Shoppers seem to regard farmers’
markets as expensive and upscale.
As a result, few Canadians with low
levels of income shop there.
Now a study by Kelly Hodgins of the
University of Guelph has detailed the situation.
"Alternative food networks are emerging
in opposition to industrial food systems, but are criticized as being
exclusive, since customers’ ability to patronize these market spaces is
premised upon their ability to pay higher prices for what are considered the
healthiest, freshest foods,” she writes in the abstract of her research paper.
“In response, there is growing interest
in widening the demographic profile given access to these alternative foods.
“This research asks: what barriers do
alternative food businesses face in providing access and inclusion for low
income consumers?
“Surveys and interviews with 45
alternative food businesses in British Columbia, Canada uncovered five key
barriers. “The findings indicate that the barriers are symptomatic of
structural issues in the Canadian food and social welfare systems.
“Although opportunities exist for
business operators to widen access for low income shoppers, these alone cannot
meaningfully ameliorate food-access inequality,” she says.
One approach that has been tried is
issuing coupons to low-income people to shop at a local farmers’ market in
British Columbia.
Vendors report they noticed a difference in their clientele,
prompting them to ponder changes they could make to attract a broader range of
clients.
Hodgins says that what’s required to
broaden clientele is a bigger challenge.
The issues are income disparity,
poverty, and food-access inequality more broadly, and require structural and
societal change to rectify,” she says.
