How it All Began
It’s 12:15 p.m. on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, and John Hendry Park in East Vancouver is bustling with activity. Several families are enjoying picnics, a young man is getting ready to play some music, and dogs of all shapes and sizes are playing on the dog beach next to the lake. The parking lot at the community centre is full, as are the bike racks set up in front of Trout Lake Farmers’ Market's main entrance.
A steady stream of people have been attending the market to shop since it opened at 9 a.m., creating lineups for most vendors. People are chatting and laughing, bags and baskets are full. Travis Forstbauer, from Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm, is doing his best to keep up with the hectic pace as people line up to buy carrots, kale and other produce.
According to market manager Hannah Megally, “this market averages about 4,200 people every Saturday from April to October.” With over 72 vendors ranging from farmers, fishers, artisans, bakers and food makers, this is one of Vancouver Farmers Markets' (VFM) biggest and busiest markets. There are currently nine weekly markets across Vancouver (seven summer/ two winter), generating $13.6 million in sales for vendors in 2022 and attracting about 500,000 vistors yearly.
It's tough to imagine a time when there were no farmers’ markets in Vancouver. It wasn't until February 1995 that a meeting organized by a subgroup of Vancouver's Food Policy Coalition brought together 100 interested community members to discuss the possibility of setting up a farmers’ market. Flyers promoting the community forum posted across the city had a simple but effective message, “IMAGINE… The possibility of fresh, local fruits and vegetables in YOUR neighbourhood.”
Forum organizers included Vicki Pawlowski from Vancouver Health Department, Carol Ranger from REACH Community Health Centre, Herb Barbolet from FarmFolk CityFolk and Michael McGee, a local resident. They invited a farmers' market consultant from Ontario to speak about the value of local farmers' markets.
Devorah Kahn, a community health nurse and health educator, saw a flyer and decided to attend the forum in the cafeteria at Britannia Secondary School. "I found it all so interesting, so I signed up to learn more," she says. Karen Clarke, a student in SFU's Community Economic Development Program, also attended the forum.
Erin Nichols was also at that first meeting. “I had been talking with a friend about farmers' markets and she encouraged me to do something as I had just completed an administration course at Capilano College. Another friend had asked if I had put up the flyers. From there, it all just unfolded.”
It turns out Ranger had posted the flyers. “A number of us, who were dieticians and others, were meeting to discuss food security. Someone had heard that Bob Chorney was going to be in town, so we looked into seeing if he would hold an event for us on how to start a farmers' market.” Chorney agreed, but he wanted to be paid, so the group scrambled to raise $250.
“We organized the event and advertised everywhere,” Ranger says. “After Bob's presentation, Michael McGee took the hat around for donations, which helped pay some of Chorney's fee.” They also announced that anyone interested could sign up to attend another meeting the following week.
The first planning meeting at REACH Community Centre brought together a small group of people. The second meeting established a core group of volunteers, including Ranger, Nichols, Kahn and her partner Franco Ferrari, Pawlowski, Clarke, Siobhan Ryan and Sarah Murdoch. Ferrari joined the group as he was interested in community economic development and represented the local neighbourhood association.
Group members, who were mostly strangers, were all very passionate and committed to the cause. “We fought about everything,” Ranger says, laughing. Despite some initial disagreements, they became very close and worked well together. “It was a really special time; we just kept working, nose to the grindstone,” Kahn says. They eventually registered as a non-profit society and started applying for grants to help fund their work. They also all became members of the board.
They continued to meet at REACH, learning all that they could about farmers' markets. They met with market managers from Victoria's Moss Street Markets and other organizers. They learned that there were many barriers to getting started, including getting farmers to agree to sell at city markets.
“We used actual phone books to cold-call farmers, who were all quite reluctant to give up a day at the farm,” remembers Nichols. As a result, getting people to that first market took a lot of work. “It was nerve-racking,” Clarke says. “There was definitely some interest, but it involved a lot of phone calls and answering a lot of questions before we started to get some yeses.”
Working with the City of Vancouver also presented challenges. Pawlowski arranged a meeting with the city manager and all the department heads, but in the end, “because we did not fit anywhere, they told us that the markets could not happen,” Ferrari says.
They decided not to take “no” for an answer and contacted vari- ous Vancouver City Council members. After tenacious lobbying, a “bylaw relaxation” was granted one week before opening day, finally making it legal to have an outdoor market. "But then we had to get that exception approved yearly," Ferrari says.
