Southwestern Ontario agriculture community celebrates farmers' market success
It’s “National Farmers’ Market Week” where events during the first full week of August celebrate the farm-to-table movement and highlight the role farmers’ markets play in healthy communities.
Though not officially recognized in any formal capacity in Canada, farmers in southwestern Ontario are celebrating as farmers’ market business in the province continues to rebound from more than two years of pandemic lows.
“COVID had its challenges but we bounced through,” said Sarah Graham, owner of Sarah’s Farm Market in Chatham-Kent. “We're feeling back to normal more and more every day.”Sarah’s Farm Market in Chatham-Kent, Ont., on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)
Graham said their crops are coming in the best they have in several years, crediting favourable weather, but said growing inflation among other things have forced retail prices to rise in order to keep things profitable.
“The cost of living and the cost of eating is rising and produce is something that is a challenge,” Graham explained.
“Minimum wage goes up. Fuel goes up. Fertilizer expenses have jumped up huge this year too. And that extra money’s got to come from somewhere. So we do have a little bit of an increase in our retail sales products this year.”
According to Graham, one of the biggest challenges remains finding reliable workers.
“I have 28 employees right now and I'm finding it difficult,” said Graham. “I would expand even set up more fruit stands, give students more jobs, but I just can't find the help to do it.”
Graham explained she believes farmers’ market shopping in bulk is more affordable for families looking to find deals for their grocery bill.
“It's tough, you know, in my opinion, I have four children buying a dozen corn at seven or six bucks a dozen is still a great way to feed them and fill their bellies. If I was to go to McDonald's drive thru, it'd be like $80 to feed them. So comparison wise, I think farm market shopping is still the number one way to go for a large family especially.”
Graham added they encourage volume sales with harvest season picking up, suggesting deals are to be had with things like zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and corn as they become readily available.
Graham noted it takes about eight minutes for their produce to arrive from their fields to their stands. “There's great choices! Fresh, local grown, so even though the costs are going up and retail prices have increased a little bit, it's still the cheapest way to eat by far.”
Meantime, other places nearby say they’re having difficulty finding vendors for their weekly farmers’ market.
Bill Myer at the Chatham Sales Arena Farmers Market said they used to have upwards of 30 vendors selling produce each week, but believes many have became accustomed to selling their product from roadside stands.Chatham Sales Arena Farmers Market in Chatham-Kent, Ont., on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)
“Problem is, is that they got used to selling it from home. And of course, you know, the labor crunch is a problem.”
The general manager said, “They're not able to get people in from out of the country to pick or plant and therefore they don't want to plant the full crop, so they plant maybe a third and they use the family to pick the third when it’s ready.”
Myer told CTV News they’re working to attract and train new vendors along with customers suggesting foot traffic dropped to a third of what it used to be before the pandemic.
“We'd have as many as 3000 people a day come through for a visit. Now we're down to about a third of that and trying to claw it back as you know, it's a big job,” he said.
“You can drive down most highways around the Essex County area, Chatham-Kent area, and you'll see fruit stands, produce stands all over the place. And those are the farmers selling from home and they're selling literally a third of their crop because that's all they can pick. So that's all they plant because of the labor shortage.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.