This is a CTP of initiative: Omstilling Ry (Transition Ry - Denmark)
This Critical Turning Point relates to the establishment of a farmers market in Ry.
It has been a critical turning point because it has supported the local economy and has attracted visitors to the town. For it is quite hard for the shops in Ry to survive due to the close proximity of other larger towns such as Skanderborg.
There is not much of a tradition to buy directly from growers in Denmark. This is what they wanted to support and promote. It is a revival of an old practice that people don’t really remember.
The farmers market had a number of different elements.
Firstly, there has been the cooperation between existing retailers. There is a supermarket in the town which is very powerful and which owns a lot of the buildings. They also sell books and textiles. So they rent a building to a bookstore but they also sell books. They give out a lot of money to local organisations so everyone has received money from them. They are very influential, so if they had wanted to block the development of the market they could have.
There is the specific site of the market. It is held in a little square in front of the train station.
A group of three transition activists are active in getting the market going. There is an elderly lady who was a dentist. She was calling all the local farmers. It took her months to get all the contacts. She would go every Saturday and open up the stalls, and she would also have one from Transition Town Ry with leaflets and brochures.
The market runs from May to October.
The stallholders are another important part of the market, as are the customers. After they started the market and everyone could see that more people came to Ry. It drew people to hang out, have a coffee and then they would go and use the other shops rather than go to Aarhus (including people who would then use the big supermarket).
It has been in the local newspaper several times which helped with the promotion.
Transition Ry’s network has contributed to making it successful.
The farmers market was another example of a project that activists had wanted to do for years.
There had been a small market several years ago but it stopped because it didn’t make money.
In terms of outcomes, it has led to the development of a local organic vegetable delivery scheme run by a young Hungarian couple. He is a trained organic farmer and she is a cook. They started with the market and working for an organic farmer in the week. People wanted more produce during the week so they started a box delivery scheme. Transition volunteers helped them by writing an article and taking some pictures. They are collecting produce from local farmers and then selling it on directly to customers. Transition wanted to do a project like this but it was too much work. They do not mind that someone else is doing it and making a living from it. It is hard for the farmers to spend the whole Saturday at the market there. The scheme runs through the winter too.
The market is a lot of work so they are trying to encourage the shopkeepers and stallholders to run it. A new form of organization might emerge in the future.
This is an important project because it brings consumers and producers together and provides support for the little growers which is the core aim of the project and an important aspect of Transition. Some people might buy organic from the supermarket but they only buy from large suppliers and this provides a different possibility.
They have learned that the core group should be more aware of the expectations of groups that are developing projects. If a small group has a good idea, then they need to manage expectation and be realistic about how many resources they have to offer from the wider group.Stay informed. Subscribe for project updates by e-mail.
