T h e W e s t s i d e P o c k e t M a r k e t Project Report 2011

Prepared by: Ilse Sarady & Sara Blenkhorn Date: October, 2011

“I’d like to buy all the tomatoes you have… I mean, if that’s okay?”

Favorite quote remembered by Backyard Bounty, Westside Pocket Market Vendor

2

TABLE OF CONTENT 1. Introduction & background to The Westside Pocket Market 3 2. The voucher program –making fresh food available to everyone 3

2.1 Details about the voucher program 4 3. Vendors 4 4. Financials –a pocket full of money? 5

4.1 Sponsorship 6 4.2 Pocket market sales 6 4.3 Sales trends over the market season 6 4.4 Correlation between sales and number of vendors 7

5. Marketing –getting the word out 8 5.1 Market attendance 9

6. Survey results –what did people think? 10 6.1 Visitor survey results 10 6.2 Vendor survey results 12

7. Volunteers –the people who helped make it happen! 14 8. Discussion 15

8.1 Vouchers 15 8.2 Preaching to the converted? 15 8.3 Factors influencing vendors and sales 16 8.4 Assessing The Market location 16 8.5 Getting the word out 16 8.6 What should be done differently next year? 17 8.7 Scaling out – how the Westside Pocket Market fits with the City’s goals 17

9. Final conclusions -evaluating the outlined goals 18 10. Additional Resources 19

3

1. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND TO THE WESTSIDE POCKET MARKET In the summer of 2010, the Kitsilano Neighborhood House (KNH) created The Kitsilano Growers Market with support from the Westside Food Security Collaborative and the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Grant. Its development sprung out of a need for increased support for community access to fresh food, and a desire to support local Westside growers by contributing to the local food economy. Due to the market’s popularity, this year KNH joined forces with a neighboring NGO with similar goals and initiatives around food, The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC). Once again, supported by the Westside Food Security Collaborative, KNH and SPEC called on Future Strategies, a local sustainability consulting company, to oversee the management of the project. Drawing on the successes and feedback from the year before, the management team consisting of, Sara Blenkhorn and Ilse Sarady, decided to host ten markets over the course of the summer. The goals of the market were the following:

• Build community and the local food movement; • Support the local economy; • Educate people about sustainable local eating through direct interactions with

vendors and at free workshops; • Provide access to affordable local food for low-income families and individuals.

2. THE VOUCHER PROGRAM –MAKING FRESH FOOD AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE The Westside Pocket Market ran a voucher program aimed at subsidizing the cost of local products for low-income families and individuals. The voucher program was made possible through a grant received by KNH from The City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan. The vouchers were distributed by KNH to community organizations operating in and around Vancouver and specifically the Westside. Families and individuals in need would use the vouchers to bring down the cost of the desired items, making the local and delicious goodies not only nutritious but also affordable. The vouchers received plenty of positive feedback from users saying that the program allowed them to buy things

4

they perhaps wouldn't or couldn't previously. In total, the program made $300 available for families and individuals for which $227 was redeemed. 2.1 Details about the Voucher Program There is a large demand for programs like this and local agencies are hungry to provide these kinds of programs to their constituents. Participating organizations, through which the vouchers were distributed, were: Jewish Family Services, Sheway, Steeves Manor and Kits Garden Group. To understand if, and how the vouchers were used, the vouchers were numbered, tracked and tabulated at the end of each market. A large contributor to the success of the program came from efforts to educate vendors on the program and the process for reimbursement. To make it easy for both the farmers and the voucher users, change from purchase was not allowed. Each voucher represented one market dollar. If the cost of a product was $2.50, the vendor would round up and take three vouchers in return for the local merchandise. 3. VENDORS In total, the market had 23 different vendors over a ten weeks span, ranging from small local famers, backyard growers, bread, pastry, jam and cookie makers. The bigger vendors, such as small farmers and midsize backyard growers, were able to provide enough products to sell for the duration of the ten weeks. Smaller backyard growers would participate only when they had an excess of produce exceeding their personal use.

Farm   Farmer   Products  

Back Yard Bounty Paul Myers Salad and salad mix, garlic, snap peas, pole beans, rainbow chard, kale, broccoli, sprouts, zucchini, green onions, new potatoes, tomatoes.

