A community of stalls: Why Edmonton loves farmers' markets

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13 hours ago

Shane Chartrand was part of the most recent season of Top Chef Canada, further raising the profile of a man who was already one of the city's most recognized culinary stars.
So, did he open a pricy new restaurant in the wake of his TV success? Did he become the executive chef at a place where the portions are tiny and the chef places garnishes with tweezers?
No, he took over the operations at the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market's cafe, Paperbirch, where he makes great grab-and-go food. If you've met Chartrand, two things become apparent very quickly. One, he is passionate about Indigenous food, and the stories behind it. Two, he bristles at the idea of overpriced snobby fare. He believes food is what should bring people together, not place us into we-know-more-than-you cliques.
And, so far, it's lived up to its promise.
'I've made more friends in the market than I have made anywhere else,' he said.
If you were to profile the average farmers' market visitor, you'd find that the person is a) passionate about food and b) wants to support local farms and businesses. Chartrand's guests ask about what they're eating, and he's happy to point them in the direction of the vendors just down the aisles. When he cooks something with haskap berries, he shows the diners where they can find them in the market. He sends them off to discover mead, or to another vendor to learn everything there is to learn about maple syrup.
'It's way more fun to be here than a traditional restaurant,' he says. 'It's not about the bottom line. I'm not going to make a lot of money.'
But, the market allows Chartrand to do what he loves most; cook and talk about his passions in far-off places. The farmers' market offered him the chance to cook at home, but also a few days off during the week when he could travel. And, it gave him the chance to cook Indigenous dinners, with storytelling that's meant to be honest, not pompous.
Chartrand is just one example of why farmers' markets are such a big part of life in Edmonton.
The Old Strathcona Farmers' Market is one of the city's largest and most long-standing markets, with over 130 vendors operating on the weekend. If you're south of Whyte Avenue on a Saturday, you're well aware of parking issues. As many of the shops, bars and coffee shops change in Old Strathcona, the newly renovated market is the great constant.
But it's far from being the only game in town. On 124 Street, the Grand Market runs on Thursday evenings and Sundays. The 41-year-old Callingwood Market is the largest outdoor market in the city, running Wednesdays, and Sundays with more than 120 vendors. The Downtown Farmers' Market is back on 104 Street, and is currently administered by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. And, on the city's south side, the Bountiful Market brings vendors together in a large, enclosed space Fridays to Sundays throughout the year. Bountiful Market offers shopping carts and baskets at the doors, adding convenience for shoppers who are picking and choosing from the stalls. You'll find Alberta-grown vegetables, B.C. fruit, local beer and spirits, collectibles, gadgets and, of course, coffee.
On a Friday afternoon, Bountiful's parking lot is full. The Old Strathcona parking crunch is well known. The two 124 Street markets bring in about 10,000 visitors a week. It's clear that market culture is a big part of what it means to be an Edmontonian.
'Farmers' markets do no make a lot of money'
Despite their popularity, farmers' markets are anything but cash cows.
'Farmers' markets do not make a lot of money,' said Kirsta Franke, director of the Wild Heart Collective and the founder of the 124 Street Grand Market. 'I didn't start the farmers' market because it was a money-making venture. I did it because I love my community.'
Each vendor may pay about $50 a day for a 10 feet-by-10 feet booth. But the organizers need to pay for the space, and for things like trash cans, tables and entertainment. Franke launched the Grand Market at 124 Street and 108 Avenue in 2012. It ran on Thursday nights and had about 20 vendors who were carefully selected. Four years later, Franke recognized that, to remain in the black, a second Grand Market a week was needed. And that goes on Sundays at 124 Street and 102 Avenue. Franke also administered the Al Fresco on 104 market which filled a gap Downtown during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, the Grand Market works with a network of 600 vendors. It runs Night Markets on Fridays that move from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. They've been to Ritchie, Happy Beer Street and West Block Glenora. They run a market at Folding Mountain Brewing, located in between Hinton and the gates of Jasper National Park. And there's the Christmas Market at Fort Edmonton Park.
'Our vendors trust us to lead them to places that will help their bottom lines,' said Franke. 'The vendors have been so good to follow us through the crazy.'
Franke said that farmers' markets bring visitors and vibrancy to the communities in which they are located. And that creates spinoffs for the brick-and-mortar businesses. To say that there isn't conflict between markets and the full-time shop and restaurant owners would be naive. Franke said that when the Grand Market opened, the presence of food trucks wasn't welcomed by all on 124 Street. But, at the same time, 124 Street is a 'food desert,' a term given to an area without grocery stores and fresh-produce options.
She said that, more than a decade later, food trucks are seen simply as an option, and local restaurants are welcoming the people that the markets bring in. Patios are open, food specials are offered.
'We want to be complementary to the 365 businesses that are there on the street,' she said.
But, when Franke administered the Downtown market, policies were brought in to prevent vendors from conflicting with the businesses in the area. That has been carried over into the Downtown Farmers' Market, which is now administered by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. There are no coffee stalls or food trucks.
The Downtown Farmers' Market has a nomadic history. It moved to the old GWG Building on 97 Street in 2019. The market's overseers declared bankruptcy in 2024, leaving vendors without a Downtown home. But the EDBA resurrected the market, taking it back to its roots.
Quinn Phillips, a spokesperson for the DBA, said that marketgoers were surveyed last year, and while the numbers showed that a lot of the shoppers were from Downtown or other central neighbourhoods, many were also coming from further off spots. So, the market has two purposes; it's a perk for those who live Downtown, and an attractor for those who don't.
