Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Residents ask for a Joplin farmers’ market For instance, one rule is that no items are set aside for a buyer or sold before the market opens at 11 a.m. Thornberry said there have been complaints about the market not opening earlier in the morning.
“But our vendors want to pick in early morning. They want the product to be as fresh as it can be when they get here,” she said. “That’s why they start at 11 a.m. They have a 3 p.m. closing to give the vendors time to get home and take care of their farm chores before dark.” Members of the tourism committee at the Galena, Kan., Chamber of Commerce started a farmers’ market there this year. It’s slow-going so far getting vendors involved, said Renee Charles, a committee member helping to run the operation. There have been up to five sellers show up on market days, Thursdays and Saturdays, she said. “We’ve not had a lot. They all tell me this is a bad year for gardening,” Charles said. “But we’ve had a lot of customers. They’re coming, and they want a market.” One of the rules that the group had to set up was a method for collecting and turning in sales tax. She said the market volunteers submit a list of vendors each day to the state Department of Revenue, and then it is up to each vendor to pay in the amount of taxes they collect. “Another rule is it has to be local produce,” she said. Committee members visit the farms of the vendors and allow farmers to come in from a 70-mile radius of Galena. “You’re trying to help the local farmers,” Charles said. “And, that’s why people go to a farmers’ market — because they want to know where the produce comes from.” Dan Pekarek, Joplin’s Health Department director, said there are both city and state regulations, though they’re pretty simple. “The state has farmers’ market requirements,” Pekarek said. “We have our own policies. Under our code, they’re allowed to sell fresh, uncut fruits and vegetables by the individual growing them. They’re not allowed to sell home-canned or prepared items. That would have to be done in a licensed, inspected kitchen.” Thornberry and Charles both said they don’t feel that the operations in their towns would be threatened by a Joplin market. “We think there’s enough out there that everybody can have a piece of the pie,” Thornberry said. State directory Locations of about 70 farmers’ markets in Missouri, rules on operating them, and other information can be found on the state Department of Agriculture site on the Web at www.agrimissouri.com. 
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