Back Yard Grower Rebecca Cuttler

Lettuce and herbs

Bee in Bloom Markus Storhas

Honey and honey products

Cherry Lane Farm

Miles Smart

Apples, blueberries, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, kale, Italian dandelion, romaine lettuce, squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup), early potatoes, corn, cabbage (green and sauerkraut), cauliflower, peas

Dog Gone Farms Emi Do A variety of veggies

Fresh Roots Urban Farm (utilizing school gardens, etc.)

Christopher Miles

Root veggies, herbs, lettuce, kales (all kinds), herbs, flowers, zucchini, etc.

The Vancouver Fruit Tree Project

Erin Kastner Fruit pastries “galettes”

GI Foods Alan   Baguettes

Giddy up and grow

Wheatgrass shots and cat-grass

Icy Fresh pops Moni and Christina Habib

Popsicles made from fresh local fruits and veggies

Jennifer's massage

Jennifer Massages for a donation

5

Kits Cookie Co. David Jianu and Luka

Healthy power cookies

Levni Chocolates Paul Handmade chocolates

Bread baker Moji Bread

San Juan Family Farm

Ruth Hearnden

A variety of organic and non organic fruits and veggies

Sandhu Produce Growers

Avatar and Jeff

Fruit and veggies

Semishell Shelley Collins

Salad dressing

Sev's Bread Sevran Howe Bread

Sivia Preserves Sivia Sadofsky

Jams, compotes and jellies

Sole Food Farm Sean Dorey Tomatoes, peppers, greens, lettuce, spinach, arugula, chard, kale.

World in a Garden, and Seeds of plenty

Tricia Sedgwick

Sprouted grain cookies, herbs, root veggies, zucchini, lettuces and kale

2051 Back Yard Growers

Marnie Newell and Sasha Faminoff

Veggies and herbs

4. FINANCIALS –A POCKET FULL OF MONEY? The original financial projections had been to run the ten markets on a total of $5,000.00. This was to cover all expenses, including two coordinators to manage volunteers, vendors, financials, and marketing and market supervision. In reality, the Pocket Market required a lot more time than anticipated; hence, creative ways to generate more funds were needed. Through the Pocket Market Sponsorships Program the market managed to generate $1,650 in support from local corporate sponsors. The table rental, although revised to become more affordable for vendors 1 , created an additional $1,678 in revenue. The need for in-kind donations such as printing and

1 Tables were originally rented at $30 per table. As sales were slow in the beginning for our farmers we adjusted the rate to 10% of total sales to a max of $30.

Expenses

Project coordinator x 2 $6,745

Volunteer expenses $440.68

Printing $499.66

Market permit $10

Misc. expenses $58.17

Voucher program $227.00

Total $7,981

Revenue

KNH $3,600

SPEC $600

Corporate sponsors $1,650

Vendor table sales $1,678.78

Massage donations $164

Swag sales $11

Voucher prog. (KNH) $227.00

Total $7,981

Donation in Kind Amount Value

Printing (SPEC & KNH) $300

Market material $500

Volunteer time 324 hours @$17/h $5,508

Professional vol. time 100 @ $25 $2,500

Total $8,808

6

volunteer time was paramount to the success of the market. In total, the market took 350 paid hours of planning and coordinating and over 425 volunteer hours. 4.1 Sponsorship –working with local businesses As mentioned, to support the Westside Pocket Market in delivering a successful community project, a corporate sponsorship model was implemented which was integral to funding the market. One of our Big Pocket Sponsors found it an opportunity to align with a progressive local food initiative.

“Salt Spring Coffee loves the concept of pocket markets and we were impressed by the vision and organization of the Westside Pocket Market team. Access to good quality local organic food is important. Pocket Markets offer a great way for local farmers and artisans to interact directly with local citizens and provide a direct link to where [their] food is coming from. Salt Spring Coffee works hard to build connections with coops and farmers at countries of coffee origin and we also support projects that do this in our own back yard”. Aron Bjornson, Director of Marketing, Salt Spring Coffee

The Pocket Market is very thankful for the corporate sponsors who participated in the market. A big thank you goes to Big Pocket Market Sponsor, Salt Spring Coffee Company and to the Small Pocket Market Sponsors Beverly’s Spa and Ethical Deal. Organizers would also like to thank Future Strategies, West Coast Seeds and How Do You Do for their generous in-kind donations.

