Politics of Farmers’ Markets

The politics at Farmers’ Markets have changed over the last number of years; essentially to reflect the politics of our times. Although started with the best of intentions, they cannot help but reflect our disrupting and changing civil society. From rising racial tensions, exposure of long hidden racial and ethnic biases, to unacknowledged food insecurity. Farmers’ Markets expose our current situation of a population split by two opposite visions of reality.

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Farmers’ Market (FM)

According to the FarmersMarketCoalition, a farmers market is a public and recurring assembly of farmers or their representatives selling the food that they produced directly to consumers. Each Market has its own guidelines and operating rules, but some states have established formal definitions and policy requirements.

• A generic community purpose of farmers’ markets is to facilitate a personal connection between farmers, consumers, and the communities where they happen. But important to me, they allow a personal connection with the food you are eating; as you can touch, taste, smell, see the food and ask questions directly to the grower.
• From a farmer’s point of view, it advertises their farm, may bring in more money as they can sell retail, can build a brand (like Frog Hollow has done, great peaches by the way), or provide an opportunity to sell products made from their farmed foods (jam, pastry, etc.)
• The financial intent is to cut middlemen fees, thus providing farmers a chance to sell retail, receiving more of the consumer‘s food dollars with the hope that farmers and farm workers are paid livable wages and make enough to continue farming.
• A direct food-related intent is to provide fresh, flavorful, ”direct from the farm” food to consumers.
• From a governmental perspective (Cornell), farmers’ markets can meet broader goals of supporting the local economy, promoting community food security, revitalizing public spaces or downtown areas, addressing public health and nutritional concerns, or improving disadvantaged populations’ access to fresh produce. 

Farmers’ Market’s Issues

There are many “big issues“ regarding farmers’ markets today (1), but I want to focus on only four that drove me to write this post.

1. The actual cost of participation in farmers’ markets for an individual, or small family farm.
2. The pandemic and inconsistent adherence to wearing masks, social distancing, and other safety measures.
3. Farmers’ Markets are a microcosm of the larger society and its systemic racism with mainly white owners/vendors, and racist actions or words by attendees or sellers.
4. The close ties between right-wing political groups (especially Nazi and White Nationalists) and the back-to-the-land movement that are causing ethical problems within farmers’ market organizations across the country.

The issues I am writing about are national in scope, but are often dismissed by well-meaning people as only individual occurrences. However, we need to stop that old trope, its not systemic it is only this particular case, and recognize the patterns, intentional or not.

Cost = Exclusivity

Farmers pay to participate in farmers markets. The cost, for especially smaller family farms, can be prohibitive and result in the unintentional exclusivity in favor of midsized or large family farms.

The costs of selling at a farmers’ market includes the market fee to participate, times the number of markets you want to be at. Say it is $1500/ year and if you are at 3 markets that is $4500 for 3-days (4-6 hours a day) per week for ~4 month opportunity to sell your products.

Then there is the usual growing and harvesting costs, but added is the transportation cost to and from the markets. Plus the cost of specialized equipment to keep the food fresh, and the equipment to make a stand. Insurance and organizational fees, and finally, the cost of staffing of your farm and then the booths as well. This makes attending the farmers’ market costly for those small family-run farms.

Of course this issue can have solutions. One solution is through cooperative agriculture. Small family farms need to create cooperatives, and share costs and revenues to assure everyone survives the pandemic and economic downturn we are all experiencing.

Pandemic = Politics

How we act, as a group and individuals, is representative of a systemic, and perhaps a more truthful aspect of America’s very individualistic, conspiratorial, and tribal-oriented national character. For instance, one in three Americans (2) believe they should not wear masks because the pandemic is a conspiracy, and this tribe will not wear masks or keep socially distant, and will fight against pandemic guidelines while yelling about “freedom” and “liberty.”

So within this divided social framework, Farmers’ Markets are open or opening, with what I would term “reasonable” cautions.

• Many require masks, social distancing, gloves and/or provide sanitation stations.
• Some markets allow you to come to the market, but only point at the food you want, and vendors will bag for you.
• Some are even offering “drive through markets,” where you order and pickup.

Despite our view points, going to the market is no longer a joyful day visit like before. We used to take our time, eat a little snack, listen to music, stop and chat with vendors, and thoroughly inspect what we bought. We are now confronted with those who do not agree on a common reality, which is very uncomfortable, even anger inducing, since their actions ups the chance of getting sick.

We also see many concerned people who go in hurriedly, get their food, and leave rather quickly hoping to limit exposure.

Racism @ Farmers’ Markets

Some History of Concern

Back in 2017 the WashingtonTimes, wrote about Two professors from San Diego State University [who] claim in a new book that farmers’ markets in urban areas are weed-like “white spaces” responsible for oppression. Pascale Joassart-Marcelli and Fernando J Bosco … claims there is a correlation between the “whiteness of farmers’ markets” and gentrification.

In June of 2019 IndianaPublicMedia devoted time to the discussion of farmers’ markets and whiteness, where they spoke with farmers, shoppers, organizers and authors about the culture of farmers’ markets and some of the barriers people of color can face in participating in farmers’ markets, as vendors or as customers.

