What a year!
Last week, we attended a meeting with a promising global partner. In our conversation, they acknowledged how surprised they were to learn how young our organisation is.
Granted, we graciously accept compliments where we can get them, whilst recognising our reality. The World Farmers Markets Coalition is still a very young and immature entity with limited capacity, etc. However, we are also closing out a remarkable year.
For a moment, let’s take stock in the success we are achieving together. You are achieving success in the distant corners of the world by simply existing. How? The forces of agricultural consolidation and retail control by a very small number of firms are putting the squeeze on farmers (for lower prices) and upon shoppers (with higher prices). While the digital mall extracts positive social activity from physical places, farmers markets emerge as the elegantly simple intervention that achieves all three goals: profits for farmers, food access for consumers, and the heartbeat of social life for communities.
As practitioners, this we know. This does not mean that others know this triple bottom line. We must shout it out loudly from the rooftops of every gathering we are invited to attend. During 2024, we have attended many: G7 Agriculture in Italy, FAO Food Forum in Rome, COP 16 on biodiversity in Colombia, Farm Retail Association conference in the UK, World Urban Forum in Cairo, and more. There were many other internal meetings where we were invited to state the case for farmers markets as useful and sustainable engines for many outcomes.
This month, we look forward to seeing you at our digital mid-term General Assembly. We will share progress on several key projects that represent opportunities for us all to collaborate – including a three-pronged campaign that cascades through 2025 together with FAO: Farmers Markets Count!
As this solar year draws to a close, we thank you for your continued support and openness to invest in our collaborative effort to elevate family agriculture via direct marketing organised in town squares and city streets with transparency and trust. We look forward to growing our community one tent at a time.
Richard and Carmelo