4.2 Pocket Market Sales In total, the ten pocket markets generated $20,000 in sales for market vendors. At the most, The Market generated $2,500 per week. Sales per vendor varied from $50 to $650, depending on product, weather and number of market visitors. 4.3 Sales trends over the market season Sales were low on July 7 (at the first market), July 14 and July 21. During these dates, the sales totaled around $1,000 to $1,400 and The Market only had seven vendors at these times. It is likely that the low sales result was due to weather conditions as it rained for the first two markets and word-of-mouth promotion was still developing. On Aug 25, The Market increased to eight vendors and the weather

7

improved resulting in sales totaling around $1,800. On market days with eleven to thirteen vendors, sales averages around $2,500.

Table 1. Vendor sales over the time period of ten markets. Sales results were affected by the weather, size of vendor, variety of product offered and how well it matched buyer’s demands. Note: Vendors who attended The Market three times or less have not been included. 4.4 Correlation Between Sales and Number of Vendors Through the market season the number of vendors varied from seven to thirteen vendors.

Table 2 shows the relationship between the number of vendors and the total $ sold per market. As seen in Table 2, there is a correlation, if not strong, between the numbers of vendors and the total generated sales per market. It is more likely that independent variables such as weather and the number of market visitors affected the sales more than the actual number of vendors. However, it was important to balance the number of vendors with the number of visitors to make sure each vendor was able to turn a profit. It was also important to ensure that there was diversity in the products offered to reduce competition. For example, at one point, three tables were selling honey, which resulted in the sales of honey being low for all vendors. As vendors got to know each other they could anticipate what other vendors would bring, and would adjust their own offerings to accommodate each other.

8

5. MARKETING –GETTING THE WORD OUT Initially, marketing efforts were primarily focused on social media. However, early market surveys indicated that visitors largely came from the immediate neighborhood. From this, marketing strategies shifted towards poster and flyer drop-off in mailboxes, as this became the most effective way to reach the target audience.

Table 3 demonstrates how people heard about The Pocket Market. To increase market traffic, volunteers distributed over 3,700 flyers and 800 posters in total. These posters and flyers handed out every Thursday before The Market. In addition, sidewalk chalk and 40 re-usable lawn signs were placed around the neighborhood on market days. The City of Vancouver generously put up two Farmers Market signs on 4th and Vine and on Broadway and Vine.

The visitor survey shows that 49.5 % of all who attended the market saw a poster or a flyer on the street. 21.8 % heard about the market from a friend and 14.4 % happened to just walk by. A very

small number of people heard about the Pocket Market from any of the other marketing channels, such as KNH’s or SPEC’s website or newsletter. A large effort was also put into marketing via various list-serves and blogs. However, based on survey responses this effort was the least fruitful in producing buyers and visitors.

How did you hear about the Westside Pocket Market?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

From a friend 21.8% 41 I saw a poster on the street 49.5% 93 I saw a poster in a cafe/community center, shop etc.

5.3% 10

Via Facebook 3.7% 7 Via Twitter 0.0% 0 Via SPEC's website/newsletter 1.6% 3 Via KNH website /newsletter 2.1% 4 Via a blog 0.0% 0 Through a list-serve 1.6% 3 I just happened to walk by 14.4% 27 Other (please specify) 56

answered question 188 skipped question 58

Picture 1. Surprisingly consistent traffic, despite inaccurate posting of market times. The Markets official hours were from 3pm to 7 pm.

9

5.1 Market attendance The biggest attendance spike occurred from 3:00pm to 3:30pm, weekly. Thanks to the diligent volunteer efforts, visitors were tracked according to the following categories: Purchasers - people who bought products from The Market and, Walk-by –people who simply walked by, or stopped, but did not buy anything. The purchasers were divided into three categories; those who arrived by bicycle, those who drove and other purchasers- people who arrived by unknown means. As noted below in table 2, the “other purchaser” category was the largest survey respondents. Unfortunately, data is missing from the first two markets when the weather was very poor. Based on our sales record from these first two markets, attendance was lower than the other markets. Excluding the two first markets and taking into account the difficulty of tracking attendance, it’s estimated that The Market had over 3,739 visitors over the ten weeks, out of which 2,466 made purchases.

