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Commission discusses reviving Templeton Farmers Market; vendors and visibility cited as biggest hurdles
Summary
Members weighed three options — discontinue the market, pair it with the concert series, or host it at the community garden — and emphasized better advertising and vendor recruitment after low vendor revenue last year; the market is not on the state manager list.
The Templeton Agricultural Commission discussed plans for the Templeton Farmers Market during its May 7 meeting, weighing three options for the season and focusing on vendor recruitment and location to improve visibility.
The chair outlined three choices: discontinue the market, coordinate with the cultural council’s concert series, or host the market at the community garden site so visitors can see the beds and participate in educational activities. The chair said she was "kind of open to the idea" of trying the community garden location if permission is obtained.
A committee member speaking from a vendor perspective emphasized the need to make the market convenient for vendors while also ensuring visibility for customers: "You wanna make it ease easy for the vendors, but you also wanna make it accessible for those who are gonna come to the market," the committee member said, arguing the common near the church paired with concerts had provided good exposure in prior seasons.
The chair, who said she was a vendor last year, reported low returns: "as a vendor, last year, I made at the end of 3 weeks, $20," and acknowledged that vendors face significant setup work. The commission noted the market previously ran in conjunction with concerts and that last year’s vendors included bakers and small-scale food producers; roughly five to six vendors participated in the referenced season.
Administratively, the commission confirmed the market is not on the state farmers market manager list, which requires meeting minimum qualifications the commission currently does not meet. Commissioners proposed targeted solicitation of vendors (for example, outreach to nearby producers) and better advertising as steps to improve turnout if the market is run again.
No formal decision to run or cancel the market was recorded in the provided transcript; commissioners said they would explore vendor interest and advertising and bring the topic back to the next meeting for a follow-up decision.
