Farmers Grab Their Pitchforks

Hey, these fine folks want to be a part of the club. Let them in ya nit wits

There is a bigger story here that hasn't yet been covered adequately. As far as I know, there is still no position on the board of the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market Association that represents the interests of the citizens of Santa Barbara and local consumers - even though we supply the space for the markets to operate. As the plaintiffs point out, many of the board seats are held by non-local growers who don't represent the interests of small, local farmers or consumers. Something needs to change if we are to realize our goal of providing the best truly local, fresh food to Santa Barbarans. Right now the Farmers Markets are fooling many of us into thinking we're supporting local farmers by buying at the markets, when that's not always the case.

I'm not familiar with these farmers and so I don't pretend to have any kind of opinion of their case. My experience of Farmer's Market seems to be all farms from this region (and certainly if Lompoc counts so should Ojai.)
Local fresh organic food is in abundance at the market, I hope these farmers get in tho space may very well be an issue because you don't see any empty spots at the market!

The SB Farmers Mkt is big business making millions a year. It has only grown over the last 10 years. Just when it started to grow because of the push in the organic food movement did these larger out of county farmers step in and basically take over the SB farmer's mkt board and change the rules. They started making decisions that benefited them more then local organic farmers, often to the exclusion of certified organic products. You can see a copy of the lawsuit on the website of the local law firm that represents the local farmers. www.christmankelley.com

While I don't think nonlocals should govern SB Farmer's Market I think the County line is an artificial construct and a petty requirement. I support local organic farmers but none claim to supply the quality of honey that Friend's Farm in Ojai produces for example.

http://christmankelley.info/?p=446
the lawsuit info

At last somebody has pulled back the curtain revealing that the farmer's market wizard is a not what he pretended to be. Many farmer's who are local, with in a 100 miles or so radius and organic, have been excluded to the benefit of corporate farmer's from far away. These farmers often make long drives from the central valley to sell non-organic produce at our market, while local organic farmers lack access. This is not sustainable and in the era of rising gas prices and global warming it makes no sense to support these farmers over local family farmers. When the farmers from afar can no longer afford to come we want to be sure that we have local farmers to support our need for fresh organic fruit, meat, eggs, and produce.

The board of the farmer's market should be changed to include citizens and more local farmers. The emphasis should be on local family farms, hopefully many will be organic.

Thank you Ibsaltzman for your clarifications, of course that is unacceptable.

Good for them. These are all really great points. I always say that they didn't build America big enough. As in, add more spots for more people/vendors!! As for these people that are from out of town and governing the market....Why? Why does there need to be so many people for such a simple thing? How much money are they recieving and from who? Are they ever present at decision making meetings? What kind of perks are they recieving from doing things the wrong way? It sounds like they need to bring in some consultants and have decisions made by the actual city council on how things should be done. Then again, all politics revolve around is the power to do whatever is in the best interest of THAT PERSON!! Power FOR the PEOPLE!! P.S.- The Farmers Market is WAY too expensive due to the lack of vendors as well, not to mention they travel further being from out of town!

If you have been selling flowers at the Saturday market for twenty years, investing much money and time in building a business, you are not going to welcome a competitor with open arms.
However, in order for a market to remain vibrant, management must judiciously include new products and vendors, otherwise people get bored and stop coming. Striking the right balance between glut and scarcity can be difficult.
The problem at SBCFMA is that admission to the market is not decided by the market manager, but by the Board, which is composed entirely of current vendors, some of whom sell flowers, and that they have not recused themselves from voting on Hendrickson's admission, even though they have an obvious conflict of interest.
Organic flower growers are currently few (Takekawa and Grant only), and their flower mix is limited. All flower vendors at the market are Santa Barbara County growers, mostly from Carpinteria and Goleta, and for several of them the Farmers Market is a side business, a place to sell the stuff that would not ship well. The one exception is farmer Rudy Dominguez, who comes from Nipomo with a mix of vegetables and flowers. His prices are lower than that of most others, so much for claims that added distance necessarily drives costs up.
Speaking of distance, most produce vendors are from close-by. The only farmers who travel several hours are the fruit growers. There are few commercial orchards left in coastal regions, and some fruits just don't grow well here.
By the way, every stand displays a "Grower's Certificate" that states the address and size of the farm, as well as a full list of crops. So if you are curious, just ask to see it.

Adding one more organic flower grower could be beneficial to all vendors, because shoppers like having choices and are more likely to open their wallets to buy flowers if they see a lot of beautiful bouquets. But that is counter-intuitive, and farmers who are current sellers get a chill in the pit of their stomachs when a competitor applies. We shouldn't blame them for trying to protect their livelihood.
However, by law SBCFMA must have a clear and fair process for admission to membership, and proper procedures may not have been followed.

As for the question of who should sit on the Board and make decisions for the association, per the bylaws it rests with the members, and if they want to elect farmers from out of Santa Barbara County, it is their prerogative. They should however remember that the success of the market relies on the goodwill of the community, and its perception of the Farmers Market as a happy expression of bucolic bliss. Letting folks peer too far behind the curtain, revealing the muddier aspects of farming, may cost vendors a whole lot more than a few bunches of unsold daisies.

I think it's better applications be reviewed by a group of people (a Board) than a single person who could really ruin things with personal politics ect.