Date 07-Jul

14-Jul

21-Jul

28-Jul

04-Aug

11-Aug

18-Aug

25-Aug

01-Sep

08-Sep

Weather R

R S/C C/L.W

S S S.B H O.R/S H

Purchasers by bike

46 50 29 29 26 32 33 31

Purchasers car 15 15 8 19 8 12 9 2 Other Purchasers

332 190 257 306 311 238 210 258

Total Purchasers

N/A N/A 393 255 294 354 345 282 252 291

Walk-by 173 193 179 125 120 95 133 87

TOTAL 168 N/A 566 448 473 479 465 377 385 378 Table 3. Pocket Market Attendance. Weather explanation; R=Rain, S/C=sunny & cloud, C/L. W=cloudy & before a long weekend, S=sunny, S.B=Sunny with blue skies, H=very warm, O.R =overcast & sprinkles. Based on survey results, the majority, 66.9 % of the people who attended The Market lived in Kitsilano. The second biggest group came from areas outside of Vancouver (9.5%), which were put together in a group called “other”. It is likely that the market attendees in this group were either summer tourists or people who worked in and around Kitsilano.

Pocket Market organizer Sara Blenkhorn with visitor Tommy Chong.

10

6. SURVEY RESULTS –WHAT DID PEOPLE THINK? 6.1 Visitor Survey Results To appreciate if and how the Pocket Market reached its outlined objectives a survey was generated and 246 responses were collected. In trying to understand what attracted people to the Market the following questions were asked:

Reasons for Attending the Westside Pocket Market?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

To buy produce and products 74.3% 176 To partake in the workshop 3.0% 7 To socialize and connect with my community 30.0% 71 To learn more about SPEC and KNH 8.0% 19 Other 13.5% 32

answered question 237 skipped question 9

Table 4. Why people attended the Westside Pocket Market. The survey results showed that the majority of people who attend the market did so to buy local produce. The second biggest reason people attended the market was to connect with community.

Reason for purchasing produce at the Westside Pocket Market?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

For environmental reasons (e.g. trying to live more sustainable)

58.8% 140

To support local agriculture 75.2% 179 To support local urban agriculture (backyard growers, etc.)

65.5% 156

For health/taste reasons 65.5% 156 To meet and connect with local farmers, growers and other vendors

41.6% 99

To support my community 63.9% 152 It's convenient (e.g. close to where I live) 44.1% 105 It's good value (e.g. the market offers a good price for what I am looking for)

29.0% 69

Other 10.5% 25 Answered question 238

Skipped question 8 Table 5. Reasons people bought items from The Westside Pocket Market. Respondents selected as many answers as were relevant. The top four reasons for purchasing at the market were: to “support local agriculture” and “support local urban agriculture”, “for healthy/taste reasons”, to “support my community” and for “environmental reasons”.

11

Visitors were also asked “how important is it for you to support local and urban agriculture”. 71% stated that it is “very important”, 27.3% said it is “important” and 1.6 % said that it is “not important”. One of the few complaints around farmers markets is the high price of the products sold. Since industrially farmed food is heavily subsisted people are often shocked by real cost of producing food, which is reflected in the price tags at farmers markets. Market organizers and vendors struggle to find a balance to make it work for farmers and buyers to attend the market. To understand this better people were asked to provide feedback on their price expectations.

How did you experience the product/produce prices at the market?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

As expected, reasonably priced 39.9% 87 As expected, somewhat reasonably priced 38.1% 83 As expected, expensive 13.3% 29 Unexpectedly, reasonably priced 4.1% 9 Unexpectedly, somewhat reasonable priced 3.2% 7 Unexpectedly, expensive 2.3% 5

answered question 218 skipped question 28

Table 6. Price expectations from The Market visitors Table 6 shows that the majority buyers seemed pleased with the vendor’s prices. It’s worth mentioning that urban growers and small farmers produce might have been slightly less expensive than what is sold at the bigger farmers markets, and that people in general seem to expect that farmers markets are pricey. Also surveyed were people’s experiences in purchasing from and interacting with local vendors at The Market. Here are some examples of the 100 responses collected:

“I love the freshness of the food and the farmers”. “It’s nice to talk with farmers, bakers and

beekeepers”. “I would have come to every market all summer

long if I had known about it. Let me know how I can help!”

“I think it is important to bring producers and consumers closer to reduce prices for consumer and increase the income of producers, only by reducing the amount of transactions that add no value to products”.

“Very positive experience. Everyone is willing to share thoughts, ideas, food, and I feel a very strong sense of community. Thanks”.

