Smart Markets, Inc. was formed to respond to a need in Northern Virginia for well-managed, well-publicized and guaranteed producer-only farmers’ markets. Farmers’ markets can and should reward their hard-working farmers and other vendors for their long hours in their fields and kitchens — and on the road — with viable attendance and sales that represent the demand in this area. Our hope and expectation is that we will combine product quality and quantity with customer diversity and delight to achieve that goal.

Farmers’ markets bring together a diverse population around a shared objective: supporting families by buying and serving real food — with real flavor. Many shoppers don’t even know that they are also supporting local farmers, preserving small farms, promoting sustainable agriculture and contributing in numerous ways to the protection of our environment. Smart Markets will provide a model of cultural outreach, offer nutrition and cooking education, and encourage activism on issues of environmental protection and community development within the nurturing spirit of vibrant and bustling markets.

Objectives:

• Educate the public about the short-term joys and long-term benefits of eating healthy from an early age, of the nutritional advantages of buying local and of the importance of sustainable agriculture to our environment;
• Provide a forum for teaching adults and children how to shop at a market and how to use the produce and products in preparing healthy and delicious meals;
• Provide a venue for multiethnic cultural exchange and the promotion of a shared interest in raising healthy children;
• Serve as a lively and interactive catalyst for community-building activities; and
• Encourage and support thriving neighborhoods.

We welcome you to become more than just buyers — we want you to join us in celebration of the good life, good times, good feelings and good food. We invite you to grow and prosper with us — and to have fun doing it!

About the Founder

Smart Markets, Inc. was founded in early 2008 by Jean Janssen, a longtime activist and entrepreneur in Northern Virginia and a twenty-five year resident of Fairfax County, Virginia. Smart Markets represents the confluence of her lifelong interests in food, nutrition and cooking and her passion for community outreach and activism. Ms. Janssen’s expectations for Smart Markets reflect her diverse experience and organizational expertise.

2009 Rules and Regulations

Our Weather Policy

High winds, inclement weather or extreme temperatures may prompt the cancellation of a market. Vendors and shoppers should not have to brave dangerous conditions to get to and from a market. We also consider whether weather conditions would limit our vendors’ opportunity to realize a profit after driving a long distance and paying for staff and truck rental. We will give notice of cancellations on our website as soon as possible. If shoppers have placed special orders, vendors will be in contact to make arrangements for delivery. And during winter, if we have scheduled an indoor event, we will only cancel that market if roads are unsafe.

We have given careful consideration and undertaken nationwide research to develop this policy, and we want you to understand that we considered the general safety and well-being of our shoppers and our vendors when doing so. While we may not be legally responsible for the safe passage of both, we do feel a deep moral obligation not to put anyone in harm’s way. In the case of our vendors, that harm can come from not only driving thorough dangerous conditions but setting up to sell in a market where no one in his right mind would come to shop.

Eligibility

All persons who grow agricultural produce within a 200-mile radius of Northern Virginia; raise beef, lamb, pork, and/or poultry in accordance with federal and state regulations; or produce food stuffs according to state and/or county regulations, using local ingredients whenever possible, are eligible for participation in Smart Markets farmers’ markets. Smart Markets management expects all vendors to sign an agreement that acknowledges their understanding of these rules and regulations and their commitment to abide by them.

Smart Markets will guarantee that our markets are producer-only. We take this guarantee very seriously as do our customers and our hosts. We will carefully inspect produce that arrives at our markets and we will reserve the right to visit a farm at any time to verify a vendor’s producer-only status. If there are questions or concerns about any product, it will rest with the vendor to prove his/her compliance. We also reserve the right to temporarily suspend a vendor’s participation while an investigation is conducted. We also reserve the right to suspend a vendor if we have concerns about the provenance of any fresh ingredients in a particular product following a federal alert or recall.

The vendor signature will serve as a contractual commitment and a pledge to adhere to this policy. Failure to comply can lead to temporary or permanent suspension and/or legal action. Smart Markets will sign and return a copy of this policy to each vendor to indicate our commitment to the terms of the agreement.

Definition of Terms

Vendor: The producer of goods grown, raised or sold. The entity is the vendor, not the salesperson. Smart Markets endorses several options for the sale of members’ products but does not require that the salesperson also be the producer.

Producer-only: Description of a market that permits only the sale of items grown, raised or produced by the vendor or his/her legal partners. Our primary concern here is twofold: (1) that we have documentation and a liability insurance policy that covers the farm that raises the animals and the product that is sold at our markets and (2) that the producer receives the retail price for his/her products. We will not allow so-called “contract farming.” We will permit legally enforceable partnership arrangements between two or more vendors that define the roles of producer and vendor to our satisfaction as long as we have insurance certificates from all the parties involved.

This policy does allow us to accept farmers and graziers who lease land from others to expand their access to acreage, but those leases must be part of the documentation provided with the completed application packet.

Vendors who sell meat or chicken must also supply a letter or statement from their butchers identifying the vendor as a bona fide client of that butcher.

Product List: An accurate and explicit list of everything that the vendor intends to sell in a Smart Markets farmers’ market. Items not on the list provided at the beginning of the market season can be added later as long as management is notified and approves the addition after the onset of the season.

Farm/Kitchen Visit: A requirement by Smart Markets for all vendors during the first year of operation and on a regular schedule in future years. First visits will be announced and arranged with the vendor at least one week in advance; any other visits prompted by the need to verify producer-only status may be impromptu and unannounced.

Vendor Advisory Committee: A committee of 11 vendors, with nine appointed by management and two elected by the vendors themselves, that will review the rules and regulations, make recommendations for changes and additions, and review and respond to new policies suggested by management.

