A Comparative Case Study of Nova Scotia Farmers’ Markets: Exploring Connections Among People, Places and Food

Kristen Lowitt, MES

Abstract
In recent years there has been a growing recognition of problems associated with the industrial food system. The increasing distance over which food travels means that few consumers have the chance to encounter the people or places associated with food production. In the movement towards more sustainable food systems, farmers’ markets may be key institutions. Direct marketing is central to farmers’ markets which enables selling that is based on a one-to-one relationship between producers and consumers.

This comparative case study explores connections among people, places and food and actors’ perceptions of ‘quality’ and ‘local’ foods at the Halifax, Wolfville and Hubbards Farmers’ Markets in Nova Scotia, Canada. Participant observation and interviewing was employed using a qualitative framework. This study was conducted as part of a MES degree program at Dalhousie University (2008) and is among the first comparative case studies of farmers’ markets in Nova Scotia.

In exploring connectedness in markets, findings suggest that producer-consumer relations, understood in terms of social embeddedness, form the foundation of the farmers’ markets that were studied. The markets were also important gathering spaces for the local community. This study corroborates previous research in finding that ‘quality’ was a complex concept associated with a range of attributes by different actors (see Sage, 2003 & Morris and Young, 2000).

Findings also indicate a range of understandings of `local´ food among market actors, most often understood spatially as the distance over which food travels.

 

Source
Thesis, Master of Environmental Studies 2008, Dalhousie University

References:

Morris, C. and Young, C. (2000). ‘Seed to shelf’, ‘teat to table’, ‘barley to beer’
and ‘womb to tomb’: discourses of food quality and quality assurance schemes in the UK. Journal of Rural Studies 16, 103-15.

Sage, C. (2003). Social embeddedness and relations of regard: alternative ‘good
food’ networks in south-west Ireland. Journal of Rural Studies 19, 47-60

 

Posted September 2008

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