Over 90 farmers’ market vendors sent a letter to Bloomington city officials asking them to retain control of the city’s Community Farmers’ Market in 2020.
The letter, which was sent to Mayor John Hamilton, Parks and Recreation Administrator Paula McDevitt and Bloomington’s Board of Park Commissioners, comes ahead of the commissioners’ decision on the future of the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market this Thursday.
In the letter, the vendors discuss their concerns about the possibility of the city not running the Farmers’ Market at all, after Market Advisory Council Chair Bruce McCallister said last month threats of legal action could lead city officials to just drop the Farmers’ Market completely.
The market is currently in a legal limbo of sorts because of the controversy surrounding one vendor, Sarah Dye, owner of Schooner Creek Farm.
Activists have called for the city to kick Dye and Schooner Creek out of the market because she is a self-professed white "identitarian"; however, removing Dye for personal beliefs would violate the First Amendment to the Constitution.
“We don’t always agree on elections or farming or faith or the lines for our tents,” the letter reads. “But we make it work. The power of persuasion outsteps the power of force. The atheist helps to load the Anabaptist’s truck at the close of the market. To disagree respectfully faces this City Market toward the future. This is a thing worth sweating for.”
But activists also say changes made to the 2020 Farm Vendor Handbook could be legally dubious as well because they make it more difficult to protest.
If the city decides to ditch the Farmers’ Market completely, it would have to be picked up by a private organization or cease to exist. That group could legally prohibit Schooner Creek Farm if it wants to, but taking the market out of city hands could create unintended logistical problems for market operations.
The Board of Park Commissioners will meet this Thursday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m. in the City Council chambers at City Hall.
Bloomington Farmers' Market Vendors Letter 2020
