It was 8 am and it had begun to rain as I pulled into 1990 Kinoole St,the paved parking lot of the State Unemployment Office. There was already a bustling crowd of customers at this little farmers market adorned with various styles of colorful tent canopies (sellers provide their own) full of fruits, vegetables, plants and prepared food products. My first impression was that it felt very clean and fresh, busy but not crowded, and very easy parking, a perfect neighborhood market.

I found Rusty Perry, one of the founders and the current manager of the Kinoole Farmer’s Market. He explained that this market is a cooperative partnership of three partners/owner : Hilo County Farm Bureau, Hamakua County Farm Bureau and Kohala County Farm Bureau. All are local chapters of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation (HFBF) which helps promote Hawaii’s agriculture through various venues such as farmers’ markets. The three partners hui (work together)to run this farmers’ market which began at this site in August, 2007. As with all new business ventures, it took awhile to kick in and get a consistency of vendors and customers showing up. But show up they did, and going on three years later, eighteen to twenty four vendors set up from 6:30 am to noon, each Saturday morning, to an eager crowd of customers, rain or shine!

While the vendors provide their own canopies, the Kinoole Farmers’ Market hui ( group) sets up a 20 x 40 tent canopy in the center of the market area as open space. Under the tent, every week from 9am to 10 am people join in to practice qi gong. Qi gong music played, emanating a peaceful quality to the market atmosphere. Later from 10 am- 11 am, sometimes a guest speaker is scheduled to talk about a food-farmer related subject. Today, two speakers gave their presentations. One was about Natural Farming Methods practiced in Korea. The other speaker gave a power point presentation on his design of the ‘Hubble Bubble’ an efficient and inexpensive chicken coop. I observed twenty or more people gathered under the tent listening attentively to both presentations, with many sticking around afterward for further discussion. I could feel here, what is happening nation wide and internationally, that more and more people are searching out information and others of like mind who want to grow their own food and or raise animals for food. A couple, I talked to there, said the educational talks were the reason they come to this market. I thought this was an wonderful venue to bring the vendor/ farmer/customer together in a fun learning environment, in the midst of food, flowers, plants and a beautiful day.

Rusty said he sends out a blast email each Thursday prior to the Saturday’s market, to everyone who submitted their email for notification of the Kinoole’s Farmers’ Market specials and programs. Anyone wanting to add their email to his notification list can reach him by email dperry@papayas.net
He also said they are always interested in more vendors. All the vendors who participate in this market follow the guidelines set up by the hui (group).

1-all vendors products must be grown or produced in Hawaii State
2-only fresh food, prepared food and plants are eligible for sale at this market

All new vendors must be reviewed and passed by a screening committee to verify that their products are locally produced.

I gave out my whosyourfarmer.info book markers and bumper stickers to anyone who was interested.
Several people (14) filled out my surveys and three of those people agreed to a personal interview. Again I felt this second time out with my surveys showed a good response and people expressed their enthusiasm for the subject matter. Only a few people declined to participate in the survey because they were in a rush.
After a few hours I ended up sitting on some benches provided under the main tent area, ‘ talking story’ with people about food, chickens independent study.

While I was there primarily to distribute my surveys and see what was happening, I was enticed by the diversity and good quality of the products I saw. I soon filled my basket with fresh veggies and a snack to munch on. .

As noon rolled around, the hum of the market had quieted. The sellers tents and their products that remained were slowly packed away in their vehicles. I stowed my veggies and headed home vowing to venture this way again some Saturday morning.

I plan to visit more Farmer’s/Open Markets around Hawaii Island by mid April, adding to the diversity of market customers I ask to fill out my survey. This also affords me the opportunity to experience markets I’ve not been to before or not for a long time and get a feel what is unique about each one, what each one has to offer.

I wondered what reaction I would get when I ask customers at random if they would like to fill out a survey for a University class research project I created.  Understandably their first question was, “What is it about?” When I briefly explained it was about the customer’s viewpoint on the food they purchased at open markets, I gratefully  noticed an encouraging openness and  willingness  to participate.

