With a growing number of small farms and local entrepreneurs, Susan Howington and I decided it would be good to establish a farmers market, a place where consumers could meet the folks that grew the vegetables and created the products. This would create a place to sell, while keeping the revenue local. We had a perfect location in the arena at Heritage Park. All the things needed were available: ample parking, restrooms, electricity, shelter and room to drive in making set up easy. The only problem was we knew nothing about starting a farmers market.
We ordered a book on how to set up a farmers market and started reading and researching market establishment on the web. Concentrating on the reasons markets fail and directing our efforts so as not to include any of the known failure criteria. Some of the reasons for failure included: too few vendors, too few shoppers and lack of rules. We started by writing a set of rules, utilizing many sources to make the rules as comprehensive as possible, while trying to keep them user friendly and enforceable. Susan and I started studying food safety regulations. We met with representatives of the Georgia Department of Agriculture as well as utilizing resources available to us through the University of Georgia. Finally the rules were written.
Next, we ran the plan by the Henry County Farm Bureau. The late Jack Elkins was the President at the time and he liked the idea. He explained the operation of markets and suggested that we open on Thursdays. This was a day when fewer markets were open. If you picked a day where the larger markets were in operation there would be a problem attracting vendors, because that was when they were at other markets. So Thursday became the day and 2 to 6 the hours. We soon learned that while there is a lot of traffic from 4 to 6, those folks are going home and not shopping. After a couple seasons of sitting and staring at each other we decided to change the hours to 10 to 2 and that worked better. We still get a complaint asking why we don’t open later and usually answer that by saying you forgot to come.
After that, we attended the Georgia Organics meeting and listened to successful market operators tell of their experiences. This was followed by a meeting in Macon with Georgia Organics in an effort to help organize smaller farmers markets, and there were many in attendance. From here I was invited to speak at a meeting of market managers at the State Farmers Market to explain how to establish rules for the market. I shared my newly found knowledge with those much more experienced than I.
Then, we were featured in a University of Georgia training video entitled Enhancing the Safety of Locally Grown Produce. From here Susan and I were invited to speak to a group of scholars from Auburn University who were working on a program to help establish farmers markets. In just a couple months we had gone from seeking advice to giving advice. Kind of scary when you think about it.
The Heritage Park Market is in its thirteenth year of operation. It has been a wonderful experience, but I am sure you didn’t know what geniuses were involved in its establishment. By-the-way, that balance between shoppers and vendors is still a challenge, so come on out.
Frank Hancock has worked as a Farm Manager, Vocational Agriculture Teacher, Vice President at Snapper. He retired as the University of Georgia Agricultural Extension Agent in Henry County. He is a also a member of the Heritage Writers Group.