With support from the local neighbourhood association, they held their first market on July 29, 1995, in the Croatian Cultural Centre parking lot. Using guerrilla marketing strategies, they creatively promoted the market. “I remember going to the Folk Festival,” says Ferrari, "and Devorah was plastering posters all over the place, including inside porta potties."
Close to 500 people attended the first market. There were eight farmers, fourteen craft vendors, local community groups and live music. Nichols, who hand-painted the banner for the market entrance, says, “We didn't even call it a farmers market initially. We called it The East Vancouver Community Market.”
Word quickly spread, and by the next week, the number of farmers and those in attendance doubled. A few weeks into the process, they finally received approval from the Health Inspector to sell baked goods and coffee. However, it would take a few more years before they could sell meat or poultry.
The market ran for 11 weeks that year, and sales were almost $40,000 for the season. After more lobbying and persistence, the market expanded, and by the third year, they had secured a more permanent location at Trout Lake Community Centre.
During the second year, they received a $20,000 VanCity Community Economic Development grant, which they used to pay Kahn, who became the first Executive Director. Working part-time, she moved the office to her home and hired her first employee, Roberta LaQuaglia, previously a market vendor.
“It was all very exciting in the beginning, but it involved a lot of educating and negotiating,” says Kahn, who ran the society for ten years. It was a great learning curve and the best years of my career. I loved the farmers' market intensely; it was a real community event, and we knocked down so many barriers." With continued support from the board, Kahn established other markets across the city and, in 2005, helped found the BC Association of Farmers' Markets.
“As a volunteer group,” Ferrari says, “we coalesced into a very cohesive group and effective board that was self-sustaining. We were very much an entrepreneurial non-profit. We lived within our means and ensured the farmers had a decent income and that the markets were also an incubator for small businesses.”
Kahn and the founding board members eventually moved on. VFM continues to grow and thrive, but not without challenges. Bre Hamilton, the previous Interim Executive Director, says, “The City and Parks Board are now very supportive. However, the markets are still considered a special event, and we must apply for each market annually — a huge administrative task.” Their focus moving forward, says Hamilton, “Is to stabilize our location within the city and develop partnerships that allow us to reach more communities.”
Back at the market, Forstbauer smiles as he restocks his booth with his wife, Katrina, and his daughter, Kaya. For him, it's a family affair. His parents Mary and Hans were some of the original farmers who took the leap to sell at the markets in 1995. Forstbauer remembers being at the markets with his parents and believes his family wouldn't still be farming if it wasn't for the markets.
How It's Going
The impact of B.C.'s farmers' markets
The B.C. Association of Farmers’ Markets (BCAFM), in collaboration with the University of Northern British Columbia, recently released findings from its third province- wide study measuring the economic impacts of farmers’ markets.
“What was refreshing to see,” says Heather O’Hara, the Executive Director of BCAFM, “is how validating the data is. The results validate our assumptions and show that regardless of where you are in the province, both locals and tourists support farmers’ markets. It’s a destination.”
The study confirms that people are motivated to shop lo- cally and support their local farmers and vendors in what O’Hara calls, “a low-barrier, grassroots kind of way.” “People take it for granted that local food is plentiful and available now, but this was not the norm twenty-plus years ago.
Farmers’ markets were really at the front end of the local food movement.” she says.
Provincial Study Highlights for 2023
There were 136 BCAFM member farmers markets across B.C., a 25 per cent increase from 2012. These markets receive 4.95 million visits and 3.7 million shoppers annually.
Annual direct sales at the markets added up to $155.3 million, with the average shopper spending $42.50 per market visit.
The estimated annual economic impact of these markets is $232.9 million — a 28 per cent increase from 2012. Shopper spending at other local, neighbouring businesses also increased 61 per cent from 2012 to $118.51 million in 2023.
City of Vancouver Region Study Highlights
Vancouver markets received more than 624,000 visits and 468,000 shoppers annually, contributing an estimated
$30.2 million to the provincial economy each year. Annual direct sales were $20.1 million, with the average shopper spending about $45.15 per market visit.
Estimated shopper spending at other local, neighbouring businesses in Vancouver is $9.9 million.
To access the reports, visit the BCAFM website at bcfarmersmarket.org. Looking for a market near you? Visit bcfarmersmarkettrail.com.
