Farmers markets strengthen BC’s local food system

Wake up Call: California Drought & BC’s Food Security predicts produce prices in B.C. will rise up to 34 per cent this year due to the California drought, which is in its third year.

The report, released by Vancity October 10, stated that “the ongoing drought underscores the need for BC to establish a more sustainable local food system and become more self-reliant on local food.”

Laura Smit is committed to a movement which has been making these points for years.

Flyn Ritchie: Did you seek out this kind of work? How long have you been with the Vancouver Farmers Markets?

Laura Smit: I’ve been working with Vancouver Farmers Markets for the past four years and have been involved in the non-profit sector for the last eight.

I started working at the Trout Lake Farmers Market because it was in my backyard, but kept working for Vancouver Farmers Markets because of the dynamically relevant work I do strengthening our local food system.

FR: What kind of training is required? What is your background?

LS: I have an interdisciplinary degree from Calvin College that explores connections between people and place. My academic background fused urban sociology with geomorphology and intersubjectivity with human impact on the environment. After graduating, I led multi-stakeholder community development projects across Canada with Katimavik and engaged Vancouver citizens in urban forest restoration with Evergreen.
 
FR: You are district manager on the East Side for the Vancouver Farmers Markets, which take place weekly at Trout Lake and Mount Pleasant. What gives you the most pleasure in your role?

LS: Believe it or not, managing farmers markets in Vancouver is a full-time occupation. It takes four days of communication, collaboration and administration to pull off a successful market day, and then you’ve got to do it all over again.

Market days are my favourite – they’re the days I wake up before dawn to greet the farmers, create a dynamic public space out of an abandoned parking lot, welcome neighbours looking for fresh greens and ethical meats, and come home exhausted, feeling like I’ve earned my keep.

FR: Are the markets a business, a non-profit society or what?

 

LS: When the Trout Lake Farmers Market started, it was illegal. A group of Vancouver citizens – mothers, teachers, dietitians, community health nurses – got together, formed a non-profit society and decided that starting a farmers market was one way they could address food insecurity in their East Vancouver neighbourhood.

 

That was the summer of 1995, and 14 farmers squatted in the parking lot of the Croatian Cultural Centre, selling out of their produce in under two hours. Twenty years later, we’re influencing municipal and provincial policy, operating seven weekly summer markets and two winter markets, supporting over 270 local food producers and keeping 16,250 acres of BC farm and ranch land in production, all under the vision of fostering an alternative, resilient local food system.

FR: Why do people shop at the Vancouver Farmers Markets? Why should they?

LS: Between 3,000 and 5,000 people come to the Trout Lake Farmers Market in the five hours it is open every Saturday. Some of them come for social reasons – it’s a great place to people watch, talk to a farmer or meet your neighbours. Others come because they care about their health – food at the farmers market is usually at its freshest, sometimes picked at 6 am that very morning, often grown without harmful pesticides and fungicides. Still others come because they care not only about their own health, but the health of the land.

 

Our industrialized food system has distanced us from the environmental consequences of our eating, so much so that the only way to understand the impact is by talking to the farmers themselves. Our markets are producer-only, meaning there is no re-selling or middlemen. The farmers themselves answer questions, tell you how they grew their tomatoes and convince you theirs are the best at the market.

 

FR: I gather you go to First Christian Reformed Church [which is located at 11th and Victoria, just a couple of blocks from the Trout Lake market]. Do you find any connection between your work and your Christian faith?

 

LS: I grew up in the Dutch Reformed tradition that claims every square inch of creation belongs to God. I have learned that shalom means right relationships with God, with people and with the land. One of the greatest commandments is loving our neighbours as ourselves, and if you’re willing to stretch the metaphor with me, Vancouver might just be Babylon and we’re supposed to seek its well-being.

 

My faith has a lot to do with the kind of work I pursue and bringing farmers markets to Vancouver neighbourhoods, supporting farmers who care about their impact on the earth and, ultimately, working to strengthen BC’s local food system is one way I am pursuing the kingdom of God.