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Farmers’ market, focus of international interest

Two women from Holland visited as part of their Nuffield Agricultural Scholarship.

Two women from Holland visited as part of their Nuffield Agricultural Scholarship. Djuke VVdmaat attended the market in early July and found the vibrancy of the park and the friendliness of the people extraordinary.

VVdmaat commented that one of the selling points of the Rimbey market was the lack of repetition by the vendors. And Djuke is no stranger to markets. She has an apple and kiwi orchard in the Netherlands and her trading companies sells $1.2 million of “sustainable” apples each year. She has been visiting markets around the globe and said Rimbey’s Farmers’ Market was the best she had experienced worldwide.

Merlijn Albering, also from Holland, worked the market under the direction of Sonja Stalder, an experienced producer and vendor.

“The farmers market in Alberta is how they used to be in old France,” Albering said, something Holland is trying to capture and re-introduce. There, farm produce is sold at shops on the farm. There are really no farmers’ markets and produce that is sold in city stalls is not accompanied by the farmer.

Albering travelled to Rimbey via Toronto where she studied vegetable production in the Golden Horseshoe. Her project “city fields” develops local, sustainable agriculture that is complementary or often driven by urban food policy. Albering owns a garden shop and is preparing four acres of vegetables. As for the Rimbey Farmers’ Market, she loved it.

Both women were visiting fellow Nuffield Agricultural Scholar Brenda Schoepp of Rimbey. Schoepp’s study topic is the development of mentorship programs for women in agriculture. She will travel to 16 countries in the next year and a half, promoting mentorship and looking at production, business and human capacity building models. The goal is for women to empower women to grow food, protect environments, strengthen trade and secure financial independence for themselves, their families and their communities.

Like VVdmaat and Albering, it is women who produce 90 per cent of the world’s food. Country dependent, they make up between 53 and 80 per cent of the agricultural workforce. In Canada, 29 per cent of farms and ranches are owned and operated by women.

“We are proud to be women in agriculture and by working and sharing ourselves we build stronger food supplies and systems to accommodate improved trade and economies.”

“Rimbey” she says “should be proud of its farmers and its farmers’ market.”

You can follow Schoepp’s global travels on www.brendaschoepp.com. All women in agriculture are invited to contribute to the confidential survey found on the site regarding mentorship programs for women in agriculture.

—Submitted