Montreal Public Markets | Place for the next generation

For the second time, Montreal’s public markets are giving way this year to the next generation. Three turnkey kiosks at the Jean-Talon market, another at the Atwater market and the last at the Maisonneuve market allow farmers to sell their products with maximum flexibility.

Pierre-Marc Durivage
The Press

Léandre Raymond-Desjardins was harvesting his carrots with his brother Alexandre when we arrived at the Jardins de la Fourche, on the family land of Mirabel. The young market gardener had called his brother to the rescue to prepare the vegetables he intended to bring the next day to the Jean-Talon market. His seasonal employees having already returned to school, it is less and less possible for him to move away from his fields during harvest time. It is therefore impossible to move to the most popular markets – farmers who are members of the Montreal Public Markets must stock their stalls at least three days a week.

This is where the New Generation Kiosks program comes in, which allows young farmers to come to the market just one day a week. “It’s a funny coincidence, the market gardener tells us. I called the Jean-Talon market in the fall of 2019 to find out about the opportunities that might be available to me. That’s when they told me about the project. »

A hot program

The program finally saw the light of day last year, with three kiosks offered at the Jean-Talon market for agricultural businesses that have been in operation for five years or less. Thanks to the help of the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec and the City of Montreal, Montreal’s Public Markets now own the facilities rented to emerging farmers — the rental cost is also 50% assumed by the Union des producteurs agricole. For young farmers, the bill is therefore only $28 a day. They arrive with their products and install them in the booth, which remains in place at all times.

Because veterans see the arrival of newcomers very favorably. “The program is crucial, maintains Mr. Fabien-Ouellet. This not only constitutes our incubator for young farmers, but also potential new members for the market. We have surveyed our merchants over the past few years and a recurring theme is how to fill the market, how to make room for the next generation. In Jean-Talon, 3 sites out of 200 are reserved for the next generation, it does not come to fill an entire area and create unfair competition with others. »

Paid strategy

For young people, the presence in Montreal’s public markets is also extremely relevant. “The clientele of the Jean-Talon market is very loyal, says Léandre Raymond-Desjardins. When we started again in June, it was as if we had picked up exactly where we had left off the previous November. I think there are people who really want to encourage the next generation and give people like us the chance to get started. »

This also includes Montreal restaurateurs, a clientele that Léandre knows well, he who was a cook at La Récolte Espace local, rue Bélanger, before swapping the apron for the fork. “I still have a passion for cooking, so my goal is to develop collaborative relationships with chefs, to listen to their needs,” explains the young man who has just turned 30. Chefs from Pastel, Monarque, La Traversée and Bar Cicchetti come to buy my vegetables, and three of them discovered me right here at the market. »

Léandre Raymond-Desjardins plans to take advantage of the next generation booth program as long as her business can qualify. Subsequently, he hopes to become a member, but probably by forming a cooperative of small farmers that would allow him to continue to share a shop. “I need to free myself for one day a week and that, I love that, because it allows me to talk about my products, the methods we use, he explains. People put a face to production and that’s really fun for us. »