In past decade, farmers markets have grown significantly both in number of markets and consumer attendance. Many factors have caused this growth, however some main causes include growth in consumer interest in local, sustainable and/or organic foods, an effort to directly support local producers and a growth in appreciation of the community connection, which grows out of farmers markets and our relation to food.
Recognizing the growing importance of farmers markets as sources of food for many consumers, this summer I have had the opportunity to visit a number of farmers markets on behalf of ECV Ontario. Through these visits I have gained insight into the availability and feasibility of ethno-cultural vegetables (ECV) production for farmers markets. During my visits to the farmers markets, I looked at the availability of 26 preferred ethno-cultural vegetables (ECV) as well as a number of ECV that were identified by Growing International: Exploring the Demand for Culturally Appropriate Foods, as often lacking in availability.
During these visits, I found that most of the vegetables available at the markets I visited were mainstream vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, potatoes, corn, etc. The only somewhat uncommon ECV that I found regularly at the markets I visited was bok choy, which may reflect the growing mainstream popularity of the vegetable. Interestingly enough, during my visits to the markets I regularly found one of the vegetables (snowpeas), which an ECV survey found to be “often lacking in availability.”
Through conversations with farmers, I found that some of them had grown more ECV in the past. However, now a number of barriers have led them to scale back their production. The biggest challenge seemed to be access to markets. For the farmers I spoke to, the farmers markets did not provide sufficient demand to sell ECV at a profit. One farmer, for example, told me that he used to sell amaranth but he found that to sell on a larger scale it was a very difficult market to get into, and that at the price point it was difficult to make a profit. It is worth noting that, from my observations, the farmers markets I visited did not seem to be attended by large numbers of ethnic minorities, which may limit the demand for ECV at these markets.
For now it seems that the market for ECV at farmers markets is more driven by mainstream demand for new, healthy or different vegetables and less by large demand from ethno-cultural communities. That being said, the natural progression seems to be towards greater integration of different vegetables into the Canadian diet. As mainstream interest in ECV grows, probably so will the market and potentially the profit margin for local farmers.
Frances Dietrich-O’Connor, MSc Candidate
ECVOntario
SEDRD, University of Guelph
A bit too optimistic to say "...the natural progression seems to be towards greater integration of different vegetables into the Canadian diet." Upper Crust folks are naturally conservative and mostly rednecks, and the last thing they want to do on Earth is try food and vegies that "those foreigners eat".
ReplyDeleteECV farmers should hire a marketing graduate to plug them into Chinatown, Little India, and ethnic stores outside the GTA. These farmers will find that they will need to expand instead of having to downsize their business.
Benny Quay who loves bitter gourd fried with pineapple and tripe.
Hi Benny Quay
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response. While it may be optimistic to assume that all EVC will be integrated into the Canadian diet, I would hold that it is not too optimistic to say that over the long term there has been more and more integration of “different vegetables into the Canadian diet.” Take for example cilantro, bok choy, Kohlrabi (which I’ve seen often at farmers markets), bean sprouts, chillis, shitake mushrooms, okra, not to mention vegetables which have been around longer but none the less have not always been eaten in Canada such as leeks, zucchini, broccoli, asparagus. While integration may not be certain, over the long term I would say that globalization has greatly expanded the types of vegetables eaten here in Canada and around the world and is likely to continue to do so. For now however, I certainly agree that entering ethnic markets in Toronto will provide farmers with much greater and more reliable markets.
Thanks again,
Frances Dietrich-O'Connor, who loves fried plantains with bean stew.