2009-2010 CAFM Annual Market Report
From: Jody Hardin, President
Certified Arkansas Farmers Market, Inc. (CAFM)

Dear directors, members, and friends of CAFM:
Four years ago when we started Foodshed Farm and the Basket-A-Month (BAM) Community Supported Agriculture program, we dreamed that it would last forever, supporting many family farms and, equally, the families who want to eat local, fresh, seasonal foods from them.  We also wanted a consistent, twelve-months-per-year market for Arkansas' small and medium-sized farms, with policies in place that kept it strictly local and farmer driven.  Today we can say we have the foundation laid as BAM goes into its fifth year and the CAFM goes into its third year.  CAFM and BAM have served more than 40 farmers this past year, who in turn, served hundreds of local families fresh, clean food from their small family farms.


With your continued support and commitment to BAM and CAFM, we have not only survived, but we are beginning to thrive, it seems. With your help, we have created two top-notch Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs and sponsored or catered numerous local food events. At the same time, BAM alone has put over $500,000 back into the local food system through your subscription dollars direct to farmers, while helping numerous farmers find customers for their crops.  At times, BAM has helped many farmers when they have had financial shortfalls and other markets did not exist for their produce. The same is true for our outdoor and online markets. When this magic happens, our purpose is validated!

BAM, combined with the growing impact of CAFM outdoor and online farmers markets, is making local food more accessible than ever before to those who need it most. With great interest, I have had brief but exciting talks with a large public school system about getting the Basket-A-Month CSA and CAFM into these schools.  I am also meeting next week with big-league buyers of local fresh market products (retailers and foodservice providers) to create a 100,000-square-foot processing, storage and distribution facility for certified Arkansas-grown products. Great opportunities such as this keep appearing for our small but growing group of farmers. Figuring out how we can do all this is mind blowing, I must confess!

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CAFM AND BAM PROGRAMS: Community Supported Agriculture at work
Although I have not been able to find a home for every item farmers have presented to us over the past couple of years, we have done a pretty good job in these early stages of market development.  In some cases, we had to create new markets to continue our growth, which continues to be our strategy.  First was the evolution from the River Market in Little Rock to the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in Argenta; then we expanded into Hot Springs Village and Searcy with outdoor farmers markets. In 2008, we added the online farmers market, which is seeing double-digit growth this winter with hundreds of people signed up and picking up their orders on Saturday mornings.  In the coming week, we are talking to three more significant Arkansas communities about hosting additional CAFM outdoor and online markets, as well as BAM.  CAFM has had nearly a dozen calls for help building a source-verified network of farmers markets in communities around the state.  Our growth is shocking to me, as I can see our CAFM concept finding its niche as an economic development tool for Arkansas farmers and communities.

As a consequence of our work, we are strengthening the local food system as well as the local farm economy.  I'm confident we are starting to make an impact, although still very small!  Add the sales from our outdoor markets, BAM and online market, and our economic impact to the state is about to exceed $1 million (in my best approximation) over a four-year period.  Moreover, we have created an organization to work on behalf of small farmers. We can honestly say, finally, we have a voice in Arkansas agriculture for sustainable farming -- collectively through CAFM, Arkansas Farmers Market Association, Arkansas Food Policy Council, Arkansas Sustainability Network, Delta Network, Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Arkansas Local Foods Initiative, and Heifer International's USA program. These organizations are starting to make a significant impact on sustainable food policy in Arkansas.

LOCAL MARKETS ARE HARD TO BUILD
CAFM is addressing an epidemic affecting communities all over the state that want to host a community farmers market but get overrun by non-producers selling imported produce within the first year or two of market start-up.  In the numerous cases I've heard, studied, and witnessed personally in our state, each time a legitimate farmers market is attempted, it is thwarted by non-producer resellers who make it their own personal retail store (low overhead and tax evasion), while not growing or producing anything of value for the community, the economy, or the land.   While most might not know this, they are displacing a small farmer who needs a fair trade market to be sustainable by being able to reach the local consumer base. Limited dollars come into a community farmers market -- let's keep these food dollars ALL local.  Your support is welcome and needed on this issue.

MORE PROBLEMS FACING SMALL FARMERS AND THEIR COMMUNITIES IN ARKANSAS
For fresh market farmers, we are beginning to use the phrase “commercial dumping.”  It happens often when large retailers reject loads of produce over some technicality, like the temperature of the load upon arrival or blemishes on the produce items (from the long ride). This imported produce has become a huge issue for us at CAFM. Once Wal-Mart or Kroger, for example, rejects this load, the truck drivers have to get it off their trucks so they can move to the next paying load back to California, Florida, or Mexico, for example.  This creates opportunities for some wholesalers in central Arkansas to resell these items at deep discounts, which often skews the real price of clean, sustainably produced local food.  It is often these products that create opportunities for resellers to profit, and eventually the farmer on the other end of the transaction eats the loss out in California. 

In my eyes, it hurts many farmers when a load is rejected and “commercially dumped” in a community farmers market environment like the Little Rock River Market, or Cabot, or Hot Springs, or any number of community-specific examples that long ago crumbled around the state from this epidemic.  Pine Bluff is the second worst case in the state behind the River Market, in my opinion.  It is CAFM that is now coming to the rescue in communities that face this ongoing problem, while some communities like Little Rock and Pine Bluff are still reluctant to tamper with the status quo of their pseudo farmers markets.

