By Lindsay Tate
Consumers’ desire to buy locally produced goods means Ottawa’s newest seasonal market will be back for a second year at Lansdowne Park, says Andy Terauds, president of the Ottawa Farmers’ Market Association.
The Ottawa Farmers’ Market opened for the first time in early July, after city council approved a two-year pilot project to support struggling Ottawa Valley farmers and craft-makers.
“It’s becoming more important to people to shop local,” says Terauds, who also owns Acorn Creek Garden Farm near Carp. “I think people are becoming more aware that the produce they’re buying in stores, and even at other markets, is not fresh and comes from who knows where.”
So far, organizers say it has been very successful. The market, which is operated entirely by local producers, started the season with 16 vendors.
Now, nearing the end of its year on Oct. 29, there are 58, says Terauds.
Even more important, he says, customers are interested. The market has drawn 3,000 to 6,000 shoppers each Sunday, mostly from the Glebe, Centretown and Old Ottawa South.
The idea for the market came about after the City of Ottawa changed the rules governing how city markets can operate, says Terauds.
In 1995, a judge ruled a city bylaw, which restricted local markets to area farmers, was illegal.
This means merchants at the Byward and Parkdale markets are allowed to re-sell produce they have purchased wholesale.
This pushed local producers out of these markets, he says, because they could not compete with the lower prices.
“There used to be hundreds of Ottawa-area horticulture producers at the Byward Market,” says Terauds. “Now, there are four.”
Most of the area’s remaining 15 large producers sell at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market, says Terauds, and customers can be assured that what they see there is local.
Before a producer can sell at the market, the market association, made up of a group of growers, vets the products to ensure they are made or grown locally.
Mike Gillespie, owner of Tamarack Farms in Osgoode, Ont., says he agrees with the process. He says he had to bring his organically grown garlic to the association to be juried before he could become a member of the market and set up shop.
“It’s great this system is in place because the one thing we hear over and over from customers is that they support us because we’re local.”
Gillespie also sells his purple-striped garlic at the Metcalfe and Carp farmers’ markets but says he appreciates the reception he’s received in the month he’s been selling at Lansdowne.
“We’ve done very well here,” he says. “Many of the other markets are more like a community meeting place, but here, people come to shop and buy their groceries.”
Shopping was what Glebe resident Catherine Mason came to do on a chilly October morning.
Mason says she has been at the market almost every weekend since it opened in July.
“I love it, everything is so fresh and the people in the booths are friendly,” she says. “The atmosphere is just fantastic, it feels just like a small country market here in the middle of the city.”
The fact that the produce costs more than at the grocery store is worth it, Mason says. She also enjoys the location, which is walking distance from her home.
The market is also drawing customers from all over the city. Tracey O’Brien came from Westboro with her husband and two young boys to see the market for the first time.
“It’s set up in a very smart way and aside from just shopping, it’s a nice way to spend a Sunday morning,” she says. “My kids like it too, it’s interesting for them to see the food in this kind of setting.”
For Terauds, the market’s success is a very welcome sign.
“It may help convince local producers that they can make money in horticulture, that it’s worth it to start growing again.”
The market is already looking for a permanent home, hopefully in the same area, says Terauds. The Aberdeen Pavilion, or “cattle castle” in Lansdowne Park would be a good choice, he says, because it would allow the market to grow to include even more vendors.