Another thing that I have been musing upon since we left Glen Valley Organic Farm (all that pedalling affords plenty of time for musing), is the idea that the farmers’ market is a great example of capitalism as Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson intended. So, time to delve a little into the theory of the market – I have been 
working in finance for the last three years afterall! In a well-tempered marketplace there are many different actors all competing; customers have freedom of choice and perfect information upon which to base these choices; and there are no barriers to entry in that marketplace. Inferior goods and unnaturally high prices are thus weeded out, as the laws of supply/demand dictate. Smith’s concept was of a ‘moral marketplace’ – there must be social values to guide actions within the system to avoid contagion and greed. Of course, Smith’s ideal was just that, and perfect competition is not realistic. However, the farmers’ market comes pretty close to a model of capitalism that is both benign and beneficial rather then brutal and destructive as the modern global system so often is. Why? Well, farmers’ markets are small enough for there to be good knowledge of the products by the consumers; there are a number of small traders and no real possibility of monopoly or oligopoly to distort the system; there are also relatively low barriers to entry – anyone can set up shop. There are also moral codes and ethics involved as most of the traders are local so don’t want to scam their neighbours as they have to live and work in the same place. I reckon it is a joy to visit a farmers’ market and see capitalism working well, and for the benefit of all participants. In his vision for the USA Thomas Jefferson envisaged a ‘nation of small farmers’ and distrusted cities and financiers. What an interesting project that could be!
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ooh look! i found your website, how lovely it looks. and what a great name, however did you manage to settle on it, there must have been so many amazing, funny, catchy options out there combining bikes and growing and such? trip sounds like fun, just what it was supposed to be and, strangely enough, in a very gentle sort of a way, it makes me more comfortable with the idea of heading off into the unknown myself for a while. there’s more to that, of course, but no need to get caught up in it for now. so, hope it’s all good, and your hands are getting calloused and knarly. how cool is that chandelier of peppers? more soon. go ned! go charlotte! go new agrarian world order! xx
I’m reading a biography of Stalin, and if the alternative to capitalist farmers markets is brutal collectivisation then that’s definitely BAD (just in case anyone was toying with the idea of starting a Communist revolution).
It would certainly be an interesting debate to say (in the name of local economies/sustainability) that our farming systems aren’t capitalist enough! However the problem comes when you think about internationalising the system, and the fact that now the cheap goods can be shipped in from pretty much anywhere. And then progressively-minded people get their knickers in a twist about the Common Agriculture Policy because they think that poor developing world farmers are getting a raw deal by not being on a level-playing field.
Though I guess the counter-argument to that is that without CAP the proper free market would mean that European farmers would be forced to compete properly and therefore we may have ended up with a more local market after all.
Please can you think about that a bit next time you are cycling for ages and let me know what you think about subsidies at a national/continental level and how the existence (or not) of them relates to ‘pure capitalist’ local farmers’ markets. Thanks!
I’m apparently not much of a capitalist.
I “ship” my product and average of two miles, have no access to or need for subsidies, and don’t really make any money!
I do however feed a small number of families with the best quality, purest and tastiest food that I can produce.