Langley Community Farmers Market will not be returning this year, the board of directors announced Monday.
The 2019 market season had been “disappointing” and that the board announced it had made the “difficult decision” to suspend operation of the usual Wednesday market.
The non-profit Langley Community Farmers Market Society (LCFMS) will maintain minimum operations in 2020 in order to undertake a process of “revisioning the Langley Community Farmers Market,” said Paige Dampier, president of the LCFMS.
“While this decision was not easy, it is one that we regretfully cannot avoid, given the state of the society’s finances after a disappointing 2019 market season,” Dampier added.
The market has been a regular weekly feature on Wednesdays in the courtyard of Langley’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University campus every summer since 2008.
However, 2019 saw fewer vendors and fewer customers for the weekly event.
Vendors saw poor results and society revenues fell significantly below projections, according to the board.
Last year, the LCFMS tried to engage with both its vendors and shoppers about the future of the market and possible changes, including two workshops for vendors last November. Dampier said that, unfortunately, attendance at the workshops was low – although some valuable input was received.
“The board continues to be dedicated to the mission of the LCFMS, which is to create a food secure community by improving access to local, healthy, affordable food to the community,” said Dampier.
“We commit to undertake this re-visioning exercise in the spirit of this mission, and with input from and collaboration with local growers, makers and bakers, our partners, and the broader community,” she concluded.
Updates on the board’s plans will be posted to the lcfm.ca website.
READ MORE: Langley Eats Local challenge wraps up with the help of local farmers
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