“Excellent, informative-explanations about garlic, chocolate”

“Love bringing my toddler. Trust the health of the food for my child”.

“I think it's great. Only suggestion is to make it bigger!”

“The food is always awesome and you can feel good about buying it”

12

“It's nice to meet vendors, not as hectic as at the bigger markets” “It's the most important thing for connecting to community and the earth” “Good for community involvement” “Wonderful! You get to find out first hand where your food comes from and you can tell people

put love into making their products” “Very good and you find items you would not normally buy”

But, not all were as delighted with their market experience and some provided good feedback for improvements which were soon implemented;

“I would like to see prices posted at tables” “It needs to be more competitively priced in relation to

what you're getting. Certain segments of the population (low-income, marginalized, visible minorities) need to be accommodated to truly reflect the community”

“Mostly great interaction, but I found a couple of the vendors in the first markets somewhat indifferent and rude, lacking awareness that we are customers”

“More signage and door-to-door canvasser” All in all, several requests were received for a longer market season, expanding The Market into the fall and winter. There was also great educational value in the experience of buyers interacting with vendors. The Market clearly helped connect people with food and the community while creating a general sense of heath and wellbeing. 6.2 Vendor survey results Surveying vendors helped to create an understanding of how, and if, the market had been valuable for them as local food producers. It also shed light as to how they thought that the market might have impacted buyers and made a difference to the local food movement. The following questions were asked: “Can you describe in what particular way(s), or why, the Pocket Market provided value for you and your business?”

“The market has provided an opportunity to develop a social enterprise for a local food recovery program” [The Van Fruit Tree Project]

“We need to diversify our revenue sources, [the market] brought in a good additional income” “It has been so important for our product! Word of mouth” “[It helped give] exposure to a new product” “The direct contact between me as a producer and to the consumer; being able to collect

feedback on the spot and develop a relationship that goes beyond “selling”. It is very important for me to go beyond simple supply and demand”

“Decline in farm gate sales due to gas price [increase], HST, and regulatory changes have limited the restaurant sales. The duo has caused market sales to be a fairly important source of revenue”

“[The market is] the epitome of local and fits very well with me. The customers find it easy to shop here which brings them back week after week”.

“In your experience, interacting with customers, do you believe that the Pocket Market has been effective in educating people about local food and contributing to changes in eating habits?”

“Costumers come back for particular produce which indicated that they have healthy eating habits. They learn new ideas for food preparation [at the market] and they are inspired to be more creative with healthy food”

“How can it not? If vendors only talk about their product –and they do-they are educating [people]. Also, many people asked for advice on growing food themselves. Hurray!”

13

“[The market provided] time to talk about food. “This [contributing to change] could be improved but we did the best we could. I tried to

introduce people to new food and [I] was fairly successful at that. Lots of people returned for things like dandelion, squash and eggplant”

“Many people had not heard about the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project. We had a chance to educate about food recovery and food security”

“This is the most humble way to go towards incorporating self-decisions and individual values.” “Not sure. It seemed to me that most of the buyers were already conscientious eaters and all for

local food”.

“For you as a food producer, what has been the most valuable reason for participating as a vendor at the market?”

“Learning more about harvest and establishing relationships with other farmers, vendors and customers”.

“Giving people the chance to taste something new. Meet other vendors and people in the neighborhood”.

“[Earning] money for meat and come to think of it bread, too”. “The atmosphere of the market. It is incredibly friendly, peaceful and truly local!” “Outreach and education. Promoting our social enterprise”. “Building community. I have a great relationship with all the beautiful local people and it feels

awesome!” “I love being with like-minded people. It gives me hope and reminds me that we are many, from

both sides of the table. I sense that local food is not a quant idea, but a growing movement”. Finally, the vendors were asked to provide input to improve for future markets:

“Make it bigger, block off a whole street. More marketing and longer [market] season, [run it] well into October.

“Provide free table space for organizations.” “Customer reward program, [for example] “come and pick up leftover produce”.

