At my local market, in a neighbourhood and city I’ve now lived in for almost 4 months, I’ve already begun to develop rapport with the vendors whose shops I frequent.
It is, for me, a remarkable development, one I’ve yearned for for years.
I’ve lived in places before where I had my regular local farmers market, favourite vendors and some sense of community. It’s been a long time since I had this also within such a walkable neighbourhood context.
Chatting with the owner of my favourite vegetable shop at the market yesterday, I asked if she’s seen changes in productivity this year. Yes, she immediately commented, about a 30% reduction in productivity due to freezing earlier this Spring.
I had a lot more I wanted to ask her but we moved on to discussing aspects of community that this local market provides- a rare thing these days in many places. I see the community every time I go there and also, importantly, have begun to feel part of it.
For me, having access to largely locally and regionally grown produce (fruits and vegetables), to be connected to the production and harvests of the seasons via that access, and connecting it with spaces of community is pretty much a no-brainer. I’ve known this for many years while also existing in places that had no such access and no such community at all.
On another note, over time I’ve had some people comment on some of the markets I refer to and prices. I don’t eat any meat or dairy. For me, to (sometimes) invest slightly more in paying for local and regional grown vegetables is worth it. I value food from local food systems and so support just that.