Nostalgia! xenophobia! bureaucracy! or, the latest from the Hamilton Farmers' Market

Jennifer Hompoth writes to tell me that here has been some progress on the fight to maintain the Hamilton Farmers' Market as a site for diversity, cosmopolitanism, and consumer choice. As I reported last week, a number of long-time tenants of the old market are at risk of losing their slots in the newly renovated market space, thanks to a soviet-style application procedure that privileges local farmers and producers, and requires them to "itemize each particular kind of produce/foodstuff sold, and to write a paragraph on how their business promoted the market and the city of Hamilton."

There was a hearing last Thursday, at which a crew of vendors and interested citizens gathered at city hall to present their appeals to the Hamilton Farmers' Market Transition subcommittee. According to Jennifer:

Appellant stallholders brought loaves of bread, fruits and vegetables, cakes and pastries--in the outright belief that the proof of their product would be, of course, adjudicated by the excellence of their wares. These were, of course, ordered away by proper Council procedure. Only 2 appeals were heard, with the remainder to present this Thursday, Dec. 16th, at 9:00 am, Hamilton City Hall. There is the general sense that citizens' effective mobilization has made Council pay attention to the issues raised by citizen groups qua "consumers"---although I am concerned that the diversity and social inclusion issue is being sidelined by the lobbying of groups like Farmers' Markets Ontario.

If you want to know what sort of lobbying is being done by FMO, check out this video, where the xenophobia and fear-of-otherness implicit in the whole locavore movement is muffled under a flurry of sepiatone Rockwellisms about helping the planet and being friends with the person who grew your salad.

So what next? In advance of the meeting this Thursday, everyone should read Jennifer's post on her Facebook page. I could only dream of having laid out my concerns about localism this clearly in my book:

Of all of the newly accepted businesses, all had websites. Most reflect a "trend item" direction---selling boutique lavender, cupcakes, and organic bread retailing at $5-10 a loaf. Although the City Staff has since denied that this is their intention---the tune has changed as citizens have caught wind of the smell emmanating from city plans--a look at the "new" vendors, as compared to the ousted vendors belies the direction in which the city is moving. It is one which overlooks, casually as a tossed designer mink coat--, the people and communities excluded by the City's aesthetic fetishization of plastic designer food and ruddy agrarian nostalgia.

More brilliance here.