Local Food Politics
Bozeman Co-op Booted from Farmers’ Market
By Guest Writer, 10-09-09
“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.” – Dennis Wholey
We thought the idea was so simple, and such a great fit, that there would be no way there could be trouble. After all, what could be a better match than selling Co-op bread at our local farmers’ market? We weren’t looking for conflict or confrontation. We just wanted to peddle our humble loaves of bread. Trouble, it turns out, can plague even the most innocent of pursuits.
We’ve been making our own bread for a few years now, and we are proud of our little operation. We use organic wheat grown by farmers near Big Sandy, Montana, bringing you, our members, fine artisan and sandwich loaves that are significantly cheaper than other bakeries in town. Based on the daily sales and very loyal and repeat customers, we know we are on the right track.
So we ponied up forty dollars and applied for a booth at the Saturday Farmers’ Market. The good folks at Career Transitions, who organize and run the market, cashed the check. And then two of us set up a tent on a blustery day in June and proceeded to sell out of 45 loaves of bread in a little over an hour. I dashed to the Co-op and got 40 more, most of which we sold by noon. Once folks tasted the sourdough, they almost always bought a loaf: it’s that good. One woman from Butte bought three loaves, hoping they would freeze well.
We heard a lot of comments about how great it was to see the Co-op at the Market, that it is such a great fit and so on. Fun and good cheer all the way around. Until the following Thursday, when we received a rather tense phone call informing us that we were no longer welcome as vendors at the Saturday Market. They refunded our forty bucks, and that was that.
The rationale is that no storefronts are allowed, as this would cause a snowballing effect and diminish the character of the Market. We pointed out that there are already four greenhouses, a restaurant, and a bread bakery peddling their wares in the Market. The rather thin counterpoint was that businesses with storefronts were allowed in the market if they were vendors at the market before they became storefronts. No matter that in at least the case of the other bakery, it had been over 12 years since they had opened their building on Main Street, and under entirely different ownership.
So we were kicked out of the Saturday Farmers’ Market because we have a store. Never mind that we are owned by the community. Never mind that there is not a more appropriate product for a Farmers’ Market than bread made with Montana wheat. Never mind that the playing field is tilted in favor of other businesses. The folks making the rules cited dangerous precedents that could occur: “Once bread is allowed, next would be other items, e.g., meat, salads, condiments, sandwiches, etc. We would no longer be a Farmers’ Market.”
We even offered a solution to their concerns: insist that stores be locally-owned, allow the organizers to have final approval of what items are sold (similar to Sweet Pea), even require that food be Montana food, which turns out to be a rather radical proposition that would eliminate a number of vendors.
Oh well, time heals and irony reveals. I keep a plastic bottle next to my desk, a sort of physical testament to the lunacy of the logic behind our denial. The bottle was purchased at the Saturday Market from one of the vendors, and it has presumably passed the rigorous security benchmarks established by who-knows-whom. It’s a bottle of water. The brand? Nestle’s “Pure Life” water. Right there on the label you can find the source: “Public Water Supply, Denver, CO.”
For more information about the Co-op, visit www.bozo.coop.
You're always welcome at the Big Sky Farmers Market! This was our first summer, and we had a very successful outdoor market with over 100 vendors. Here's a link to the market web page: http://twurl.nl/wfsjkq
Comment By Ollie, 10-09-09cmon, Kelly. Those other places were grandfathered in with no legalese defining their criteria for future involvement in the market. Not fair to complain about that. Apparently there is a policy, and the Coop sweaked through (probably mistakenly) and was later called on it. Letting the ungrandfathered Coop in would be nice, but would also open the gates for just about every other storefront, unless of course they accept your suggestions and further legalese the criteria defining participation.
The Market did nothing wrong, nor did the Coop. It seems like they simply clarified their policy to avoid further 'bending', which got your panties all in a bunch. Can you not see the other side? We all love the Coop, but this all sounds like so much whining - tempest...teapot...sound and fury significance...something like that.
Bunch of damned commies!
Comment By Larry, 10-09-09Kelly, bring your bread up to Kalispell next year! You will be welcome. I can't believe they're serious. You have to be GRANDFATHERED IN at a farmers market to sell bread??? I know Bozeman's going wacko but this takes the cake. Sounds like OLLIE is the head wacko. So what if it opened the gates for everyone. Isn't this still a free country??? Oh ya, it's BOZEMAN!
Move to Kalispell!!!!!!
Perhaps you didn't give them your passwords to any of the internet sites you visit, or your bank account numbers, or...
Comment By Mojo, 10-10-09Just FYI.... Kalispell Farmers' Market only allows home-based businesses to sell at their market. Commercial businesses, eg. those that do not make/bake/create their product at home, cannot sell at the market.
Comment By Ollie, 10-10-09Logic and rules = wacko?? wow. Seems there are crazy wackos in kalispell? Holy cow, Mojo - you sound like a wacko, too!
Those pesky rules keeping people honest? Aint that a rub...
wackos are everywhere! You're all wackos. Wacko wacko wacko...
Just where is the dividing line between the more politically correct and the less politically correct? How many organic, locavore angels can dance on a loaf of locally baked bread?
Comment By jerry, 10-12-09Kelly...I've run into a similar situation in Missoula....too long a story for here.
I found a way around these "market nazis"....you apply for an "itinerant" business license and you can set up anywhere but the markets. You can sell your bread right around the corner from them if you'd like.
Fight the bastards!!
What a shame that an organization that has done so much for local farmers and growers has been shunned at the farmers/growers/crafters market. What about places like On the Rise? They have a store front. I love them, and buy something there each time I'm at the farmers market. DON'T BOOT THEM, TOO! I'm sure they're grandfathered. Maybe it's time they re-look at their "rules". Sounds to me like the rules have outlasted their purpose. I get that we don't want Wal-Mart or Albertson's there, but come on!
Comment By Patrick Johnson, 10-12-09The real question is who put the pressure on the Bozeman Farmers Market organizers to boot the Co-op? Kelly's reflections and analysis is right on! Come on organizers, show some backbone. Please don't cave in to capitalistic pretenders whose idea of competition is to eliminate the competition. I am quite certain the Farmers market in Helena would welcome you and your fine bread.
Patrick Johnson
So if someone went and bought bread from the co-op, and then sold it at the market, that would be OK?
Comment By Bridget, 10-15-09I frequent the co-op and you run a busy place. I'd wager a guess is that your weekly gross receipts is more than the total revenue of a season of Farmer's Markets. In fact, I think of you as an open-daily farmer's market. And if so, do you have an open door policy so that anyone with a quality product (local, regional or national) can sell it at your market? If the answer is yes, then I can see where you have an argument.
Comment By lin0213, 10-30-09Man, these rules are just unacceptable , someone should start a protest especially against those running <a >bozeman hotels</a> in bozeman.
Comment By lin3983, 10-30-09 This article was printed from www.newwest.net at the following URL: http://www.newwest.net/city/article/bozeman_co_op_booted_from_farmers_market/C396/L396/