In addition to the final survey, surveys were also conducted after each market to capture the satisfaction rates of all 23 vendors that attended over the span of ten weeks. Table 7 shows that the majority of the vendors were pleased with the sales results. However, the results from this survey likely portray a slightly negative picture regarding sales satisfaction, as vendors did not always fill in a survey after each market. Getting vendors to fill out the survey at the end of each market was difficult as most of them wanted to pack up and go home. The purpose of the survey was to create the space for vendors to share their experience from each market and use the feedback to make changes before the next. However, the surveys were more frequently filled in at the start of the season, when the weather was wet and

the number of people attending the market lower. Judging by the final market vendor survey, described previously, the vendors were generally very satisfied; Seven out of eight vendors who attended the last market said that they would come back next year. One out of the eight vendors said that they would “maybe” come back as they were concerned about “the reality of drawing more shoppers as it

14

seems like the market [area] might be saturated with Kit’s Sunday [farmers’] market”. It is important to point out that had all vendors filled in the ongoing vendor survey after each of the ten markets, the results would have portrayed the market in a more positive way. The reason for this is that vendors that did not feel that the Pocket Market was worthwhile chose to not come back after one or two markets.

Are you satisfied with today's attendance and sales results?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Not satisfied 11.8% 4 Somewhat satisfied 23.5% 8 Pleased 41.2% 14 Beyond my expectations 14.7% 5

answered question 34 Table 7 shows the vendors satisfaction with the sales results. Note that the results are likely misrepresented as most vendors did not fill in a survey after each market and because the surveys were more frequently filled in at the start of the season, when the number of people attending the market was less and the weather was not favorable. 7. VOLUNTEERS –THE PEOPLE WHO HELPED MAKE IT HAPPEN! Organizing the pocket market was an amazing experience, and it could truly not have happened without all the volunteers! So many people stepped up and donated their time and skills to the market, giving it its community feeling, which was part of what made this market so unique. It is hard to pin down just how many hours people gave to the market as so many helped out, even people who were not officially SPEC or KNH volunteers, but simply friends, family and others who just happened to walk by. The Westside Pocket Market would not have been possible without the following volunteers who made amazing contributions over the last ten weeks. A BIG thanks goes to:

• STEVEN LIM for… where does one start to thank Steven -he did everything and anything, including data entry, surveys, marketing, market set-up and takedown and so much more! Steven was always there to help when needed!

• MOHSEN MOLAVI for taking pictures, making sure our visitors filled in the surveys, marketing and helping out with set-up and takedown.

• TRACY SCALLION-MOORE for the countless hours she walked around the neighborhood dropping off flyers, keeping a close count on people at the market and helping with set-up and takedown.

Pocket market organizer Ilse Sarady with volunteers Moshsen Molavi and Steven Lim

15

• JOANN MELMAN for convincing people to take the survey and helping vendors whenever they needed it and most of all for her warm community spirit!

• MARY-ANN SIMPSON for assisting with data entry and convincing her partner to help her with flyer distribution.

• DONALD ADAMS for his musical talents and his success in creating a community vibe throughout the duration of the market;

• HEATHER COWTAN for helping with transportation of material and for being an amazing friend and supporter!

• ROB BECKWERMERT for his insight on outreach strategies and for lending out material.

• MARK GRIMSRUD for using his design skills to make an eye-catching poster and designing market vouchers.

• THOMAS CAMPAGNE for taking the poster picture. • SYD KJELLANDER for offering her back pocket and backyard for the photo

shoot. • JAY FOX for designing and making lots and lots of pocket market buttons. • TARA MOREAU and CAROLE CHRISTOPHER for volunteering their time to

educate people about gardening and seasonal eating. • A big thanks also goes to all the staff at KNH, especially Tamara who put up

with countless printing requests! • and finally, a big thank you to everyone else who lent a hand!!!

8. DISCUSSION 8.1 Vouchers As previously mentioned, the program was not used to its full potential as 73 un-used vouchers remained by the end of the market season. The vouchers were the most successful (most likely used) when individuals picked them up directly from KNH on market day, as opposed to receiving them on a different day, or from a third party organization. 8.2 Preaching to the converted? On average, the market had 374 people at each market. To understand whether the market attracted new local consumers, or if it simply diverted market dollars from other farmers’ markets, visitors were asked if they attended additional markets. Results showed the majority (84.3%)2 of the people who came to The Westside Pocket Market also attended other farmers markets. Visitors were also asked if they bought less from other farmers' markets in the weeks they attended the Pocket Market. The survey showed that 33% of the people who bought produce from the Pocket Market did purchase less at other markets. It is clear that a large number of the people who attended the market were already “converted local foodies”. The survey results indicate that there may be saturation for farmers market; that the number of people interested in or able to attend them on the Westside is currently stagnant. However, it is also very likely that more people will start buying local as markets become more accessible in terms of variety of locations, time of the day and day of the week. It is also likely that people who start buying locally at one location may become interested in attending another. The fact that close to 85 % of the people attended the Pocket Market also attended other market indicates that there may be a need to access local food more than once a week. Regardless, it is important that the local food movement continues to reach

