Social Relations in a Farmers Market - Essay Example

Social Relations in a Farmer’s Market of the Market Most farmers markets involved in the sale of farm fresh produce result into creation of complex social relationships. The market chosen for study in this paper is the farmer’s market, which is just adjacent to the Grove in Los Angeles. I observed that the market was in a strategic position immediately I started making observations. The market started back in 1934 when only two entrepreneurs discovered oil and thus created an open field for oil production. However, this spot, later became a market for local farmers who sold their produce from their trucks directly to the consumers. The market grew to resemble the European open-air markets and became a destination for many tourists from across the world. I also observed that the market is situated at the corner of the Fairfax Avenue, and 3rd Street and its existence has created complex social relationships among the sellers and the market attendees. One of the food chain managers told me that the market includes more than 110 stalls, 30 restaurants and the 1941 Clock Tower, as well. He added the the market is open for seven days and hosts a lot of people in the stalls, grocery stores, coffee and food restaurants. The moment I entered the market, I smelled a mixture of odours emanating from the farmers produce stores, the bakery premises, poultry shops and others. However, I noticed that the frequent visitors as well as, the tradesmen were not irritated by the smell since they are used to this place. They seem to understand their environment better than the first time visitors. The strategic position of the market is appealing and that is why tourists love the market, as well as the outdoor mall known as the Grove. Due to its massive scale, there are numerous social relationships, which are embedded in the economic lives of the customers, food chain managers, sales people, merchants, and so on. The social relations seem to protect the livelihoods of the market people and create other networks of mutual support. The complexity of the human and social relationships is indeed worth for study in anthropology and particularly food ethnography. From my interaction with few sellers, I realised that the farmers market at the Grove is more than farm produce sales point because it has incorporated the food and coffee restaurants, which create more complex webs of social relationships. As indicated earlier, the farmer’s market is just next to the newly constructed outdoor mall, the Grove, which accommodates even more people especially during the evening hours. While inside the market, I could see some teens moving to the movie theatres, shoppers and market attendees getting inside the market. You hardly hear anything while inside the market because it is very noisy where people are always moving. Sale of farm fresh produce was the foundation of the market before the huge influx of traders in businesses ranging from meat selling, bakery shops, and seafood stores to poultry shops. From my observations it is evident that the farmers market is highly technologized with the food and farm produces being stored in huge refrigerators after they are received from the farm yards. Nature of Social Relationships in the Market The interweaving of the new and old, local and global commodities and sales people creates complex relationships worth for study. One distributor of the farm produce told me that usually in the production stage, the local and international manufacturers produce commodities such as the vegetables, Puritan Chicken eggs, meat, bakery products, seafood and more. He added that some commodities are made at the market premises while others from the outskirts of the town. This complexity in production has modified the social relationships between the salespeople where you find some traders rely on a common supplier. The distribution of the commodities, after they are delivered to the site (farmers market), is complicated, as well. I observed that the offloading of trucks is supported by almost everyone in the market in that each trader wants safe delivery of goods. From the movement of people and the trucks during delivery of goods creates I could hear a lot of noise where the merchants shout amongst each other and to the carriers. I could also see that during delivery of commodities to the numerous food chains the traders and attendees don’t feel disturbed by that noise and thus indicating another social behaviour developed in that market. Nature of Communication in the Market The cohesion between the sellers and the buyers is also worth for study. Note that the actors involved in trading contribute to relationship and communication development, resource sharing, economic and financial exchange and conflict resolution. In addition, the individual ownership of the market can be essential in educating people about food ethnography. Communication is a key aspect of business and indeed, an aid to trade. Therefore, the transfer of information amongst the actors in the farmers market is of interest to an anthropologist. From production, distribution and final sale of commodities in the market, we need to communicate. Communication can be broken down into two major categories; vertical and horizontal communication. From my observations and analysis I realised that vertical communication in the market mainly involves the transfer of information between the food chains managers and their owners. This type of communication is formal where they mainly use the mobile phones. After interviewing a distributor he told me that they usually enter into agreements with the sales people on matters concerning the amount of commodities to be delivered and at what time. In this way, they establish formal contracts, which are signed by the key owners of the food chains. However, the