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A Saturday at the market is a busy affair. The warehouse-style building at Pier 20 is packed, filled with brightly coloured flowers, fresh vegetables and yummy smells of coffee, cupcakes, samosas and Jamaican beef patties. Mary Nkrumah is ready to work. The day before, she spent $135 on lamb, bought from a stand not far from her own. Even early in the morning, she already has customers pushing through the crowds.
A change to the market layout has Nkrumah worried, however, about the future of her business and the diversity of the Seaport Farmers’ Market.
By July, Nkrumah’s business, Mary’s African Cuisine, will be out of the market’s main foot traffic area and relocated instead upstairs on the mezzanine. The market’s management, the Halifax Port Authority, is envisioning a “prepared food village,” modelled after a mall food court. Six vendors—Viji’s Veggies, Mary’s African Cuisine, Pierogies 4 U, Stella’s, Turkish Cuisine and Amin’s Indian Food—have been told they must move to make room for more farmers.
All six currently make up most of the market block where prepared foods are sold. It’s bordered by Julien’s Pastry Shop and The Cake Lady, neither of whom have to move.
“It doesn’t sound right,” says Nkrumah. “I would be OK if everything we call ‘ready-to-eat food’ is upstairs.”
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The changes come out of a 2013 public consultation put on by the Halifax Port Authority. Many artisan crafters already moved to the mezzanine June 2014, and this is the next stage. The prepared food vendors tend to only serve a couple days a week, and are on short-term contracts. They’ll join three other prepared food vendors already upstairs.
The result will be a full block of ethnic food vendors moved upstairs—and out of sight. It will present an image that’s unlike the “well-mixed” Halifax Nkrumah has come to love since moving here from Ghana.
“That is how you should be when you come to the Seaport Market. We just don’t see only the farmers or whatever,” she says. “You see what Halifax is made up of. Halifax is mixed. Why is it you go to a space and it’s not like what you see outside?”
The relocation process, says Port Authority communications advisor Lane Ferguson, has been well-communicated since its start. “Ethnicity has nothing to do with this decision.”
He might be right, but this wouldn’t be the first time a farmers’ market had been inadvertently whitened. Markets across North America have been studied for their unvaried makeup. Scholars Alison Alkon and Christie McCullen, for instance, have investigated the problem in Californian markets.
“Market participants valorize the predominantly white vendors who ‘grow their food,’ rendering invisible the low-paid, predominantly Latino/a workers who do the bulk of the cultivation,” they write.
Their research in Whiteness and Farmers Markets (which you can read here) describes how the affluence and whiteness of markets “can inhibit the participation of people of color in alternative food systems…and can constrain the ability of those food systems to meaningfully address inequality.”
The relocation conflict at the Seaport Market has caught the attention of several local groups fighting for a more diverse Nova Scotia—including the African Diaspora Association of the Maritimes, the Black Business Initiative and the Ghanaian Association of Nova Scotia (GHANS).
“The current administration of the Halifax Seaport Market has stated that it is not their intention to relocate any vendor based on ethnicity,” George Katsriku, president of GHANS, writes in a letter submitted to the Market’s management, “but the result of the move will mean that one corner of the mezzanine floor will become an ethnic food court.”
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Mary Nkrumah is one of few vendors involved who’s willing to speak openly about this conflict. Others worried about the move, and how the change has been communicated, but were scared they would be penalized for speaking on the record.
“A lot of us selling the ethnic food here are immigrants and for some reason we had a fear: if we don’t do what the management wants, they will take our spot,” says Nkrumah.
She speaks up, she says, because she’s financially stable as the owner of Kick Cafe, at the BMO Soccer Centre. Her husband, Jonathan Roberts, is also a professor at Mount Saint Vincent University.
Stable or not, Nkrumah and the other vendors are worried about a drop in foot traffic. Mohammed Amin, owner of Amin’s Indian Food, once sold food on the mezzanine. People weren’t used to upstairs, so Amin says he moved to the main floor when a spot opened. Otherwise, he “cannot make enough money.”
Viji Ramesh, owner of Viji’s Veggies, says she was told she will be moving, but never given a date.
