Having Fun
I wrote a few weeks ago about going off to a grazing conference to listen to an octogenarian rancher speak about low input farming. His keynote was more of a validation than inspiration, but as his words have had time to settle in I realized the most important take away—have fun. It's not just about efficiency or financial accounting practices. It's about enjoying the work you do. He said something very poignant that I am seeing play out in real time, even with fellow vendors at farmers markets throughout the years.
“Why would the next generation come back if the farm wasn't fun and profitable?”
I saw the wheels turning in some of these old cattlemen's heads who were listening. What fun is there in working in 100° heat? Or subfreezing weather? Is it fun having to dispose of stillborn livestock? How fun is it when you put your entire life into producing a premium product only to have your government undercut you with cheap imports that don't need to be labeled as coming in from outside of the country? Being responsible while at the mercy of Mother Nature isn’t aways blue skies and warm afternoons. They were there to learn about weaned livestock percentages, systems integration, holistic planning, and adaptive time controlled management. I was there to have fun and it was evident when we sat down to lunch.
“Tell me a story from your farmers market,” requested my friend who I had originally gone to the conference to visit. “You have the best stories!” And so I launched into a few of my favorites from Central Farm Market that I knew would make her laugh.
But one of those grumpy old farmers who are desperately trying to learn new tricks to hang onto their way of life tried to rain on my parade about vending at a farmers market. They called it cute and told me there was no money in it. I thought with an attitude like that there certainly wouldn’t be for them. Negativity and a Ba Humbug attitude won’t last long at a market.
And then I dropped the hammer on him. I explained that the farmers who sell direct to their customers get to set their own prices and that includes building in a profit. I know, profit tends to be a dirty word when it comes to farming. Somehow the politicians have decided to tie the price of eggs to whoever is in the oval office and we all know what a load of manure that is. I explained to the naysayer how markets are not just a place for producers to pedal their products but an entire economic ecosystem for the region that promotes networking and collaboration between businesses, such as restaurants, food trucks, catering companies, and brick and mortar stores. Some businesses use the farmers market venue as a way to do market testing on new , others use it as a launch point into a permanent storefront. During the pandemic, many restaurants , bakeries, and boutique food companies used it as a way for business continuity and have continued due to their success. I explained that one of our vendors went from selling sausages at a single farmers market to becoming a multimillion dollar international business. And guess what? They’ve had fun doing it.
Successful markets are the ones who make their market fun for their vendors as well as customers. They don’t turn the market into a circus, but have a good balance of entertainment, activities, and seating for patrons to visit with their neighbors on the outskirts of the isles, instead of clogging up the flow of foot traffic.
A fellow farmer from another market told me how they were not allowed to make any references to specific holidays this year out of fear of offending someone who may not celebrate.
Are you kidding me? We had The Grinch riding one wheel through our market and Santa came to visit the week before. The Christmas music last week kept our minds off the brutal cold. It was the holiday market season and by golly we were going to have fun no matter how challenging. And you know what? We did.