[getsmart-l] Fw: Wanted: Organic farmers to fill Toronto's markets

[John O'Gorman]

Yes, there should be a way to have farmers group and co-operate in their selling and still qualify for the true "Farmers' Markets".

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080524.MARKET24/TPStory/?query=farmers
DUCK AND COVER: THE CITY IS STALKING YOU

As consumers' appetite for fresh, local food sharpens, it's getting harder to find rural suppliers for neighbourhood stalls
SASHA CHAPMAN Special to The Globe and Mail May 24, 2008

Harry Stoddart didn't want to go to market. At least, that wasn't his plan. But Mr. Stoddart and his wife, Silvia, certified organic farmers near Little Britain, Ont., knew that they had to start doing things a little differently. Though they owned about 227 hectares of land and the family had been farming for six generations since their ancestors emigrated from Ireland in 1819, the future wasn't looking quite as bright as it should have.

"We had a wake-up call when we discovered we could buy certified organic, processed flax from China for less than we were paying [local] farmers," says Mr. Stoddart, who grows organic spelt wheat and flax, among other things, on his farm. "Organic grains have turned into an international commodity business now. We can't compete with China."

So Mr. Stoddart thought he would try his hand at supplying restaurant chefs. But when word hit Toronto about his fresh duck eggs, guinea fowl and heirloom vegetables, Handford (Cookie) Roscoe came calling.

Ms. Roscoe, who was in the midst of planning the pilot Green Barn Farmers' Market, near Bathurst and St. Clair, told him that she had shoppers who would go crazy for his stuff. "She called me at least once a month through the winter," Mr. Stoddart recalls. "I've never had anyone stalk me the way Cookie did." Eventually, the farmer agreed to give her new market a try.

Ms. Roscoe was right: Her shoppers were hungry. Much to his surprise, Mr. Stoddart - and every other vendor at the first Green Barn market last year - sold out within an hour.

Today marks the opening of the second season of the Don Valley's Brick Works Farmers' Market and the Green Barn, which is still in its temporary location in a church parking lot near Wychwood Avenue.

In the coming weeks, four more new markets will open across the city, bringing to 17 the number of Toronto markets registered by Farmers' Market Ontario. There's just one problem: There may not be enough farmers.

Some market organizers are still scrambling to fill stalls, hiring recruiters to scour the province for farmers willing to brave the 401.

"The number of farmers in Ontario is diminishing daily," explains Bob Chorney, executive director of Farmers' Market Ontario, which runs its own markets under the "MyMarket" banner. 

Mr. Chorney is also responsible for three of the four new farmers' markets opening in the next couple of weeks in Toronto. To help fill the stalls, he hired Bernt Solymar to scour the province for farmers.

Mr. Solymar says he has contacted more than 450 farmers within a two-hour drive to Toronto and logged 100 hours on the project this spring. So far, he has turned up only 12 new farmers. Mr. Chorney had to scrap plans for a market at Ramsden Park and is still scrambling to fill two new MyMarket stalls, one at East Lynn Park near Danforth and Woodbine and another at the Hospital for Sick Children downtown.

Mr. Chorney says many farmers have told him they can't afford to drive into the city. Rising fuel costs and the hassle of Toronto's traffic are two major deterrents.

Mr. Stoddart estimates that he gets one e-mail a week inviting him to take part in markets in Toronto. 

This season, the Stoddarts have decided to add the Brick Works to their roster. It's proving to be a useful learning experience for the five Stoddart children, who range in age from 4 to 15 and have begun helping their parents operate the market side of the family business. "We're going gangbusters on that side of the business." 

The Toronto markets are proving to be more profitable (and fun) than losing a price battle with China. Most farmers expect to take home a minimum of $1,000, gross, from part of a day at a farmers' market, but when the markets get into full swing, Mr. Stoddart says, he can double that number.

He says about 90 per cent of the products he sells in Toronto are produced by his farm. Other items come from neighbours - one woman gives him extra duck eggs, for example.

"Now that the word's out about the duck eggs, I could probably auction them off on Queen West," jokes the farmer, who struggles to keep up with the demand from restaurants such as Thuet and Czehoski.

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