The Manifesto for Localisation starts with your Friday morning Farmers Market.
The Friday morning market could be the anchor in your life!
Many of us have been making different choices about what we eat, who we buy our food from and how we grow and make our food for a while now; some of us just wanted a place to sell direct to our customers.
So we first started the market in 2009 in what was then a sleepy Ohoka.
Over the decade and more the market has become a place where hundreds of different small food artisans and artisan crafter’s have gathered to sell their good quality wares at any one time.
Over time increasing numbers of customers have patronised these small businesses contributing to the vibrant market and economically viable businesses you see today.
For many who shop here it is simply a regular shopping experience; a place to find and source foods that are not available elsewhere perhaps more artisan, seasonal and specialist in nature, and foods that are of a better quality and foods that are grown locally.
This action fosters the locavore philosophy which is fundamental to Farmers Markets; seasonal foods, proximity to them ie the food miles, along with keeping economic resources in the area at the same time as ensuring the food producers retain full value in their labours. These factors are what creates food resilience in a region.
The market is also a gathering place and there is something special about Ohoka Farmers Market. Because it is one of the few regular country markets in the region if not the country it has been referred to as a cultural gateway between rural and urban communities.
This gateway is evident every Friday morning when customers drive, bike,walk and even ride in order to reach the working market and enjoy a few hours in the morning in a relaxed market community sited in a rural country setting.
Farmers Markets are agrarian in purpose.
Being a country market we endeavour to avoid the trappings of the industrial food complex by supporting a commitment to sustainable methods of food production as well as protecting and celebrating local heritage that is complementary to Farmers Markets objectives.
The rural character of the area is an important part of that local heritage; one that has undergone significant changes over the years with the increase in industrial scale food production and farming methods as well as encroachment of more intensive housing on what could be food producing land; things that are not always compatible with resilient food communities nor healthy soils,water, nor healthy people.
These things good and bad all make up part of the rural character of this region. How we decide what we value the most is usually evident in the choices we make.
The number of people who support the market for its food in particular, is a sign that this is something many value. So too the number of producers, growers and makers of food and crafts who wish to trade.
Our rural character is in part defined by how inclusive we are in sharing our space with others which makes the Ohoka Domain a special place.
The market although strictly a working affair, blends the small private and small public spheres; including community groups, local sports centres, schools, charitable and government departments and food banks, ones that are compatible with the Farmers Market manifesto.
Farmers Markets are also a significant contributor to the local economy.
This farmers market is a collective of many different businesses, but each business and individual trader is independent, they are in the first instance the owner, operator, creator and grower of food to plant and craft.
This working market is part of what is now called a parallel food system; a place of trade that operates alongside the dominant industrial food complex. It does not compete with the industrial food system instead it provides something different from it, an alternative.
The necessity to comply with some of the food industry standards means this alternative system works with aspect of it but strives to maintain a healthy independence from it.
It is this alternative food system that our customers have supported over the years for many different reasons; actions that make the market and the small businesses such a success.
Regular shopping here creates and sustains the alternatives and encourages agrarian or artisan craft lifestyle options for all who are part of it, from those producers to the customers.
Enlightened local body representatives and their leaders also have the opportunity to appreciate the down stream effects in their local well fed and well farmed communities as a result of their support of markets like these.
What started out as a grass roots response to the over arching toxicity and centralisation of food by big business often in the form of an event or special weekend treat, has resulted in a thriving relaxed,alternative food market that has become a weekly habit for so many. This is a good habit.
We rejoice in what the Waimakariri region and our neighbouring regions provide.
Every time you shop at your Farmers Market, you are supporting and fostering the growth of good farmers, and producers in your region. You are an integral part of change which is necessary if you really want to do something about the quality of your food and the state of your health. But just being a customer is good enough!
You are much appreciated by your producers of good quality food.
The family that works and run’s the market have done so since its inception. They have resided in Ohoka for over three decades, and lived in the Waimakariri and Canterbury region most and all of their lives. They have long been active working producing participants in the market with it finally evolving into a shared generational experience.
Beyond the market… In the past 2019 - 2012 when it was easy we have gifted 40kg of apples and plums from our market growers, to a low decile school in the area every fortnight seasonally. The market has also supported local Charity Jams, Westpac Air Rescue, the Cust Volunteer Fireservice, NZ Cancer Society, SAFE, and numerous other charitable groups in the region who are compatible with our local food objectives but our focus is on the working participants of this market.
With that mind OFM also ask everyone who supports the market to refrain from using the market to promote yourself, or anything you think or decide needs promoting.
Please do not use it as a place of protest or awareness of and for their own or for others political, social, personal objectives. We try to be an inclusive community event but our objective is to simply provide access to good quality food every Friday morning.
Help us keep it simple and friendly.
Thank you from the stallholders for your continued support and long may that continue.
