Guest post by Anne Walsh, who works in Kemptville as an art therapist.
For those of us who were born and bred in Ottawa, the arrival of farmers and their produce signals the start of spring. The colorful array of fruits, veggies, baked goods and fresh flowers transforms the ByWard Market from drab and cold to bursting with life and activity.
I set out to interview farmers who have been selling their wares on the ByWard Market for multiple generations. As I interviewed hard working farmers, my sense of alarm grew. It suddenly occurred to me that they may very well be on the brink of extinction.
Daniel Parisien (Serres D. Parisien) explained that he and his brother Mario work all year to prepare for their busy period between Mother’s Day and Thanksgiving. At the time of his interview, he had not ventured away from his land in three weeks. He is a fourth generation farmer. His great grandfather, Cléophas Parisien, sold vegetables on the ByWard Market in the early 1900s. When his grandfather, Paul-Émile Parisien, lost part of his land during the build of the Queensway, the Parisien family transitioned from selling vegetables to mostly annual bedding plants. They now own two properties: 10 000 sq ft of greenhouses in Cumberland and 50 000 sq ft in Bourget, where they sell annuals and potted vegetables. Keeping with tradition, they continue selling locally grown products on the market at the corner of York and ByWard.
Diane and Guy Drouin (Guy and Diane Drouin Garden) started their business in 1987. They sell a variety of flowers and vegetables. Diane explains that they are not making money over the winter months. This means they must work hard to make ends meet during their busy season. They have started going to the Parkdale Market as well as the ByWard Market. Diane says they used to sell 20 bushels in an hour in 1987. Now they might sell 10 bushels in one day. In 2010, a tornado destroyed two of their greenhouses shortly after their son had passed away. These are the greenhouses located at the end of her driveway where she sold her produce. Despite this adversity, they are planning to re-build their greenhouses and work just as hard as ever during the upcoming season.
Huguette Lacroix and her husband Herve (H&H Lacroix Greenhouses) have been selling flowers on the market for 38 years. Huguette says back in the day they used to be swamped at noon as soon as Church let out. Now the market is empty and when you factor in the cost of leasing a stall, paying employees on the market as well as workers in the field and factor in transportation fees, it can be hard to make a living. This is a competitive industry. Vendors need to find a way to stand out and attract clients which can mean leasing multiple stalls, offering more varied products, competing through price reduction or leasing a prime location.
Our farmers are aging, the youngest generation I am told is in its 40s. Between farmers who have passed on and others who simply couldn’t make a living anymore, the farmer that is selling affordable produce throughout the spring and summer on the ByWard Market is a dying breed.
The farmers all voiced the same observations. There is less traffic on the market. Many of the federal employees who shopped there throughout the week have lost their jobs. There is an abundance of tourists but they are only visiting and are unlikely to purchase produce and plants. Some two-day markets have also sprouted throughout the city, eliminating the need to head to the market on weekends. In some cases, business is decreasing on the market while traffic is increasing on the farmer’s property, eliminating their desire to lease a stall. Some farmers go to various markets throughout the week to sell their products.
Another very real issue threatening the longevity of our farmer’s market is succession planning. What happens when your offspring don’t want to take over? Diane Drouin describes the life of a farmer as hard work, seven days a week. It’s not a 9am-5pm job. This is a hard sell for young people who want their weekends free to go out with friends. The result is a decrease in the number of farms that survive its current owner as well as an increase in farms being sold to non-relatives.
Nadia Carrier and Dominic Fortin took over M. Quenneville Greenhouses in 2008. Michel and Mariette Quenneville had been on the market since 1979. They were well known and respected. As President of the ByWard Market Standholders’ Association, one of Mr. Quenneville’s legacies was to review the policies relating to the transfer of businesses and their stalls to new owners. In the past, stalls were assigned to the owner’s name not to the business. This made it difficult to guarantee that new owners would be privy to the same location.
Mariette and Michel Quenneville helped Nadia and Dominic learn their trade. Nadia is an Agro-economist, Dominic has a degree in Agriculture. Quenneville Greenhouses is located in Plantagenet and sells herbs, perennials, annuals, ornamental plants, tomatoes, cucumbers, trees and shrubs. They are currently taking a one year sabbatical from the ByWard Market.
Nadia is passionate about maintaining the farmer’s market but she reminds us that farmers can’t do it alone. She states that agriculture is a choice, you either buy locally and invest in your farmers or you don’t. We need to work together: the governing body, the farmers and the public.
There is hope. The City of Ottawa and the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area (BIA) hired Project for Public Spaces, a New York City firm, “to identify the challenges and opportunities in the ByWard Market stemming from concerns expressed by the ByWard community”. In short, Project for Public Spaces found that the farmer’s market was in jeopardy and suggested that changes be made to preserve this city’s asset. These changes include a focus on fresh, local food and its producers as opposed to the current emphasis on night life. Promotion of the ByWard Market’s fresh food culture was also mentioned with lower leases for its producers and validated parking for its customers.
If you can’t imagine the ByWard Market without its beautiful displays of colorful produce and fragrant plants, support our farmers by investing in them.
