Vancouver’s farmers markets contribute $15 million annually to the local economy, and that figure is expected to grow as the city removes more hurdles to setting up local markets and maintaining vending stalls.
Vancouver City Council voted unanimously January 29 to approve recommendations to streamline the application process involved in setting up a farmers market and address other issues local markets face.
Market applicants will now deal with a single city contact to obtain permits, business licences and liability insurance and co-ordinate with the engineering department to arrange traffic control and parking around the markets.
“In the past we have had to deal with multiple city departments,” said Tara McDonald, executive director for Vancouver Farmers Markets, the organization that represents seven of the city’s nine markets. “Everything from Vancouver Coastal Health to the engineering department and special events to traffic management to business licensing and then permits from both the parks board and/or the City of Vancouver.
“From January until the time we get markets up and running in May, there are hundreds of staff hours involved in the application process, and the new process will cut down on our work by at least a third to a half, if it’s done right.”
Vancouver’s goal is to increase the number of farmers markets to 22 by 2020 from nine today. Mary Clare Zak, the city’s director of social policy, told Business in Vancouver that Vancouver has 22 neighbourhoods and having a market in each one will increase resident access to local foods, a key goal of its Greenest City Action Plan.
Elizabeth Quinn, executive director, BC Association of Farmers’ Markets (BCAFM), said that although having more markets is great for Vancouver residents, the plan has downsides.
She pointed out, for example, that only 1,000 farmers in the province currently sell produce at farmers markets.
“[So] there is already a struggle for a lot of markets in B.C. to get enough farmers. Farmers that are currently selling at other farmers markets outside of Vancouver may be tempted to come into Vancouver and leave those other markets.”
While farmers markets will likely have to compete with each other for suppliers of produce, Quinn said the city’s markets do not present any serious competition for local grocers.
She cited a study the BCAFM did in conjunction with Dr. David Connell at the University of Northern British Columbia two years ago.
The Economic Benefits of Farmers Markets found that the volume of produce sold at farmers markets has a negligible impact on local grocers’ bottom lines.
The study also found that the amount of food sold at farmers markets increased by 147% between 2006 and 2012.
Quinn estimates that with the new policies in place, a similar increase by 2020 is likely. •
