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gil Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 18415
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 09 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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In Scotland, each market has to be licensed. This costs money. The licence lasts three years, and covers a single venue. i.e. you cannot change the venue, date or time of the market unless you pay more [quite a lot more] money, on each and every occasion you vary the original licence.
Many areas of Scotland do not have street markets [any more]. There is thus no existing market to piggyback on. And no tradition of closing off parts of the street to enable the market to happen. If you wanted to do this now, without a precedent, it is almost impossible. You'd have to liaiase with the council, police, fire service, etc etc, and it would, again, cost money, if it could be agreed at all.
factor in the climate, and you have more complications. It is unpleasant for customers and producers alike to stand/walk around/make buying decisions in cold, pouring rain. |
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gil Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 18415
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 09 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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sorry, my reply boxes are misbehaving.
So it would be difficult to hold a farmers market outdoors part of the year, and indoors in the coldest months, because of having to vary the licence. Outdoors but under cover does not work very well either [wind, cold].
So the best option up here, in a sparsely populated area, is to have indoor markets, in village halls or sports centres or town halls. Because centres of population are small, it would not be economically viable to have a FM in the same place each week. Also, the distances involved for customers to travel. So we have monthly markets, and within each sub-area of the region, market days are planned so that there is a market somewhere in the same valley / catchment area for every weekend of the month.
I'd suggest that there are big differences in the organisation, running and rationale for FMs withiin the UK as a whole.
BTW, this is a view from someone who has been very involved in farmers markets both as organiser and producer.
And on occasion as a customer. |
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gil Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 18415
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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gil Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 18415
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 09 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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It's hardly 'pandering' up here, because you get the wide cross-section of customers, just from a smaller population / geographical area. It is, after all, a remote rural area, and not a prosperous city with existing markets, universities, industry and a customer catchment that probably far exceeds the entire population [c.100,000] of our whole region.
If local folk come into a town to go to a market, they will do other things while there [go to the shops, the library, visit friends/relations]. Shop traders benefit from the extra footfall in the town.
Village markets less so, though they attract locals, tourists, and people working nearby or travelling across the region between towns [it's a region traversed by one major route, so easy enough to stop off to one side or t'other]. Has to be said that village markets do better in the summer months when there is tourist trade as well. But if there weren't markets in those places, a lot of the region would not have regular access to FMs / local produce.
BTW Most of our towns are the same size or smaller than an English village.... Our villages are more like your 'hamlets'. |
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gorbut
Joined: 03 Sep 2006 Posts: 137 Location: Border of London and Essex
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katie
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 713 Location: midlands
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woodsprite
Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 2943 Location: North Herefordshire
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Rosemary Judy
Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 1215 Location: East Midlands
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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Barefoot Andrew Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 22780 Location: In the 17th century
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 35935 Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 09 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with the people who have said that the question is a very strawy straw man. The farmers markets we have anything to do with are ALL about local. Organic comes a small second, if at all.
We do Wellington Farmer's market, which is two Saturday mornings a month and is in a scout hall very central to the town - mostly inside, a bit outside. Ma sells mainly cut flowers at that one and there are plant sellers, veg, goat-products (not milk, soap, cheese, that kind of thing), a pie chap, butcher, venison, bread, eggs and trees. It is a vibrant little market - probably due to the fact that people who are shopping in the town centre anyway can pop in - that is worth going to for both consumers and producers. There is a lot of local produce and very little organic.
One Saturday a month we do Cotford, which is essentially a modern housing estate - the market is in the school hall. That is a bit more 'crafty' in it's base and people have to make a special effort to come out to shop at it. It is not doing nearly so well and many stallholders are not even covering the cost of their stall. There is talk that this week will be the last one. |
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