“We’re not sad,” says Ramesh. “We’re not unhappy or stubborn, but we’re already used to this place and we always feel that downstairs will be more traffic rather than upstairs. That’s the feeling, gut feeling. It may or may not be exact.”
Lane Ferguson says the proposed changes have been “well-communicated, well-documented,” and points to vendor meetings and Port Authority letters as proof. But past issues may be keeping some vendors from openly expressing themselves.
“To be honest, I don’t feel comfortable talking to them,” says Nkrumah. “It’s just because when I talk, they don’t understand me.”
“If there is a vendor who is concerned about language barriers by all means they should be coming forward to talk to us, to work through those concerns,” says Ferguson. “It’s a difficult one to talk to because we have been very open and upfront with all of our vendors, and all I can say to that is if people have concerns they are not only invited but encouraged to bring those forward.”
Ferguson says they will advertise to direct customers upstairs and will work with anyone concerned about transporting supplies up the building’s sole elevator each week. In the end, he says customers will have an easier time finding lunch, and food vendors will have more time to chat and build relationships with customers.
“Any time you have change, there’s always some trepidation from whomever’s going through the change,” says Ferguson. “Our goal with this is to grow business through the market.”
Both management and vendors want a healthy and successful farmers’ market, but isolating some of Seaport’s most flavourful outlets makes Nkrumah worry about what’s to come.
“Our businesses are going to go down,” she says. “Those who can’t anymore will just say, ‘Let me stop this. Let me stop coming to the Seaport Market to sell.’”
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This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2015.
Kick all of the ‘artisan crafter’ fucks upstairs and put the food people in the space they’re currently taking up. The only people who go upstairs are friends of the crafters already there.
Why is everything I’ve heard about the Seaport Farmers Market (even before it opened) always so shady?
The artisans were “banished” to the upstairs quite a while ago and yes their businesses have suffered as a result. It was not done because of colour or race, just part of a”master plan” that was bought and paid for and is now relentlessly being carried out to the detriment of the entire market. The food vendors are just phase two of the upstairs relocation. There are no racial undercurrents to the move. Everyone wants to be on the main floor, that’s where the customers are. It is the secondary food producers and artisans that carry the market year round. Sad that they are made to move out of sight. Why not put the farmers who are seasonal in the seasonal space which is adjacent to the market. Bright beautiful and open in the summer and closed in the winter??
What are you talking about? The whole back wall is scented candles, paintings on glass, and other assorted crap. The whole row could be one ethnic food vendor after another, which would be awesome. #seaportfarmersmarket #fail
Just another mis-step by Seaport Market (and there have been many). How can something be so poorly designed/thought out? Twice!
To the food vendors — come to Brewery Market! More and more people there every weekend, shopping for almost everything you need, socializing, noshing. (For myself, this is actually sometimes followed by a quick jaunt over to Seaport for feta cheese and beeswax candles, Dragon’s Breath cheese. Darryl’s breakfast wrap or international food of some sort).
Cranky, obviously you haven’t been to the market in A LONG TIME, so maybe you shouldn’t make such inflamatory comments. There are no scented candles, there is no painting on glass, and no artisans along the back wall. Comment on something you know ANYTHING about!
I keep my visits down to once every two months, longer if possible, damn you Roselane Farms and your double smoked bacon! Last time I was there was post Valentines February. I avoid the back area (and upstairs) because of all the crap that I don’t need being there, if it is truly gone, good. What is there in its place? If nothing, please put Mary Nkrumah there. Thanks.
This article is so true, many of the original food vendors and artisans
Have left the market after being harassed, moved and pushed around,
And many vendors sales have gone down significantly since the market opened.
It’s true for many of the farmers that don’t come anymore because they can’t make money either. The market can’t keep any new farm vendors or wineries either.
Most vendors are scared to speak up because the ones who have have been threatened, moved to bad locations and are harassed to the point that they leave.
The market had so much potential to grow the local and rural economy but management keeps making decisions and changes based on the opposite of common sense.