BUILDING LEGITIMATE FARMERS MARKETS
The high profile River Market says it's the home of the Little Rock Farmers Market. It calls itself a legitimate farmers market, but it allows the wholesale punishment and decay of our small farmers by allowing unrestricted vendors who are almost always avoiding state, county and local sales tax under the guise of a farmers market, and often masquerading as a farmer unbeknownst to the average consumer.  Those who are currently benefiting are doing just well enough to keep their mouths closed and not complain, as they know the truth will soon be discovered  by the tax authorities as well as legitimate farmers who want to be sustainable in their own community.  Well, I'm complaining for them and we are campaigning to make it known to all.  The others who will battle against our mission to clean up the River Market are the ones who perhaps are doing the harm, have a vested interest in not changing, and have loyal customers who will always have their sympathy. Getting only local farmers back in the River Market is not going to be easy.  It's a difficult and outrageous battle to propose, and I have many friends in the middle who may stand to lose, but to clean this up at the River Market would offer the one boost our small farm revolution in Arkansas needs to become thriving once again, combined with the many markets we are currently building as CAFM.

NEW FOOD POLICY NEEDED
If we can persuade our policymakers to see we need this fairness to be mandated throughout the state as law -- to provide designated, fair trade markets exclusively to our state's farmers and the produce they themselves grow -- it would be an automatic game changer for the fresh market farmer!  I'm thinking that we may propose to host a CAFM market on Saturday at the River Market, and ask all the non-farm vendors (as well as farmers who want a second day to to sell on) to move to a Sunday market with a new distinction such as “International Bazaar" or "Flea Market,” for example.  This would help the merchants drive two big business days downtown, it would segregate the tax-exempt farmers from those who are required to pay state sales taxes from reselling, and it would give the city, county and state a legitimate reason (increased tax revenue) to make the legal distinction.

Mixing farmers with resellers will never be fair to local small farmers or the local food system.  Perhaps we can accept cheap, commercial resell of food on Sundays, as long as it isn't disguised as local farm food and taxes are paid on profits of these exploits of commercial resellers.  I agree this sounds a little radical, but I'm tired of denying the magnitude of the problem and postponing this opportunity that is overdue to our state's fresh market farmers.

KEEPING OUR MOVEMENT STRONG
Since 2004 when we started Hardin's River Mercantile at the River Market until today when we are getting ready to open a beautiful new million-dollar grocery store in downtown North Little Rock (Argenta Market), we have been underfunded and have fought regularly to keep this market-building initiative alive.  As I see occasional glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel, I marvel at the tremendous battle we have fought to build fair and growing markets for our small-acreage farmers --   some mental, some physical, but most political.  However, I must confess, I feel this is the most noble and satisfying pursuit of my life if ever anyone doubts my motivation.  Our dedicated customers and supporters are the ones who make it so satisfying and rewarding for the many of us who end up volunteering many hours each year to  make these programs come together for our children's future.  For all of your continued commitment and steady financial support of BAM, CAFM, and soon Argenta Market, we want you to know it is you who motivate us to work hard to provide the best and most nutritious food our state has to offer.  So much good is done when we work collectively with our food dollars. More than one thousand people are on our e-mail distribution list, and you are all greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

SETTING THE TONE FOR THE YEAR AHEAD – 2010
Even though much of the work that I'm alluding to has yet to come together completely, I am spending much of my days on the farm in Grady thinking and planning the upcoming year and have become very excited about what the future has in store for us this market season.

There is more here to list than I'm sure you all will care to read, but some of the highlights must be published here in this newsletter, as I'm already delayed getting some important updates out to you.  Consider it a sort of annual report from me to you. 

And if you can give one thing to CAFM in the year ahead, I ask that you volunteer in our markets whenever you can, mainly with a mission to help get more food distributed to more families from more farmers all around the state.  I hope that more individuals will re-dedicate themselves to CAFM, BAM, our local food festivals and other new projects coming in 2010.  This year is going to be a glorious celebration of farming and local food and I look forward to seeing you all again at our farmers markets this coming season.

Jody Hardin

2010 UPCOMING EVENTS (Check back often for additions and updates.)

January Basket-A-Month CANCELLED.  We regret that limited farm inventories due to weather have forced us to cancel January BAM. We ask for your understanding in this very difficult month to organize a suitable basket of local fresh produce.  We still aim to do 12 baskets in 2010, but like January 2009, we are unable to put together a high quality local food basket that you would appreciate. We may expect this to be a continued pattern each year, although we have done several January baskets and they turned out nice in years past.  This year is hopefully an exception.

January 23:  CAFM Online Market Pickup in Argenta (last day to order for this week's pickup is Jan. 20, 6 p.m.)

January 28:  CAFM Classroom on the Farm: A Winter Farm Tour (Farmers and Chefs, By Invitation Only)

February 18-20:  Projected Basket-A-Month Pickup (if weather and farm inventories permit)

February 26:  Arkansas Farmers Market Association Annual Conference, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Headquarters at UALR, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Market Managers and farmers from around the state converge in Little Rock.)  For Info Contact Jody Hardin, Conference Chairman: certifiedarkansas@yahoo.com

February 27:  Certified Arkansas Farmers Market Annual Meeting at Cooperative Extension Service Headquarters, UALR.  For Info Contact Jody Hardin, Conference Chairman: certifiedarkansas@yahoo.com 
Details coming soon: check www.ArkansasFood.net for updates.

March 15:  Argenta Market Projected Grand Opening!  Many of you may remember last year in January when I proclaimed we were only months away from a March or April opening.  Well it took another year, but this time looks like a sure thing right now!  Thanks for your patience, and more info will be coming soon.

April 17:  CAFM Argenta Farmers Market Soft Opening!  Strawberry and plant season begins.

May 22 or 29:  First Annual Strawberry Festival in Argenta

July 3:  Second Annual Argenta Foodie Fest

MORE UPDATES COMING SOON AT WWW.ARKANSASFOOD.NET

For information about Basket-A-Month CSA, please send all emails to csalittlerock@yahoo.com.
VISIT OUR ONLINE MARKET!  www.cafm.locallygrown.net