To me, it’s beyond simple. Here we are staring down climate change, and Oak Bay Council still seems to think we can play by the old rules. They think they have time to ponder, to study, to delay, and we can’t! We need action, and we need it now!
The issue troubling me, and many others, is that we still don’t have a pocket market in Oak Bay. There are many in other surrounding municipalities, but none here. Why? Because our restrictive bylaws won’t allow it. So, instead of leaping to the task of removing those restrictions, our Council choses instead to do nothing.
The Parks and Recreation Commission came up with an alternative, by offering up the Rec Centre as a possible location. It seems like an excellent plan to me. There’s plenty of people there, offering up not only the possibility of good sales for local farmers, but also lots of opportunity to educate children, and those still unaware about food security in our community.
And what happens next is so beyond frustrating for those of us left watching from the sidelines of democracy. Councilor Frank Carson puts up a great fuss about the possibility of parking problems, and traffic congestion at the Rec Centre, should the two or three tables of produce be set up there. This, he says, is an issue that must be examined by FoodRoots before he’ll allow any market to go ahead on Parks and Rec property. Great.
I propose that we take another approach. How about trying out the pocket market first, and seeing how things go? How about trying to work around any parking issues, by educating market goers, as well as Rec Centre users, that they really don’t need to drive to go get some exercise? How about something other than delays?!
Councillor Carson’s other complaints were focussed on the sale of non local goods at the markets in our off season. Obviously, we are not the kind of climate that can provide fresh local produce all year round. But to keep people shopping at a market, it’s got to be part of their habit, and if the market were to disappear half the year, then you wouldn’t likely get people shopping there regularly, thus leading to it’s failure.
The other thing is that a market usually consists of a variety of goods. If in March, all that’s available from our local growers is salad greens, then the tables would look pretty sparse at the market with just one crop to sell. They still want to sell it though, so they might try, probably without a lot of success. Why would folks walk over to buy their greens at the pocket market, when they know they’ll have to do another trip to the grocery store to get their carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes?
So you see, the two reasons that Councillor Carson has to stop the market from getting started in Oak Bay are hardly worth the delay. If next week a pocket market were allowed to go ahead, more people in my community would have access to local, organic produce grown in their own community. They could walk, rather than drive, to get their fresh produce. The farmers, especially those here in Oak Bay, could bring their goods to market mere blocks from where it was grown.
A local market cuts out all the greenhouse gases of transportation for bringing the good to the market, and bringing buyers to the market as well. Everyone has the choice to use a bicycle, or walk if it’s only a matter of a few blocks to travel. If their produce is coming from California, well, there’s the refrigeration, the transportation, and more refrigeration once the food gets to the grocery store.
A local market is a really solid step towards reducing our carbon footprint as a community. Oak Bay Council, having accepted the Climate Change Task Force Report last month, should really stop the delays and encourage the start of a pocket market!
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