To bring this back to what is happening now, the FresnoBee reports that the Visalia Farmers Market created pandemic related rules to limit the spread of coronavirus; like having customers not touch produce. Instead, customers point to what they want, with the farmers handling the bagging. Warkentin said she saw customers accept the rules when dealing with a white farmer, but fight them with dealing with an Asian or Hispanic farmer.

People of Color Denied Booths

Forbes reports in June 2020 that, according to farmers, the largest D.C. Farmers Market Repeatedly Denied Spots To Black Vendors. In fact, they write that black food vendors have experienced years of discrimination.

• They also report that today, there is a growing movement of black farmers in the U.S., though they still make up a small percentage of the overall farming population, only 1.3%, according to USDA census figures.
• Black farmers also make an average of only $40,000 annually as compared to $150,000 for the average white farmer.

Future

So, like the larger society, the road to inclusivity and equity is littered with political and emotional landmines; as we try to improve and progress we also need to face our own shadows and vulnerabilities. Change is rarely easy, often hard, and painful, but always necessary.

As a result of recognizing the immensity of the problem, the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC), in partnership with consultants, is creating an anti-racist toolkit for farmers markets. FMC writes, the toolkit will both examine farmers markets at a high level, identifying the ways that policies and systems have contributed to making farmers markets predominately White spaces, and provide practical tools and resources for market operators to examine and adjust their internal structures and policies to be more anti-racist.

Haters @ Farmers Markets

In July 2019, the DailyBeast printed an article telling a story that in Indiana, there were some unexpected revelations about some of the local Farmers. It seemed, market stalls were being staffed by farmers who self-identified as Nazi’s.

The story is that someone noticed a growing völkisch movement, a “return to the land,” among a set of Americans who are self-identified Nazis or White Nationalists. After a too-common event these days (arson against synagogs), progressive activists started to identify the participants via the Internet and started a “do not buy from Nazis” campaign.

Evidently, it was found that one of the local Farmers’ Market stalls were staffed by a farm whose owners were identified as participants in the organization that conducted a violent event. In another case, an Indiana couple spray painted Nazi symbols on a synagog, and staffed their market stall as usual on the weekend. When identified, they too were protested against at the market.

• A wonderful explanation of the complexity of white supremacy and progressive politics in Indiana’s particular situation was done by Ellen Wu published in LimeStonePostMag. Although long, it is worth reading.

DailyBeast writes, [f]rom Chicago to Sweden, farmers’ markets have become a surprising battleground between the far right and its opponents. The far right’s love of the markets plays into a larger fascist talking point that idealizes pastoral life and demonizes “degenerate” urban living. The contrast attempts to cast white supremacy as a purer alternative.

Again, from the DailyBeast, White supremacists don’t always dress in Klan robes or jackboots. Some, like the set that orbits Identity Evropa (now renamed the American Identity Movement, likely to distance itself from involvement in 2017’s deadly Unite the Right rally), try to break into the mainstream with more wholesome outward appearances.

• FreeSpeechProjct reports Identity Evropa is labeled as an extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which says its members consider themselves “identitarians” purportedly interested in preserving Western culture and  “raising white racial consciousness, building community based on shared racial identity and intellectualizing white supremacist ideology.”

Foodies Politics @ Everywhere

And in case you think this is isolated to farmers’ markets, you would be wrong,

• A YouTuber, with over 500k subscribers, had been doing farming oriented videos has come out as a far-right ethno-nationalist.
• A DC butcher who was also identified, eventurally disappeared their website.
• Chicago had pro-facist flyers posted all around a market in recuritment attempts.

People have been gathering, talking and planning about how to deal with white supremecy at Farmers Markets, and one group, the FarmersMarketCoalition, has some suggestions at their website. Even more locally to me, Fox26News reports that The Visalia Farmers Market is doing everything it can to shut down racism before customers come in to shop.

People are capable of thinking, saying, and believing all sorts of ideas. That is all okay, as part of being an American is a tolerance of people with differing viewpoints. Keep in mind however, “actions” are not “thoughts”, and so while I may tolerate differing views, there is no tolerance for violent actions or actions done with the intent to cause violent responses. So when we shop at open markets what role should politics play?

• What is the purpose of the farmers market?
• Can it provide livable wages and support small family farms?
• Can the FM post its values that all vendors must adhere to?
• Who does the market serve?
• Who gets to decide how the market operates?
• Do we know who we are buying from?
• Does politics matter if the food is good and the price is reasonable?
• If we know our money is going to support hate activity, what responsibility do we have?
• Is it right to kick out farmers from the market if they have a particular political view? What if they take political action?
• Is it right to notify market-goers that a farmer’s stall is representing people who are Nazi’s? What if they were BLM supporters? Feminists? MAGA people? Where is the line drawn?
• What is the right way to make a farmers’ market welcoming to all consumers and farmers?

I sincerely wish there was one right way to deal with these issues, and that we all agreed on what that was. But after years living on this planet, I can state with conviction that this is an ongoing struggle, and one that we must all contend with if we want to move forward in this complex world. The division between haters and fear mongers, versus the believers in diversity and inclusivity has existed within humanity a very long time.

—Patty

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