In a previous blog entitled ‘A simple survey is not so simple” ,  is the survey I passed out  at Sunday’s Pahoa open food market.  I will distribute the  same survey to market customers for their comment, as I visit more open markets around the island.

Out of ten people asked, I was able to receive eight completed surveys with three of the survey participants willing to have a personal interview at another time.  I was very happy to have what I considered a positive response to people  participation in my survey sampling.   Mahalo (thank you, in Hawaiian ) everyone!

From these conversations with people at the market, I came up with a draft of several questions to ask in a printed survey. I passed this survey draft around to  Professor Becker ( my UHH  research adviser) and  several  other people I know, for their review and feedback. Actually lots of feedback was given,  many hours of revision ensued and the following  survey emerged:

Survey for whosyourfarmer.info research project: 20100224

Date of survey: _______________________ Location of survey: ________________________

Aloha! My name is Jan Anderson. I am a student in the Communication Department at the University of Hawaii-Hilo This survey is part of my independent research project, researching what types of food people buy for themselves and their families in open markets, and how much they are interested in: where the food is grown, how the food is grown, who grows the food and the cost of the food they buy there. My research areas include open markets on Hawaii Island ( where I live), and other regions that I will be traveling to within this Spring 2010 semester.

Thank you for taking the time to read my survey , to think about your answers, and to write them down.

1. Where do you shop for most of your fresh food? [ Mark one and answer why]

• farmers market ________________________________________________

• general grocery store _____________________________________________

• health food store _________________________________________________

– other ____________________________________________________________

2. What kinds of food do you come to this farmers market to buy? [ Mark all that you buy]

___ fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts

___dairy (milk, eggs, cheese)

___prepared food (cooked food, honey, jams etc.)

___other________________________________

3. When you buy food, at this farmers market, what are you most interested in?

[ On a scale of 0 to 5 ( 5 being the most important), please circle what is important to you]

a) how the food looks                                                 0    1     2   3   4   5

b) where the food is grown                                   0   1    2    3    4    5

c) how the food is grown                                         9   1    2    3    4    5

d) who grows the food                                                0   1   2    3   4    5

e) price of the food                                                        0   1   2    3   4   5

f) freshness of the food                                            0    1   2    3   4   5

4.Rate the following ways you like to get information about the food you buy at this farmers market,?

[On a scale of 0 to 5 ( 5 being the most important), please circle what is important to you]

a) talking with the seller ( who is not the farmer)      0   1   2    3   4   5

b) talking with the seller (who is the farmer)               0   1   2    3   4   5

c) signs – with general information                          0    1   2    3   4   5

d) labels – detailed information                                0    1    2   3   4   5

e) other ______________________

5. Where do you consider locally grown food comes from? [ Mark one ]

___ grown in the district

___ grown in the county

___ grown in the state

___ grown in the country

6. Rate how important to you each of the following choices are when you buy your food ?

[ On a scale of 0 to 5 ( 5 being the most important) please circle what is important to you]

a) locally grown (not organic)                      0   1   2   3    4   5

b) organic (grown anywhere)                       0   1    2   3    4   5

c) price                                                          0   1   2   3   4   5

7. Demographics: [ please circle one in each section of a, b ,c]

a) gender : _____ female _____ male

b) age _____(18-30) _____(31-40 ) _____ (41-50 ) _____ (51-62) _____(63-70)____(71 +)

c) household income _____ (up to $30,000) _____ ($30,000 to $60.000)

_____ ( $60,000 to $ 80,000)_____ ($80,000 plus)

d) race [choose one or more]:

__ American Indian or Alaskan native __Asian ___Black or African American

__Native Hawaiian __Pacific Islander __ White __ Other

8.Would you be willing to have a personal interview with me, to talk more about your interest in the food you buy at open markets?

_____yes _____no

If yes, then please write your name below and let me know when would be a good time to talk.

Name:__________________________________________________

I appreciate your interest in my research project. You can read more about it on my

web blog : whosyourfarmer.info Thank you, Jan

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