To the editor:
I would like to comment on the article in the March 25 issue about the Kelowna farmers’ market. [Farmers’ Market Could Split to Two Sites, Capital News]
Jennifer Smith says that the vote against moving the market to the North End of Kelowna would prevent “downtown foodies from a lazy walk to pick up farm fresh produce’.
I question the use of the word ‘lazy’ and ‘foodies’ here, as it suggests that walking is lazier than driving—which seems doubtful—and that buying produce directly from the farmer is a lifestyle fashion.
This is not a fashion. Walking or riding to a local market for fresh food is a much better way to shop in so many ways that it seems unnecessary to spell them out.
There are plenty of people who live in and near the downtown area who would be able to shop without using a car.
This is a good thing, right? All the literature I’ve read about contemporary urban planning indicates that this is an important element in the creation of a vibrant downtown area. People, not cars should be the primary concern.
I thought we were trying to invigorate the downtown? The timid but positive restriction of traffic on Bernard seems some indication that this is part of the plan.
If we encourage people to use alternative transportation options (walking, biking) then traffic and parking problems will be diminished. This means making alternatives convenient.
I ride to the market anyway so this wouldn’t change much for me but if I were living in one of the large highrise condo buildings in the downtown core I would be delighted to see a market within walking distance.
You don’t have to be a ‘foodie’ to appreciate fresh food. A market in the North End would draw people into the downtown area—tourists and residents. Isn’t that what we want?
The current location for the market is a parking lot which works as a temporary home (the only charm of the place is the market itself as nothing attractive surrounds it) but it would be so much better if it were designed to service the highest concentration of people in the area (downtown) and if it were surrounded by small businesses as is being proposed by developer Gary Tebbutt—like Granville Island—like all markets in those Old World cities we love to visit.
Bring the market to the people and you can worry a lot less about bringing the people to the market. The city is apparently planning two new parking lots downtown.
What’s the problem?
Neil Cadger,
Kelowna
