Year-round Vancouver farmer’s market – New City Market

In 1908, a large wooden building with ornate glass windows was built at a spot near the intersection of Main and Terminal in Vancouver.

The City Market, as it was called, was built on False Creek Bridge, which became Main Street in 1910 but was then called Westminster Avenue.

False Creek then went further east, all the way to Clark Drive in those days.

Tara McDonald, executive director of the Vancouver Farmers Markets, is part of a group that wants to build a new permanent farmer’s market in roughly the same location, to be called New City Market.

The group has received $100,000 in grants from VanCity to turn the idea into reality.

“We really need a year round farmer’s market,” McDonald said in an interview Friday.

“It would be great if we can secure a site and we can start building,” she said.

She said the old City Market in the early 1900s housed a farmer’s market, food wholesaler and an eatery.

“This was in a days before supermarkets,” McDonald explained.

“It was a distribution hub for local food.”

The concept is to produce a modern food hub for local farmers and food distributors.

While still in the planning stage, the proposal is for the new market to include a farmer’s market a couple of days a week, a commercial kitchen that could be rented out for people to can the food grown locally, a cold storage area for farmers and offices to offer education and support to local food growers and farm-product distributors.

“The plan is for local food grown in our neighbourhoods to be canned in the food kitchen and then sold to local shops,” she said.

“And have local food organizations working to advance the local food system.” Such as promoting more community gardens, she said.

She said the city, VanCity and Vancouver Farmers Markets are working to develop and business plan and to secure a site in the False Creek Flats area.

The Real Estate Foundation of B.C. has also provided a $30,000 grant for site development.

Once a site is found, building design plans will be finalized, McDonald said, noting at the moment the building is only in the concept stage and will need input from the public and other stakeholders such as farmers and chefs.

“We hope to open our doors in a couple of years,” McDonald said.

Source, Image: Global, Vancouver Farmer’s Markets