The two-day conference will be packed with presentations, displays and networking opportunities and is geared toward farmers market managers, vendors, and community development stakeholders who want to start or grow farmers’ markets in their local communities.

Topics to be covered include food safety, market funding opportunities, direct marketing, and more. Opportunities to network also will be available, which will give participants the chance to discuss ideas with other farmers market professionals.

The Statewide Farmers Market Conference is a collaborative effort of Ohio State University South Centers, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Farmers Market Management Network (FMMN) and the Farmers’ Market Coalition.

The conference will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m., March 4, and run through 4:00 p.m., March 5.

Registration fees for FMMN members are $100 for both days, $70 for Thurs. only or $50 for Fri. only. Non-member fees are $125 for both days, $80 for Thurs. only or $60 for Fri. only. Registration fees include all presentation materials and meals.

Hotel accommodations will be available at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Marriott in Reynoldsburg for an $89 discounted double-room rate until Feb. 22 and will be $109 after that date.

Conference participants are asked to bring their farm or market’s best marketing piece for the “Show n’ Tell Marketing Contest”. All conference attendees will have a chance to vote on the best marketing piece. The winner will receive a prize and publicity in the event news release. The winner will be announced on March 5 during lunch.

For more information about the conference, including hotel information, agenda and directions, log on to: http://ohiofarmersmarkets.osu.edu/conference.htm . To register, contact Melissa Hurtt, at 800-297-2072 ext. 222 or email at hurtt.8@osu.edu .

For those of you that work downtown visit Pearl Market for those last minute Thanksgiving purchases. This is Pearl Market’s first year doing an indoor winter market, and it seems a lot of the regular customers at the outdoor, summertime Pearl Market still haven’t heard that the market is inside now. It’s on the first floor at 20 East Broad Street from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.

More info on all the winter markets in the Columbus area.

The winter Pearl Market will be held every Tuesday and Friday from 10:30am-2pm Opens November 3 through February 26 on the first floor of 20 E. Broad St. downtown.
http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/pearlmarket

Columbus Winter Farmer’s Market  in Clintonville will be held selected Saturdays 10 am – 1 pm.  Opens Nov. 14, 2009 to April 17, 2010 in the Fellowship Hall at 93 West Weisheimer Rd. Columbus 43214. See their schedule at http://columbuswinterfarmersmarket.com

Olde Worthington Indoor Winter Farmers Market
Opens Saturday, November 21, 2009,  10 am – 1pm held at
Griswold Center 777 High Street, NW corner of Rt. 161 & High Street
http://www.owba.net/winter_farmers_market.htm

The new rules are available in (pdf document) at the ODA web site: New Cottage Food Rules.

The current food saftey rules ORC 3715 can be found here.

See the schedule of Veggie-Van-Sites-Summer-2009 (pdf)

Officials at the ODA are optimistic about the passage of the rule. Patti Haden, of Ohio Proud, in a memo shortly after the hearing, said “The new rule should be in place by mid-June, 2009.”

We will be following this story and will post news as we learn about it.

OSU South Centers have a good resource on starting and running a farmers’ market in Ohio. Their training materials are online. If you have any interest in farmers’ markets take a look.

OSU South Centers Farmers’ Market Training Program Materials

The Small Farm Center at University of California also has some useful publications that can be downloaded for free:

Farmers Market Management Series Volume 1: Starting a New Farmers Market

Farmers Market Management Series Volume 2: Management Skills for Market Managers

Farmers Market Management Series Volume 3: Growing Your Farmers Market

Food Safety at Farmers Markets and Agritourism Venues

The small farm center has some other interesting publications.

If you know of other resources please comment and let me know.

1. Create new farmers markets in every neighborhood for local sustainably grown food, each with business model to fit the needs of the community.

2.  Create new types of sales venues for farmers that address the logistical limitations of traditional farmers’ markets. Perhaps this could be achieved with small local-food-only stores with a format like a farmers market where each farmer has a booth (only without having to be there all the time) . Displayed with the product, would be information on how the product is produced, photos, mailing list sign up and full contact info for the farmer in case the customer wants to get in touch. The idea being that the farmer is always accessible to the consumer.  The store could hold events where farmers can come in and meet their customers, talk about the product and establish a face to face relationship.

The proprietors of the store would make sure that the products sold meet the criteria for being local, sustainably grown, etc, much like the role of  farmers market managers in a traditional setting.  The proprietor would also make sure the farmer is in fact accessible to their customers. The store provides a venue that is convenient to the customer, support staff to the busy farmer.

Comments?