Dear Editor,
I am writing an apologetic letter to residents of Barrhead and potential customers whom may be interested, but unable to purchase produce, preserves and baked goods that I had planned to sell at the Barrhead Farmer’s Market from this weekend to the end of the season. This past winter I took the correspondence Farmer’s Market Home Study Course in anticipation of being able to sell high quality products to my home community this season.
I contacted the Farmer’s Market manager for the Barrhead/Whitecourt area and made arrangements to get a table at the Barrhead Farmer’s Market and possibly the Whitecourt Farmer’s market. The phone call concluded with the understanding that I would be able to get a table. Discussion included cost, products and the remaining weeks of the Barrhead Market.
Today I received a phone call from the Farmer’s Market Manager stating that there had been a change of circumstances and I could no longer purchase a table at the Farmer’s Markets, in neither Barrhead nor Whitecourt. The reason given was the manager had conversed with other vendors, who were disgruntled by the addition of a new member selling similar items, in other words, competition. As a thirty- something (a lady never reveals her age) woman, born and raised in this community, I find it disheartening and somewhat shameful that a more experienced generation would not want to bring in newcomers. I wonder how many other vendors have been turned away.
Furthermore, not all of the products that I was planning to sell would have been competitive items. I was looking to offer some items that are quite unique, such as watermelon jelly and watermelon rind pickles. I had also planned to advertise on my Facebook Page and on an independent Facebook Page. Instead of seeing me as competition, the other vendors should have regarded me as a fresh face, with the ability to bring in some new clientele. How many of us go to the farmer’s market and only buy from one table? I know that when I visit I usually walk out with a multitude of items from different vendors.
The news that I am not able to sell my product in my home town has left me with no other option than to look for a customer base elsewhere. I am aware that Glenreagh Hall also has a weekly Farmer’s Market, but due to a community contribution type of commitment, I am unable to attend on Wednesdays. I have booked a table at Westlock’s Farmer’s Market and am planning to explore setting up in Spuce Grove or St. Albert. I also plan to put signs up on the community bulletin boards, as well as posting on my Facebook page. It’s a disgrace that an organization exists to facilitate this kind of thing, and yet due to politics they end up being useless to both the seller and the consumer. We always hear shop local, shop local.... but I wonder how many of our residents are selling elsewhere due to political red tape.
Disappointed,
Kory Kopf
