one of the things i've heard from farmers is that going to market, while profitable, is often difficult for them to do more than once a week because they must be present at market to sell their goods. that keeps them off the farm and not producing the goods they must sell. it might be interesting to see how farms manage multiple markets in the other cases that have been mentioned but also look into different kinds of support can be built into the infrastructure for small farms that don't have the people power to be present as often as they'd like.
-marlo On Oct 15, 2008, at 9:21 AM, Patricia Haines wrote: > > I wasn't aware that we were trying to clone a large urban market > as you describe - or to aim at a permanent, year-=long structure. > That's a deliciously ambitious project, surely worth considering > for the long haul - especially in light of the urgent need to > become more self-sufficient for food security. > > You'll see above that I'm copying this to Vicki Taylor. I applaud > her efforts for the immediate future, and hope that ST-ers will get > behind her vision. > > --- On Tue, 10/14/08, George Frantz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> From: George Frantz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Farmers markets & the Commons >> To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" >> <[email protected]> >> Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 5:20 PM >> While I would love top see a central market downtown I'm >> not sure it would be a workable, or good idea. >> >> The Lancaster Central Market building covers an area about >> the size of the Tompkins County Library, and Reading >> Terminal Market is about twice that size (albeit underneath >> a convention center.) Both are enclosed buildings that >> operate year. >> >> Whereas Wegmans can rely on tractor trailers to deliver >> large quantities of goods, a central market needs to >> accommodate many, many small delivery vehicles to supply >> the individual vendors that would be housed >> there. Although they would likely be arriving before 6:00 >> AM, introducing large numbers of such vehicles to downtown >> Ithaca could be problematic. >> >> The other issue is the customer traffic that would be >> generated. At any given time on any Saturday at the >> Farmers' Market there are as many as 300-350 cars parked >> in the parking lot and along the various streets as far back >> toward Route 13 as Carpenter Drive. (versus 25-30 parked >> bikes) A successful central market would generate that >> amount of parking demand or more in terms of parking demand, >> in a downtown area that is already near or over capacity >> with regard to parking. >> >> Because Lancaster is a compactly built, colonial era city, >> it has a population density of about 2.5 times that of >> Ithaca (the city). That puts some 20,000-25,000 residents >> within a ten minute walk of Central Market and as a result >> it generates little in the way of automobile traffic. On >> the other hand in Ithaca there is only in the range of >> 5,000-7,000 residents within a ten minute walk of downtown >> and a potential market. (Yes, density, density, density...) >> >> My sense is that a location close to Route 13 on the >> Northside, West End or Southwest areas would work better >> than a downtown location. >> >> Finally, it should indeed be a publcily owned market. >> Parking garages after all can be publicly owned and >> subsidized, so why not a central market? >> >> This doesn't mean that an outdoor farmer's market >> should not be pursued for the Commons, but I personally >> hesitate at the thought of a permanent structure with 100+ >> vendors open 3 or more days per week in the downtown area. >> >> George Frantz >> >> >> >> --- >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins >> County area, please visit: >> http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >> >> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >> [email protected] >> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org Marlo Capoccia Garden Gate www.gardengatedelivery.com 607 342 6228 _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
