Farmers' markets set entry thresholds to support small farmers and also safeguard food safety for consumers

Farmers markets everywhere draw crowds, and many farmers hope to become part of one. But who exactly can join a market as a vendor, and how can the safety and quality of market products be assured? Markets that emphasize supporting small farmers and diverse places of origin may have different "exclusive products" in every season, and their specifications vary in size, so a large-scale, uniform verification approach is impossible. How to vet products is a challenge for every market management team.

"When a product has a problem, consumers only think, 'this is something from such-and-such market,' and the market's credibility cannot be separated from the farmer. After food safety incidents broke out, many consumers turned to farmers markets for high-quality produce, which puts even more pressure on us." A farmers market manager said that adopting strict verification across the board is the safest approach for consumers, but the high cost could "crush" 90 percent of small farmers, "and how should processed goods and cultural-creative products be sampled and tested?"

"When Hualien Haoshiji first started setting up, it was still a roadside stall, and many grandpas and grandmas from nearby came over to ask: This is what my family grows, can I set up here?" Speaking about how to vet a market, Yan Jiacheng of Hualien Haoshiji also felt a pang of recognition. He said with a smile: "These neighboring farmers ask with their mouths whether they can set up, but actually their bicycles have already brought the vegetable baskets over, and they tell me, this betel nut I grew in the mountains is organic, what are you going to do?"

Who can become a market farmer?

Farmers markets are rising day by day. Who can become a market farmer? Quality must be taken into account at the same time, but one cannot be too guarded either, or be accused of being "exclusionary." A staff member who was unwilling to be named said that when some farmers fail to join because of quality problems, they complain everywhere, saying that "a certain market is just a small circle of relatives and friends, pulling together into factions," forcing the units that lend venues at a discount and the government agencies that encourage subsidies to come out and clear their names, insisting there is absolutely no favoritism toward specific people.

On this point, Cai Jianfu, founder of Hualien Haoshiji, said the market cooperates with National Dong Hwa University and has a professional "verification team." If a new farmer wants to apply to join, they first visit the place of production, "spending several months looking at the land, at field management, and at the person." Cai Jianfu said that ordinary laboratories can only test for specific substances, and a market cannot completely trust test reports. "Of course, if a trustworthy organic farmer recommends you, that is even better. It is fine if no one recommends you; we will visit in person."

(This article was funded by the Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation for personnel expenses, but with absolutely no interference in news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)