Making a Stand

Whether or not we realize it, our food system has been weaponized. It is used as a means to isolate, dominate, and control various segments of our population, including the farmers themselves. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, many organizations and businesses has gone to great lengths to identify themselves as an ally, exclaiming on social media #BLM.However, one local market vendor had the audacity to stand up and call B.S., having worked diligently to procure a spot in a coveted downtown market only to be repeatedly denied. Following the story in the news and on social media, my anger began to rise. I wonder what Toyin Alli, owner of Puddin’ would think if I told her last year that without even applying, I was invited to join the same market by means of a casual meeting. And of course, I am white.For some vendors, that invitation might seem like hitting the lottery, but to abandon the customers who have come to rely on me for ten years in Bethesda, some even longer following me through the assorted markets I’ve attended over the years—no way. My fellow vendors, the market management and even the customers have become like family to me.Now more than ever, doing the right thing has become paramount. Standing up to a bully is never easy. Even Alli expressed trepidation in speaking out, potentially putting her livelihood at risk by doing what she felt in her heart as well as by her experiences needed to be done. Trust me, I know how difficult it is to be socially disadvantaged in the food industry and farming.Despite ten years’ experience, a full-time job, good credit, a detailed business plan and a large down payment, I was still denied a low interest USDA agricultural loan as a single woman to purchase my first farm in 2000. We don’t make loans for hobby farms I was told.Since this brouhaha, I’ve been asked why aren’t there more black farmers at the market? For the same reason that people are taking to the streets throughout the world to protest the inequity of black people and other marginalized groups. The disparity in access to credit, capital, opportunities, education, healthcare, and community resources is staggering. If it was that hard for me to get a mortgage, I can only imagine the obstacles minorities who want to farm face in procuring any sort of financing. Similarly, the USDA doesn’t exactly have a good track record with black farmers. How can we have black and other minority farmers at our markets when they continue to be victimized by their own government over agricultural matters? As of the last national agricultural census, only 1.4 percent of America’s 3.2 million farmers identified as black. And one only has to look at the national breakdown by state to see how few black-owned and operated farms are in our foodshed.This week alone the Supreme Court upheld protection for LGBTQ people in this country. It’s 2020 and we’re still arguing over treating all people with decency, equality, respect, and kindness. I look around at my fellow vendors, many of them bearing the labels of various races, ethnicities, sexual identities, religions, and I think to myself what would happen if a vendor openly refused to sell to a customer based upon one of these aspects? Imagine the outcry.Last year I had an encounter with a customer who lamented their unwillingness to continue patronizing another vendor at the market after learning of their ethnicity. I was shocked by this revelation and refused to allow it to pass unnoticed.“If you won’t buy from them, you’re not going to buy from me,” I said. At first they thought I was joking, but when I refused to accept their money or hand over their weekly dozen of eggs it began to sink in that I was serious. Silently they walked away and in a few minutes returned holding out their purchase from the other vendor before meekly asking if I would sell them their eggs. It’s amazing how standing your ground for your principles can make a difference.That is why the details are being made public as to why sudden changes had to be made to the Mosaic Market last year and the ramifications that have followed. Not wanting to detract from the vibrant farmers market community in the mid-Atlantic region, Central Farm Markets has not publicized legal actions taken against the property owners, management company and well-known nonprofit market group.Creating, building, and managing a market is a significant investment of both time and money. Central Farm Markets spent years cultivating a vibrant market at the repeated behest of the Mosaic district’s developers. The market won awards and expanded to operating year-round.Operating as a Limited Liability Corporation—a private business—Central Farm Markets was shocked when the property owners and management company announced two weeks prior to the opening of the spring market season that the Mosaic market’s management was to be taken over by a competing market group’s non-profit.Like Toyin Alli, for some vendors the carrot was dangled to becoming part of their market system and eventually move into bigger and better regional markets. For other vendors with a significant current presence in the competing market system at other locations, they feared retaliation for choosing not to remain at the Mosaic location under new management. “This is so screwed, I could lose my entire business over the territorial drama,” lamented one of my fellow vendor with multiple markets throughout the region in both market groups.Getting product to market is difficult enough for farmers, but the uncertainty and retooling on the fly that vendors faced last year was about as unprofessional as it gets. Imagine two weeks before a market season being told to make a choice and then having to change all your signage, web data, printed materials, insurance documentation, and licensure. That is why Central Farm Markets made the choice to make the involved parties be held legally accountable for their actions.Central Farm Markets’ focus has always been on providing a quality market space for regional vendors of premium artisan and farmstead products while being environmentally and socially responsible. Our vendors are a diverse group of people from all walks of life. With the advent of COVID19, the management has taken the safety of both vendors and patrons very seriously by instituting and enforcing safety protocols. Additionally, the market has invested in the creation of Farm-to-Fridge, a delivery service dedicated to bringing products from participating vendors straight to your doorstep with a new and improved online ordering system set to go live in the coming week.And Ms. Alli, please know that Puddin’ would be welcome at Central Farm Markets.