Li Chien-wei's 8 years of observing farmers' markets: Selling products or building community to avoid boredom

After decades of development, farmers' markets in Taiwan, China have become one of the activities that both public agencies and private groups rush to organize. The author began participating in the promotion of Hualien Good Things Market in 2010, participated again in the promotion of Tamsui Farmers' Market in 2012, and by 2018 returned to Hualien Good Things Market as a vendor to continue participating. In between, in 2011, the author completed a master's thesis titled "A Study of Consumers' Overall Attitudes and Loyalty toward Farmers' Markets - Taking Hualien Good Things Market as an Example." The author has observed the development of farmers' markets for more than 8 years.

The author's identity has shifted from consumer, promoter (volunteer), and researcher to participating farmer. When participating in markets under different identities, the author has also viewed the existence and development of markets from different angles. Below, the author shares some preliminary observations from these years, and also offers some observational thoughts for the development of farmers' markets in Taiwan, China, which has now reached 10 years. The following will not belabor the development of farmers' markets, but will directly use questions to bring out the author's observations. Perhaps the viewpoints are somewhat limited and reflect different regional developments, but they are nonetheless first-hand on-site observations.

Holding a land-related photography exhibition at the market @Tamsui Farmers' Market

(The original text of this article was published in Green Sprouts No. 86, 2018.11/12. Green Sprouts is a publication founded in 2003 that focuses on rural issues starting from the "three rural issues." Please support and sponsor it.)