By Zachary Dayler
Marchés d’Ottawa Markets operates the ByWard and Parkdale Public Markets. This involves serving as a host to outdoor vending, including farmers, microprocessors, Canadian wholesalers, authors, artisans and crafters as well as select importers. We also work to animate the Public Markets with buskers, events, promotional activities and community markets.
Our team is in full recruitment mode for our outdoor markets’ program in 2021! As we collectively work to build back ByWard, recruiting and welcoming a new generation of vendors is vital. One of our primary focuses as we eye the future is to grow our vendor roster so we can continue to offer a curated and dynamic experience.
To support our work, and hopefully illustrate to the community that we are serious, Marchés d’Ottawa Markets has introduced two new initiatives, our Farmers First Policy, and the Black, Indigenous, Peoples of Colour (BIPOC) Farmers’ Initiative. We will also be launching a new weekly producer-only market at ByWard, welcoming back our farming community. More to come on this soon!
The Farmers First Policy aims to support the region’s farmers and primary producers who sell at our markets, as well as the provincial and domestic food production sector as a whole. This policy includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Farmers are scheduled at the Market before all other vendors;
- Farmers are given priority stand allocations over all other vendors;
- Farmers receive preferred pricing for stands and are further offered a tiered pricing scale that is designed to ease the start-up costs to new farmers;
- Farmer applications to vend are accepted year-round;
- Marchés d’Ottawa Markets requires microprocessors and street-food vendors to use locally or provincially sourced egg, meat, honey, maple syrup and liquid dairy farm products;
- Microprocessors receive discounts on their stand permit costs when they demonstrate sourcing products directly from local farms;
- Ottawa Markets is committed to programming and activities that highlight and promote local farm products;
- Farmers have the exclusive right to use product adjectives such as “home-grown,” “hand-picked,” “just picked,” “grass-fed,” “pastured,” when this claim is 100% accurate; and
- Ottawa Markets offers priority space allocations for local farmers to use as Community-Supported Agriculture pick-up hubs; some limitations may apply.
We are also proud to launch the BIPOC Farmers’ Initiative. Recognizing the institutional and systemic racism experienced by BIPOC communities in Canadian agriculture both historically and currently, Marchés d’Ottawa Markets goal is to help remove barriers that prevent BIPOC farmers, growers, gatherers, hunters and fishers from participating in our markets and accessing clientele in Ottawa.
Marchés d’Ottawa Markets’ BIPOC Farmers’ Initiative is open to Black,Indigenous and Peoples of Colour, including those who identify as trans, disabled, queer, or have marginalized religious identities or share lived experiences as first-generation farmers or makers by offering a free seasonal market stand at the upcoming York Street Farmers’ Market set to launch in May 2021. The conditions are as follows:
- Applicants shall identify as Black, Indigenous or Person(s) of Colour;.
- Applicants shall meet Farmer’s definition in Marchés d’Ottawa Markets Operational Procedure No. 2;
- Applicants shall reside within 150 kilometres of 55 ByWard Market Square;
- The initiative covers one season and one stand per applicant;
- Priority shall be given to applications received before March 1st;
Twenty farmer subsidies have been allotted for 2021.
We hope the community will help us spread the word as we work towards creating a welcoming market that is a showcase of Canada in one spot and creates a positive economic opportunity for budding businesses!
Applications are available at https://www.ottawamarkets.ca/vending. The application includes a section for the BIPOC Farmers’ Initiative.
Zachary Dayler is Executive Director of Marchés d’Ottawa Markets.