markets through zoning and bylaw changes.
City manager Judy Rogers is now charged with reporting back to council by spring of 2009, in time for next year's market season.
McDonald says she is extremely hopeful that any city by-law changes in the future will not only help the markets grow, but serve as a stepping stone to its larger, long-term goals, including permanent venues with running water and washroom facilities.
Market operators say the changes are needed because of the growing popularity of the markets themselves.
Since McDonald joined Vancouver Farmer's Markets in 2004, she has seen the number of visitors rise from 5,000 to 10,000 a week in 2007, and sales climb from 1.4 million to nearly $3 million.
"We're not just a special event," she said.
Indeed, Vancouver four markets bring in another $3 million in economic spinoffs alone, through restaurants and services in the local economy, says McDonald.
Davidson largely credits the increased demand for locally farmed food to authors of the bestselling book The 100-mile Diet, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon.
"They've really put it into a language and put a face on it that is really getting a lot of attention," she said.
But for the markets this season, it's status quo. In the meantime, McDonald says, organizers will focus their efforts on building public support and awareness.
"We need to grow our locations," she said. "Our plan is to go in the next few years up to maybe half a dozen markets within Vancouver, so we need to build our capacity to do that."
And she plans to hold city councilors accountable to their promise.
"It's about making sure politicians who have agreed to the new motion actually stand behind it and it doesn't fade into campaign rhetoric or anything like that," she said.
From Davidson's point of view, the city can't move fast enough. Compared to long-standing, permanent markets like Pike Place in Seattle or local markets in San Francisco, Vancouver is far behind, she said.
"I would really like to see the city support permanent farmer's market venues," she said. "We're just constantly scrambling from parking lot to parking lot. We can't expand at Trout Lake because we have to leave a certain percentage of the parking lot for other community users. So, come on city!"
Vancouver Farmer's Markets
East Vancouver, Trout Lake
15th Avenue and Victoria Drive
Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m
Open now, through October 25th
Kitsilano
10th Avenue and Larch Street
Sundays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
June 1st through October 26th
West End
1100 block of Comox Street
Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
June 7th through October 25th
Riley Park
30th Avenue and Ontario Street
Wednesdays 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
June 4th through October 22nd
