School Council & Fundraising
Farmers Market
(Held every Sunday from the 6 March, 9 am - 1 pm at Carlton North Primary School)
Empty Shelves: Farmers’ Markets Vs Super Markets
Chris Hains stands in the middle of the Castlemaine Farmers Market. Around him are stalls stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables, lamb, pork, goat, cereals, cheese, nuts, oil and other fresh produce. ‘We have no supply issue here at the farmers market,’ he says.
Chris is the manager of the Castlemaine and Bendigo Farmers’ Markets and sits on the board of the Victorian Farmers’ Markets Association. In the light of recent empty shelves in supermarkets, he and his team posted images of trestle tables groaning with freshly picked bounty to highlight the fact that farmers’ markets and other small and diverse food distribution systems have not been affected by COVID. The spread of the highly contagious omicron COVID virus has meant staff in large food production facilities, distribution centres, transport businesses and supermarkets themselves have been home recovering or isolating as close contacts.
‘We have a food supply system that is organised around a small number of stakeholders, such as supermarkets and fast food businesses with labour-hire companies sitting behind them,’ says Dr Kelly Donati, Senior Lecturer Food Systems and Gastronomy William Angliss Institute.
‘We are making all our markets weekly,’ says Miranda Sharp from Melbourne Farmers’ Market. ‘It is important for food sovereignty (to have a) network of alternative food systems. So it was obvious that we had to open Abbottsford and Carlton farmers markets weekly,’ she says. ‘They have fallen in line with our Alphington and Coburg weekly markets. It brings certainty to the local community that there will be a market every week and farmers have the certainty of weekly distribution of their produce.’ Abbottsford and Carlton farmers’ markets will run weekly from February.
Back in Castlemaine Chris points out to one of the stallholders, Colin from Blackwood Orchards in Harcourt. ‘He picked those cherries early this morning, put them on the back of his ute and will sell out in a few hours,’ says Chris. ‘That is 10km of food miles and the cherries are picked for ripeness, and not so they can sit in a truck and be driven a 1000 km from Young in NSW, stored in a cool store and then sit on a supermarket shelf.’
When asked about the idea that farmers’ markets are more costly than supermarkets, Chris Googles the price of cherries. ‘Six dollars and fifty cents for 300g at the supermarket,’ says Chris. ‘Our mate Colin sells them for $14 a kilogram in a paper bag. Fruit and veg in season are cheaper, tastier and will last longer if you buy from a farmers’ market over the supermarket.’
When it comes to meat and chicken Chris says that small farmers can’t compete on the economy of scale, but he argues that meat from an ethically raised flock or herd is better for the animals, the land and for the taste and texture of the final product. ‘That said, COVID has ripped through the abattoirs and really affected their capacity. The smaller beef and lamb farmers are the first to get bumped so some of our stallholders have been affected to a degree. But there is still plenty of fresh food to fill the fridge not just in Bendigo or Castlemaine but all the other farmers markets around the state.’
Upcoming Meetings
School Council
Wed 23 Feb, 6.30 pm
Wed 23 Mar, 6.30 pm
Wed 18 May, 6.30 pm
Wed 22 June, 6.30 pm
Wed 17 Aug, 6.30 pm
Wed 14 Sept, 6.30 pm
Wed 9 Nov, 6.30 pm
Wed 14 Dec, 6.30 pm
Community Engagement & Fundraising Sub-Committee
Thurs 10 Feb, 3.45pm