2 A total of 199 responses.

16

out and educate people about the benefits and importance of eating local. As more people start to make educated food choices, the demand for local will grow and additional venues like the Pocket Market will see increased popularity. To survey interest for future market, visitors were asked if they would attend the market again next year. 54% said they would attend it weekly, 43% said that they would attend it sometimes and 3% said that they would not attend.

“Had I known about this [market] I would have come every week!”

Pocket Market visitor 8.3 Factors Influencing Vendors and Sales The slow start to the summer and the rainy weather was definitely a challenge, as it resulted in poor attendance and low sales. A relationship of trust and reliability proved to be a key factor in running a successful Pocket Market. Organizers needed to rely on vendors to show up on time and simultaneously vendors had to rely on the organizers to bring in sufficient purchasers. Because urban agriculture in Vancouver is still a developing concept, finding backyard growers with a surplus of produce, in particular in the early start of the season, was challenging. Therefore, the market had to complement with bigger growers, such as small local farmers. There were also challenges in finding an egg vendor, something that had been on the market-wish-list from the previous year. Unfortunately, eggs from backyard chickens are not permitted for sales and the market did not manage to find a appropriate egg-seller to step up to the plate. The other vendors sold low-risk produce, ranging from cat wheat grass to exclusive hand made chocolates. The diversity of produce helped bring up sales as it provided interesting variety for costumers. 8.4 Assessing the market location Despite the fact that the market location was not visible from most major streets, it was still able to attract people with signs and sidewalk chalk. In terms of how the location was experienced, people enjoyed the quaintness of the market and reported that it had a very “local feel” to it. The Market would likely have attracted more people had it been located in a busier area, but it’s not clear whether increased traffic would translate into more purchases. Those who made big purchases may have been people willing to go out of their way to buy locally. 8.5 Getting the word out Marketing was definitely a tough nut to crack. Despite the frequent postering, tweeting, sharing the market on Facebook, sending email notices out to NGO’s in Vancouver and sending out two big email notices via KNH and SPEC’s e-newsletters, people still seemed very surprised when they stumbled upon the market. The most common feedback on the survey form under “future improvements” was “more marketing”. Many visitors told us that they were very supportive of the market and that they were disappointed that they had not known about it sooner. For people who did know about it, it was clear that they often intended to come every week but forgot about it from one Thursday to the next. It is clear that staking a presence in the community and building a routine takes time. Therefore, it is wise to consider having markets run for more than ten weeks in the future to compliment marketing efforts. Regarding traditional media, local magazines were approached but unfortunately the timing of the market did not match with print deadlines. It was also slow building up market momentum in terms of visitors and it was not until the

17

two very last markets that it felt like the neighborhood knew and understood the market. 8.6 What should be done differently next year?

1. The Voucher Program: If the voucher program was implemented again it is recommended that a third party organization inform low-income individuals about the program and encourage voucher pick-up at KNH to spend on market day. This will hopefully result in fewer unused vouchers.

2. To achieve the goal of having more backyard growers at upcoming Pocket Markets it is recommended to advertise the market to growers in early spring. This way, growers have a chance to plan their growing season and they are therefore more likely to be able to produce a surplus available for sale.

3. Extend the market season beyond the ten weeks. 4. Find creative advertising ways and reminders to reach people interested in

buying locally. 8.9 Scaling Out - How the Westside Pocket Market fits with the City’s goals The Westside Pocket Market strategically aligns with the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan. In the early stages of its inception, organizers were very specific about making this a project of relevancy. Market organizers began by looking at the Greenest City action Plan and determining which areas they could create value. The following quote taken from the City of Vancouver’s website sums it up:

“By encouraging a more ‘local’ dimension in food we can start to reduce the size of our footprint by cutting down on the use of fossil fuels, arresting the loss of food-producing lands (and related bio-diversity), supporting the local economy and eating food that is healthier and better for us”.

