For many, the familiar journey down Pembina Highway will forever be the ​sole ​road that leads to farm fresh produce, warm bread, hot coffee and Saturday morning entertainment. The St. Norbert Farmer’s Market, which has been around for over 25 years, remains the ​cornerstone of local food procurement in the city.

The good news is we can all have a slice of this Saturday morning tradition, only a little closer to home – and (nearly) any day of the week. If you haven’t noticed, the now ubiquity of local and organic goods, and of course the growing number of small farmers that supply them, has resulted in markets popping up in almost every neighbourhood.

Many will be familiar with the small but steady Gas Station Theatre’s Village Market, which takes place in Osborne Village every Thursday, and the Wolseley Farmer’s Market, which runs throughout the summer on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. For the more suburban of urbanites, there are weekly markets scattered throughout the city, ​not limited to River Heights, West Kildonan, St. James, and Transcona. Among recent game changers is a weekly market at Fort Whyte Farms, started just this year.

Multiple objectives are fueling this farmers’ market frenzy. A now steady demand for farm fresh goods, coupled with a desire to support for local producers, is the bread and butter of farm-based livelihoods. But some markets are borne out of concerns for local food security and access to healthy foods.

The West End Community Market, which runs every second Wednesday at the corner of Ellice and Toronto, held its grand opening this June.

“People are becoming more aware of food security issues,” explains Bren Dixon of the Daniel McIntyre/St. Matthews Community Association, which is one of many stakeholders in the West End market.

“[It was a] big partnership with a bunch of community organizations to make it happen.”

The main goal of the market is offering affordable produce in a neighbourhood where high markup and low quality produce is the norm.

The new West End market is hoping to build on the success of the growing number of markets in central neighbourhoods. The Downtown Winnipeg Biz initiated markets in West Broadway and at Manitoba Hydro Place within the last year.

This is a common model, according to Phil Veldhuis, former president and current board member of the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market and the Farmers’ Markets Association of Manitoba. It’s not surprising that various groups and neighbourhood associations are interested in the culture of farmers’ markets for their role in getting people out in the community, explains Veldhuis.

As a beekeeper and the face of Phil’s Honey, Veldhuis is also a landmark vendor at St. Norbert. But he isn’t concerned about competition from these newer markets – he’s more interested in what works for farmers.

“With multiple markets you end up with better vendors. It’s really worth investing in their farm or their business or their food truck or whatever it is because they can start to make a living at it – it’s not just on the weekend. I think it’s probably overall positive.”

Published in Volume 68, Number 29 of The Uniter (August 5, 2014)