Consumers Deserve a Seat

As far as I know, there is still no position on the board of the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market Association that represents the interests of the citizens of Santa Barbara and local consumers – even though we supply the space for the markets to operate. As the plaintiffs in the Santa Rita Flower Farm (erroneously called Santa Barbara Flower Farm in the Indy article) lawsuit against the association point out, many of the board seats appear to be held by larger, non-local growers who don’t represent the interests of either small, local farmers or consumers. Something needs to change if we are to realize our community’s goal of providing the best, most affordable, and truly local fresh food to Santa Barbarans. Right now, many of us are fooled into thinking we’re supporting local farmers by shopping at farmers markets, when that’s not always the case.