There are the original food stalls that were in place when the market was set up. Their all along one wall and the food court upstairs. These people had to set up a kitchen. They have payrolls, tax’s and utilities to pay. They have to open during the weekdays. If I was one of these business’s and had to watch all these small food stalls being set up across from me, that operate with a small hot plate or bring in already prepared food….I would be complaining. Whats their overhead? The congestion and lineup’s that result of these small food sellers would also be a irritant if I was a farmer trying to sell some of my produce. I used to go there to buy a little produce but I don’t anymore. The place is turning into nothing but craft’s and food. I think the goal was to cater to the cruise ship passenger’s. They do not buy fresh produce or meat. They buy dog toys and candle’s.
Move these prepared food vendors upstairs? Wait….I’m confused….who’s going to be on the first floor? Every week that I go, the market seems emptier and emptier. Does this just mean more empty adirondack chairs in the place of vendors? I attend the Halifax Seaport Market every week. I used to love walking through crowded aisle ways, fighting for elbow space, listening to fellow marketers conversations—it gave the market a certain energy, a lively place to be vibe. On days when I didn’t feel like contending with crowds, I didn’t go between 10am and 12pm. I love the crafts (I buy all my gifts there), I love the food (yummy), I love the produce—let’s not get rid of any of it—it’s all great! Put everyone back on the first floor please, so I don’t feel like I’m walking through a half empty warehouse anymore.
I have little to knowledge of the vendor aspect of things at the Seaport Market, but as a customer there all of the recent changes have made the market experience WAY better.
http://www.thecoast.ca/RestaurantandBarNew… 129 posts for a food court. Where are these people now?
I like the food vendors immersed on the first floor. I like to get my prepared foods last (after getting my veggies) just to keep them cool as long as possible. It is hard to carry all your veggies up the stairs and back down with the crowds (and I never seem to get a parking spot close by and hate dragging a shopping buggy in that crowd).
BTW, what is Ferguson talking about,” they will have time to chat and build relationships with customers,” they can do that on the main floor where they are now. I tend to buy from my same farmers each week, not because I chat to them, but I like their produce.
There are also wonderful candles on the main floor but don’t hate the honey booth, they have great honey too.
The word, “whitening”, is one of intention; it does not imply chance.
Sensationalism belongs to the National Enquirer, not The Coast.
Cranky. You need to be out in your place. These vendors are not fucks. They’re people running small businesses that are being bullied by market management and I know this for a fact. It happened to me as a past vendor.
Yeah you’re right. They’re just doing their thing. Nothing wrong with that. I apologize for being a douche. But, if someone opens a steampunk inspired nicnak booth, all bets are off.
FYI, though, I was referring to the artisans as fucks, not the small food vendors though. I like the small food vendors and have on occasion purchased their fine fare.
Another gem of wisdom from Cranky … Why isnt he our prime minister yet? He seems so intelligent!!!
“Whitewashing”, “whitening”; the words used on the front page and in the headline imply that discrimination and racism are the reasons for the planned changes for the small ready-to-eat prepared food vendors in a specific block of the Seaport Market. Then half-way through the article Rachel Wards admits that the accusation might actually be wrong. A very nice person would call this sensationalism, but to be honest this kind of journalism qualifies as incitement. Cool down and realize that a farmers market is, well, about farmers and their produce.
The issue with the relocation of the ethnic food vendors at the Seaport Market is not one of communication, as the Port Authority’s PR person, Lane Ferguson, seems to think, but one of discrimination. It may not be purposeful, but the fact that Authority management has not considered this dimension of the market’s operations does not excuse it. Perhaps it should be called “negligent” instead of “inadvertent” whitening. The suggestion that the complaints are just a natural side-effect of change only adds insult to injury.
Discrimination aside, the action shows a failure to understand what give the market life, which is the mix of activities and the movement and flow that results.
Ken Dewar
Do over priced egg wraps count as authentic maritime cuisine?
Why does it become an issue of colour every time a person of colour is involved? It has nothing to do with the colour of your skin and calling it a decision of discrimination is wrong.
Wait until they don’t get their invite to that Dinner in White thing that the cool kids have.
How about this: if Etsy is your main marketplace, you go upstairs.
I love these comments that suggest people only go to local markets to buy food. Are they crouching naked in their bare apartments? Or do they shop at Wal-Mart? Think about where your money goes, people!
Why was a pile of money dumped into the Seaport Farmers Market again? http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1280…