horizontal communication among the salespeople and market attendees is complex. It is less formal where the sales people sometimes shout at each other. For example, there are no established means of communication among the sales people; they simply talk when need arises. However, they are keen on maintaining the existing relationships so as to ensure the smooth flow of business transactions, as well as, mutual support among them. Ownership of the Market During the field study, there is a question that obsessed my mind concerning the owner of the market stalls and restaurants. I found out that most of the stalls are individually owned where some own more than one restaurant or stall. The individually owned stalls are arranged along the market pathways, a pattern that makes the entire place beautiful and appealing to visitors. The issue of ownership has created some sort of relationship where the exchange of information is ranked in social status. A customer told me that there are rich businesses people who dominate the market and they even control the production and delivery of goods to the market. These “rich” people flock together during lunch while the small business owners assemble at the “low class” hotels. These relationships, therefore, dictate how the commodities are delivered and who is supposed to receive first and last. For example, the chicken eggs delivered at the site must, first be transported by merchants to the largest seller in the market before distributing them to small traders. As a result, there is creation of social relationships, which creates order and harmonious coexistence among the actors. During the study I could see that the ownership of the market stalls and restaurant also contributes to the social relationships in that the market attendees tend to respect the large and small traders differently. There is a group of buyers who are very loyal to the small traders due to various reasons, mutual support and availability of credit. Other buyers tend to purchase commodities from the large sellers due to the guaranteed constant supply of commodities. As a result, there is creation of an invisible division between the social relationships amongst the buyers towards the sellers. The succession of the market owners is complex and has also impacted on the social relations among the traders. One food chain manager told me that nowadays they employ semiskilled personnel instead of leaving their businesses to their sons and daughters. This is because the hereditary ownership of the business has brought about problems over time and now traders opt to employ local trade managers rather than leaving their premises to their sons. The family relationships also contribute to how the business operates in the farmers markets. In the past, the business owners were succeeded by their sons and daughters. This form of transferring ownership ensured continuity in business cultures and relationships across the entire market. In other words, the markets never changed even after significant transfer of ownership in terms of communication, monetary transactions, as well as, conflict resolutions. However, the recent form of ownership has partially destroyed the old business relationships, which is again improving now. Regulation of the Market It is also important to consider whether the market is self-regulating or not so as to further the description of the social relationships existing in the farmers’ markets food chains. In a self-regulating market, the traders tend to create unwritten rules and regulations that ensure harmonious coexistence among them. They would prefer good social relations since everyone is busy trying to gain economically from the sale of farm produces. The traders would find it more sensible to have a good relationship that promote self-regulation of the market and prevent external influence especially from the local government. The various benefits of healthy relationships include scarce resources sharing, good communication and healthy business cultures. The state of the market during the study was in peace although there were complaints aired by certain traders to the government. Along the way in the market, I met the local government law enforcers. They told me that although they regulate the market operations, for example, on the issue of waste management, the market seems to be self-regulatory in nature. Another sales man told me the same story, that is, the market is self-regulatory in nature due to good social relationships (healthy business culture). Based on the response from traders of the east end of the market, there have been several attempts to change the arrangement of the stalls in the past years. These attempts made by the local government have failed over time due to the cohesion among the traders emanating from healthy relationships. The recent reforms of the market premises have occurred to change in the way people think and have led to the decent and efficient market premises. The self-regulatory nature of the market is mainly facilitated by healthy business/corporate cultures. These are the values and human behaviours among the traders, distributors, food chain managers and the customers. The business culture revolves around how the actors relate to each other and how certain rules are developed to ensure harmonious coexistence among them. Based on my observations and response from the food chain managers, there is a trend on how commodities are produced and delivered on site, the procedures followed in offloading the trucks, and the actual delivery of the commodities to the traders’ premises. Usually, the methods of trade are crucial in determining the success of businesses. The farmers market near the Grove has had favourable business culture in the recent. It has become an outstanding market not only in Los Angeles but also in the US. Read More