Jean-Talon market cracks down on farmer
A farmer who sells at Jean-Talon market is in a fight with market management who are fining him $200 daily because his truck is 60 cm too long. Seems to suggest a pattern of harassment confirming that the market favours dealers over real farmers, a story we’ve heard on this blog before.
walkerp 10:43 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
When one oversees administrative affairs, it is a constant struggle not to become a dick. Most lose. I speak from experience. This is a case where someone in charge could easily have said “well this guy has been with us for decades, let’s cut him a little slack.” Instead, weak men fall back on regulations because it’s the safest choice.
William Raillant-Clark 10:54 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
This is what happens when you bloat public agencies with make-work schemes. People look for useless things to do in order to combat the boredom.
Bill Binns 14:02 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@walkerp – “When one oversees administrative affairs, it is a constant struggle not to become a dick.”
I am going to find a way to incorporate that statement into the training materials I use for new employees. This discussion about “let’s cut him a little slack” is something I argue about every day at work. Everybody who is the subject of any kind of inspection process expects that “they should be cut a little slack” or “inspectors should be reasonable” or “almost is good enough” but it is next to impossible to design such a program.
jeather 15:14 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
I understand that 60cm isn’t that much (it isn’t tiny, either), but at what point do we cut off slack? If we say, well, 60cm is okay, why not change the rules? Do we allow 70cm? 100cm? How do we decide who deserves slack?
I’m not commenting on this particular story: I’d like to know why they started cracking down this year, whether there were warnings about this, why he couldn’t be given leeway until the fall. There’s a huge lack of information here.
Jack 16:56 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
They cracked down on this farmer because he blew the whistle on the fact that so many “farmers” are actually grossistes who claim that status. It initially came up in a Rad Can and Le Devoir story in which he had the courage to be quoted.
Jack 17:02 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
http://jacquesetdiane.com/ferme.html
jeather 07:48 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
Well, that would explain it. I don’t think that this counts as “obsessively rule-bound bureaucrats”, then.
So as a customer of Jean-Talon and Atwater markets (I work near the former and live near the latter), how can I know which are the dealers and which the real farmers?
Kate 10:26 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
Jack, I’m curious on that question too.
Jack 11:02 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
The market now has posters identifying “producteurs”, however some claim that status because they have 3 apple trees. After 15 years of asking questions and just following the seasons you find out who really is who they say they are.The sad thing is the grossistes know they are not popular with the larger public, but they hold the hammer with administration.Lets face it if your confronted by a smiling tomato 12 months a year,thats a grossiste. People like Jacques and Diane need our support go talk them and buy something.
walkerp 12:09 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
So once again the big guys are using pressure tactics to drive the little guys out of business. Same thing as the local butcher shops all being forced to retrofit their displays in order to follow norms that are set for huge producers like Maple Leaf (the ones who actually do kill people).
“it is next to impossible to design such a program.” Bill, that is why it is so important to have well-trained employees who are treated with confidence and given leeway to use their own best judgement when applicable. A good organization has a strong large-scale framework with space for flexibility built around that.
jeather 13:18 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
“Wait 15 years and you’ll figure it out” isn’t particularly helpful.
Walkerp, the problem is that, if you can use your own judgement, you can judge that one group gets leeway while another doesn’t, even though the rules say everyone should be treated the same way. What is needed is reasonable and well-publicised rules which do not cover an excessive range (eg, no rule that is meant to cover both Tylenol and heroin) which some special group of people are not excluded from. (Note that rules can have flexibility built in.)
Jack 14:23 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
@jeather, your totally right, its not very helpful. My experience has told me that many times the ‘grossistes’ are dishonest when you approach them and ask if they produce their products. That’s what got Jacques into trouble.The market is now trying to silence him.I wish I could tell you flat out that what is advertised at the Market is true and who is who ,but I can not,because I don’t believe what I’m told.
Kate 14:28 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
jeather, I will now trust Jacques – I’ve bought herb plants from them in the past – and there are one or two folks other friends have attested to being real, but it does actually seem like the only way you can ascertain their bona fides is to ask around. I will see what I can find out.
jeather 14:35 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
Oh, I’ll certainly go to Jacques also. But I generally go other days of the week — he said he came in end of week and weekends — and I do often go to Atwater, so any further suggestions/advice would be great.
I have no problem believing that everyone claims to be a small farmer, whether or not it is true.
Kate 15:08 on 2012/08/14 Permalink
I know the market layout well, although I haven’t focused on individual dealers. The thing is this: the market’s open all winter, but for pretty much half the year most of the produce can’t possibly be local. There are exceptions – hothouse tomatoes, a few things like apples that can be stored and sold gradually – but even in the summertime there are a lot of things that can’t have grown in Quebec fields. So you keep an eye open for that. Someone selling citrus fruit and avocadoes is not a local farmer, q.e.d.
I know that the organic folks at the southern end of the arcade are real farmers – they must be, because they only sell what’s in season at any moment. Jacques et Diane are real. Most of the folks selling two or three things that happen to be in season are likely to be real. But the big fruit stalls – notably the two at the western end of the long alley – that sell a wide range of produce year-round can’t possibly be local farmers. They’re dealers, they get their stuff at the Marché du Nord wholesale like any grocery store.
That leaves quite a few stalls that are ambiguous. I’ll do a bit more research (which means asking friends, including a few who cook for a living and keep an eye on this stuff).