Carrying: The practice of allowing one farmer or vendor to sell the produce or products of another vendor in order to enable a smaller business owner to gain entrance to the farmers’ market system, to further the objective of a market serving as a business incubator and to facilitate the incorporation of new and interesting products into the market.

Market Master: The on-site manager of a farmers’ market who serves as the primary point of contact during the hours of operation and who interprets the rules and regulations in specific cases as necessary. One or more designated market masters will manage each market site. For the first year of a market, most will donate their services and perform as volunteers; once income from each market is sufficient to cover the cost, Smart Markets will provide paid market masters at each market. As new programs to enhance sales are introduced to each market, additional employees may be deployed as necessary. Market masters will have specific duties and responsibilities which will be spelled out in a job description.

Market Assignments

Each vendor will be asked to indicate their requirements for setup and operation. Space in the markets will be allocated with the following considerations in mind:

1. Space available in the market area itself. If space is unlimited, all vendors will receive their full requests up to but rarely exceeding three canopies.
2. Design and layout considerations of any particular market. Sometimes the constraints of the market area dictate both allocation and location of particular vendors, such as where trucks are allowed as opposed to vans; where vendors may be required to set up and then park elsewhere; where natural or man-made barriers must be considered; where shade is most prevalent; and numerous other constraints that the site itself may present.
3. Management decisions based on an attempt to create a unique signature style for each market and to integrate farmers and producers into each market in a layout that enhances the variety and complimentary aspects of the offerings.
4. The relative contribution of a vendor to the market’s economic viability. Particularly in a market with limited space, vendor assignments may reflect the anticipated or demonstrated sales of a particular vendor.

Any vendor may appeal a space assignment and, if their arguments are persuasive, management will consider a reassignment with due consideration of the above conditions.

Participation Fees and Documentation

All applicants will be charged a $50.00 application fee due by January 30, 2009. This fee will automatically qualify the applicant for at least one market; for each additional market requested and assigned, an additional $25.00 will be required when final paperwork is submitted. These up-front fees cover our own insurance costs that must be paid before the markets open. If a vendor is not assigned any market, the check will be returned.

All vendors participating in Smart Markets must submit an insurance certificate that passes the inspection of our own insurance agent. We also require you to have your insurance vendor include Smart Markets, Inc. as an additional insured on your policy. This requirement should not cost you extra, but you should share with your agent that Smart Markets does carry liability insurance, which might lower your risk in our markets and reduce your rate somewhat. We also include on our insurance as an additional insured each of our sites so that you do not have to do so. And we sign Use Agreements with our hosts, copies of which are available for your review.

Market Set-up

Vendors are encouraged to arrive at least an hour before market opening, but the objective is to be ready to sell 15 minutes before opening. If a later arrival accomplishes the objective, the market master will have the prerogative to allow arrivals closer to opening.

All vendors must have weights for each of their tents; each day’s weather forecast will dictate whether the weights are required to be attached to tents. Smart Markets recommends weights of no more than 8-10 lb. per tent leg, which must be attached to the tent, not just laid at each corner. Bungee cords attached to weighted containers seem to work well.

Sales are not permitted until the advertised opening time is announced by the market master, except in those cases where the market master determines that it is in the best interest of the vendors and/or customers to begin early. The same considerations apply to closing.

Smart Markets will always consider the desires and needs of the vendors, but in some locations accommodations must be made to ensure our access to the best sites for conducting business, and that is our prime consideration: how to fit into a location in a way that creates a successful market for all of the vendors and satisfies the expectations of the host. This will require compromises, but we will also seriously request compromise on the part of our hosts. In all cases we will bring valuable assets to the neighborhood — a catalyst for community interaction, economic development, and cultural outreach, to name a few. We will also encourage and support programming that supports the goals and objectives of the neighborhoods we serve. All of our sites will have different advantages and requirements, but all have been selected because they promise successful results.

Market Cleanup

All vendors will bring a broom and/or rake to each market. All vendors will participate in cleanup of our assigned area at the end of each market. Smart Markets will have in place written agreements with each host group or agency that require us to leave the area in the same condition in which we find it upon our arrival each week. If we notice persistent problems with the condition of the site when we arrive, management will address that issue with our hosts. We request that vendors report to us any unsafe or unsightly conditions noticeable upon arrival.

Our Expectations of Vendors

• Vendors will bring only those items to sell that they have grown or made or that meet the value-added definition developed by the USDA and accepted by the State of Virginia.
• Smart Markets requests that vendors and their employees not smoke within the market area during market hours.
• We expect that all vendors will properly and openly list all prices either on price cards or on a board displayed at the entrance to the stall. Smart Markets will provide laminated price cards free to all vendors.
• All vendors must have a sign with the name of their farm or business displayed for all to see. Throughout the season market management may be able to assist with the design and purchase of such signs as needed.
• If you cannot make it to a market where your attendance is expected or if you are going to be late, you must call market management before the market opens to let us know. Each vendor will be permitted two unexcused absences and each vendor may indicate two dates on the application form as “forgiven” absences. Any absences beyond these four are grounds for dismissal from a market.
• All vendors who provide samples must comply with State of Virginia food safety regulations, which will be provided. At sites where hand-washing facilities are not readily and closely available, vendors must have a hand-washing station nearby if you will be cooking or heating anything for tasting. Vendors will be supplied with detailed instructions and assistance for meeting the guidelines.
• Vendors will supply copies of all federal, state and local certifications and business licenses before market openings each season.
• Last but not least, all vendors are expected to comply with the unwritten rules of decorum and team spirit which Smart Markets will clarify as the season proceeds. We expect that all of our vendors will work together to create a winning team for each market, and we will consider how well you play and work with others when deciding whom to invite back each year.

This list of rules and regulations are considered accepted as binding guidelines for participation in Smart Markets by your signature.