Taking this a bit further, the Westside Pocket Market has contributed towards helping the COV achieve their goals in following ways:

• The City of Vancouver (COV) has a long-term goal to become a global leader in urban food systems, with a specific target of increasing city and neighborhood food assets by a minimum of 50% over 2010 levels. Over the last ten weeks The Westside Pocket Market has been a driving force in teaching local residents how to garden while simultaneously encouraging people who are already growing food to grow more by showing them how to and creating an avenue for them to make money from selling their surplus. On the demand side of the equation, The Westside Pocket Market played a role in educating the surrounding neighborhoods on the importance of supporting their local farmers by giving the community an opportunity to meet local growers and their products.

• Additionally, the COV has a long-term goal to achieve a one planet ecological

footprint by reducing Vancouver’s per capita ecological footprint by 33% from 2006 levels. The Westside Pocket Market was able to facilitate in this goal by allocating $20,000 to the local food economy, money that may have been spent on importing food from other countries.

• Another long-term goal of the COV is to gain international recognition as a

mecca of green enterprise by doubling the number of green jobs in the City by 2020, over 2010 levels. The Westside Pocket Market directly contributes to this goal by creating an avenue for small scale growers to explore growing and selling the products with little to no risk. Growers were invited to sell

18

their produce and only pay the market organizers 10 % of their profits to maximum of $30, this encouraged new farmers to explore in this space, see the demand and find their niche. Money went directly to farmers with operations in Kitsilano, Richmond and Vancouver’s east end. In total the Westside Pocket Market was able to generate $20,000 towards the local food economy

9. FINAL CONCLUSIONS -EVALUATING THE OUTLINED GOALS An iterative process of vendor and visitor feedback proved an effective methodology for perfecting the Westside Pocket Market model. In this process, three main success factors were reveled:

• Weather conditions affected the number of attendees and vendor satisfaction; • Visual reminders (posters) and verbal endorsement (word-of-mouth) proved

to be the most effective marketing avenues; • A broad diversity of products resulted in satisfied vendors with high sales.

Based on the goal criterion of the market, the market did meet its outlined goals: 1. Community building Having experienced ten markets this summer it is evident that the Pocket Market created a wonderful community feeling. Neighbours from all social and cultural backgrounds engaged and connected over food, live music and chats with vendors. Additionally, the market attracted many just for the sheer enjoyment of the market ambiance. This is supported by the findings that 30% of the people who attended came to connect with their community. Feedback from vendors also speaks to the fact that the market provided an important community connection. 2. Building the local food movement The market achieved this goal by simply providing a place for small vendors and growers to sell their products and to reach out to an interested audience. The $20,000 in revenue was pumped directly into the local food economy, most of which will continue to circulate locally. In terms of converting industrially produced food eaters into local eaters, the market might have been less successful as many who attend the Westside Pocket Market already attended other farmers market. 3. Educating people about sustainable local and seasonal eating It is likely that the market contributed in planting the seed for many more to start urban agriculture projects in their back yard. Evidence for this derives from feedback from vendors and responses at workshops as well as in conversation with visitors –many where thrilled about the opportunity to start to grow and potentially sell at future markets. Many also learned from vendors about seasonal and local eating as vendors were extremely knowledgeable and eager to share. 4. Supporting the local economy According to livingeconomies.org for every $100 spent locally $73 remains in the local community3. As a total of $20,000 was generated, The Market provided a substantial amount to local food economy. In addition, vendors also said that the market provided an important source of revenue. 3 www.livingeconomies.org

19

5. Providing access to affordable local food for low-income and individuals As mentioned, the voucher program distributed a total of $227 worth of subsidies to aid local low-income families and individuals in accessing local food. The program was very well received and the feedback given supported the fact that these subsidies were necessary in assisting local low-income families to receive access to locally grown food. 10. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Short Film - A short film by Michael Millard –How Do You Do TV: http://vimeo.com/27594338 A short film featuring one of the Westside Pocket Market vendors Alicia Baddorf from World in a Garden.

Pictures -There are plenty of pictures from The Westside Pocket Market. The best selection is collected on pickNshow http://www.picnshow.com/viewer/?id=d46a6076b05c183a and on Society Promoting Environmental Conservation’s Facebook page. The Kitsilano Growers Market 2010 Report -If you are interested in reading about the Pocket Market results form the year before, you can find it on http://www.kitshouse.org/programs/food-security/west-side-pocket-markets/