'It's really important to support Downtown as a neighbourhood, and to have people to think about Downtown as a neighbourhood,' she said.
The market regularly sees more than 50 vendors, and on the final Saturday of July, hit a high of 63 vendors. Because of LRT construction, the market can't be expanded onto 102 Avenue like it was pre-2019, but Phillips said there are talks about expanding into Michael Phair and Beaver Hills parks for the 2026 market season.
And, knowing that there are tensions between brick-and-mortar retailers and markets, the symbiotic relationship at Callingwood is an example of how it can work. The market is held at The Marketplace at Callingwood, a shopping mall with 65 businesses, including an anchor supermarket. But the market is supported by the mall's own tenants' association, which marketing director Raelene Coffey called 'a volunteer board of local business owners who are passionate about building community and supporting local entrepreneurs.'
Coffey said the market has helped spur traffic during traditionally slow retail times.
'The majority of the vendors have unique offerings, which encourages guests to shop both the market and the mall, making it a win-win for everyone. Sundays can be a quieter shopping day at the mall but when the market is operating, the place is bustling with visitors from all over the city. The smaller, mid-week market also gets great support from tenants, who enjoy the extra foot traffic and the chance to connect with new customers.'
Chyanne Lindgren, manager of the Bountiful Market, said that it differs from others in the province not only because it is indoors, but that it's open three days a week. It opened with the idea of being a business incubator, where those who have stalls get to keep them on a regular basis, and it allows them to dip their feet into the world of full-time retail.
'The vendors don't have to to pick up and leave at the end of the day,' she said.
'Is it a viable way to make a living? No.'
When you first walk by, the display looks like those opulent perfume counters from a time when department stores were a thing. Bottles of red, gold and silver, sorted on shelves to attract the eye. On closer look, they're bottles of vodka, gin and whiskey, all from the White Lightning Distillery located near Barrhead, Alta.
But this display isn't found in a liquor store. It's at the Bountiful Market. White Lightning owner Richard Bogach said that 95 per cent of the distillery's sales come through 20 Alberta markets that are regularly staffed by four employees, plus a few pop-up shop appearances at festivals and weekend events.
In seven years, Bogach has yet to take paycheque from his venture; with federal excise taxes at $13.84 a bottle, provincial taxes at $2.40 a bottle, plus recycling fees and GST, the fees add up. Plus, he's competing in a world where some distilleries have turned to using neutral grain spirit rather than distilling the old fashioned way. He's competing against vodkas, gin and whiskeys from the giant multinationals 'with mass product and unlimited marketing fees' who dominate the liquor store shelves. So, if you can't win at the local liquor store, the market is a place where the small, local distiller can stand out.
'It's a question of how do you get exposure?' said Bogach. 'Well, when customers come to the market they can learn about your product, they can taste it and see you're making a quality product. And that's something you can't do in the liquor store.
'We are making some headway, but we're not there, yet. Is it a viable way to make a living? No. If I had a wife and kids, I'd be divorced.'
So, the farmers' market is a beginning, not a be-all and end all.
The future of markets: Taking it inside
Franke said the biggest challenges facing farmers' markets is climate change. She said that over the past few years, more than a few market nights have had to be scrubbed because of choking forest-fire smoke. Weather issues are becoming more severe and frequent.
Lindgren said that Bountiful Market's busiest days are rainy days, and that's the advantage of offering a market that has a roof over its head.
So, Franke has been searching for a spot north of the river that can host an indoor market. It won't just allow for the market to continue through the winter, but would be a contingency space on those days when the forecast calls for ugly conditions.
'The future is flexible,' she said.
Where to go
To be an approved Alberta farmers' market, it must be operated as a non-profit. In 2024, Edmonton led the province with 12 approved markets within the city limits. Here's where to find them, and when to go:
Old Strathcona Farmers Market 10310 83 Ave. NW Saturdays and Sundays
Downtown Farmers' Market On 104 Street NW Saturdays
Bountiful Market 3696 97 St. NW Fridays-Sundays
124 Grand Market 124 St. and 108 Ave. NW (Thursday evenings) 124 St. and 102 Ave. NW (Sundays)
Callingwood Farmers' Market 66 Ave. and 178 St. NW Wednesdays and Sundays
Beverly Towne Farmers' Market 118 Ave. and 34 St. NW Tuesdays
Century Park Market 10915 23 Ave. NW Sundays
Orchards Farmers' Market 4059 Orchards Dr. SW Second and fourth Mondays
Ottewell Artisan Farmers' Market 5920 93A Ave. NW Thursdays
South Common Farmers' Market 150 Karl Clark Rd. Saturdays and Sundays
Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market 2051 Leger Rd. Wednesdays
Public Market in Ritchie 7727 98 St. NW Tuesdays
Ardrossan Farmers' Market 60 First Ave. Tuesdays
Beaumont Alberta Farmers' Market 5303 50 St. Thursdays
Fort Saskatchewan Farmers' Market 10030 99 Ave. Thursdays
Leduc Farmers' Markets 4330 Black Gold Dr. Thursdays and Saturdays
Morinville Farmers' Market 9913 104 St. Sundays
Salisbury Farmers' Market 52337 Rge. Rd. 232, Sherwood Park Thursdays
Sherwood Park Farmers' Market 5000 Emerald Drive Wednesdays
Spruce Grove Farmers' Market 120 Railway Ave. Saturdays
St. Albert Farmers' Market 5 St. Anne St. Saturdays
Stony Plain Farmers' Market 5008 51 Ave. NW Saturdays
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