DEER LAKE — A proposed farmers market has been cancelled for this year because of a number of unseen regulations discovered during the planning process.
“It’s not off the table, not at all,” said Deer Lake economic development officer Jason Young. “We’ll just need some more time to develop the idea, and that will give us more time to find more people to take part.”
Service NL’s Public Market Guidelines 2012, calls for essentials like the availability of public washrooms adjacent to the market, standards for food storage temperatures and vendor licencing among others.
The province recently sent out a representative to find out exactly what the plans were. That visit showed market organizers that when council started talking about the idea in early summer of this year, it might have already been too late for this year.
“In hindsight we should have started earlier rather than just trying to throw something together,” Young said. “But this is not a lost cause, the market will actually be better next year because it gives us a lot more time to organize, and we’ve had someone come and explain to us how this works.”
He said the town’s economic development committee will be soliciting interest from local farmers and vendors to participate in the farmers market, which Young hopes will open in fall of next year.
Deer Lake Coun. Jean Young said she was disappointed.
“We were a little naïve to think we could start off so quickly,” she said. “It would have been nice to do for this year, but it’s all part of the learning process.”
