Just naming a few...
1. Long cold winters
2. Lack of storage space and know-how
3. Fragmented & disconnected local distribution network
4. Space for community gardening and productive landscapes is limited
5. Institutional support from city, county and university resources weak
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I would add as a limiting factor the difficulty in connecting growers and buyers directly. This effort is a bit fragmented and fits in well with the #3 fragmented & disconnected local distribution network.
The question is how and where is this distribution accomplished?
A brick-and-mortar store might be ideal. But it has it's drawbacks, the first of which is it's quite difficult to establish initially.
Buying clubs like The People's Elbow are currently acquiring a significant amount of whole and natural foods (local, where possible) using volume purchasing power and accepting bulk deliveries then distributing from private residences. Please see post:
http://foodforusinlafayette.blogspot.com/2009/02/variations-on-local-theme.html
This deals with non-perishable or frozen goods.
As far as fresh produce goes, can you do better than the Farmer's Market? That is an existing, fully-functioning resource that probably should be utilized to the max. Duplication of effort dilutes the focus.
(DISCLAIMER: I am not, nor have I ever been, associated with the Lafayette Farmer's Market)
As far as winter supplies, I know of at least 1 (probably 3) functioning greenhouses which are seriously under-utilized. I would build a greenhouse if I knew I had a consistent reliable market.
Just some thoughts...it seems likely a more coordinated effort between producers and consumers would yield better results than we're getting now.
Go ahead, talk amongst yourselves.
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I checked the farmers' market website, unfortunately the market space itself on 5th st. will not be open until May. But here is a link to the vendors. Maybe if you call them some of them might have something they can sell you right now.
http://www.lafayettefarmersmarket.com/vendordirectory.html
Unfortunately none of these vendors have email addresses listed. Some have telephone numbers listed.
It takes a lot of time and labor to produce food, and in general food has a fairly low cash return value at the small-scale level. It is difficult to make a decent salary as a local producer.
Personally I would much rather visit a brick and mortar store than be part of a buying club. Mostly it's because of convenience. The Farmers Market is only at certain times. A regular store would have set hours and be open every day (or almost every day). It also would have hours outside the normal day job hours so you could go after work.
With a buying club you have to order ahead of time and also go to a private residence to pick up the items. For me part of the allure of the regular store with a focus on local/organic etc is that I will be trying new things and expanding my horizons food wise.
Mostly I suppose it's a thing of convenience--and today we live in a society where things have to be convenient and easily accessible to be widely known and popular.
Interesting comments...
First, Frugal Follower certainly has it right that a small scale producer must accept a pretty low cash return. If I didn't already have the land and other sources of income, I probably wouldn't be able to start my operation.
And mintyextreme certainly has it right that 'things have to be convenient and easily accessible to be widely known and popular.'
One problem is that the convenience aspect isn't very compatible with 'local/organic'. There are several attributes the consumer has to accept in local/organic produce - the seasonal nature of produce, sometimes less-than-cosmetically-perfect produce, short crops & over-abundant crops, etc.
It's also quite true that with a buying club you have to order ahead of time. Take it a step further - if you want green beans in July, you better tell me in April (if not sooner).
It takes a definite effort to patronize local producers. It may never have the 'drive-up window' kind of convenience desired by many.
The Farmer's Market is only open certain times, I suspect because those vendors have to spend the rest of the time growing crops. Since I work alone, I've never figured out how I can spend 2-3 days a week at the market.
So this may be the dilemma:
A brick-and-mortar store would probably make 'local/organic' more popular.
Would 'local/organic' ever be popular enough to support a brick-and-mortar store?
Unless the consumer accepts the limitations of 'buying local', the answer to the question may be 'No'.
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