Toronto to close Riverdale farmers market

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Toronto's first organic farmer's market, founded in 2001, is closing down, the Toronto Star reports.

Ever since its founder and local food advocate Elizabeth Harris died in 2011, the city has been running the Riverdale Farm Farmer's Market. However, the city decided that the market – which usually runs from May to October – will be shut down. Carol Guy, a Parks supervisor and part of the market's management team, told the Toronto Star that an increase in downtown farmer's markets, along with "torrential downpours" over the last two years has caused attendance to plummet. "We go from having . . . nobody because of bad weather to something like 350 people in July. It's all over the map and not consistent," Guy told the Star.

Not everyone blames the weather for the low attendance. According to the Star, Laura Sabourin, one of the founding vendors at Riverdale, thinks the market's problems were because of city mismanagement after the death of Harris. "Elizabeth was a very dynamic driving force," Sabourin said. The city "didn't have the passion and the love for it. For them, it was a job." She feels the city was much more hands-off.

Former Riverdale vendor Marina Queirolo agrees; "(The city) hired staff that really is not engaged with the market community," she told the Star. "If you don't have a champion that talks to the community and sees what's happening to address any changes and make things work better, you start losing customers." BF