Farmers Market
This was not the first time I went to a farmers market, but
it was the first time I enjoyed watching people related to so many activities in
the market. In fact, farmers market is a common phenomenon in China because the
population of Chinese farmers is large. More than 300 million people living in
rural area in China support their lives either by selling fresh farm products
or by working in cosmopolitan area. So, people in China do not go to
supermarkets to buy fresh vegetables, meats, or even milk. Instead, they will
go to a place called “Cai Shi Chang” in Chinese, which has the basic functions
as farmers market in the United States. However, I saw many things like live music
play, political activists, crafters’ amazing products, which are impossible to
be found in “Cai Shi Chang”.
What surprised me was the participatory atmosphere in the
farmers market. Although the rainy, cold, and humid weather conditions stopped
most people just in front of their doors, a large number of people among Bloomington
community showed up on 401 N Morton Street. The bustling market was full of
people who wanted to purchase the fresh apples, tasted original maple syrup,
selected unique crafts made by hands, listened music play, and enjoyed weekends
with their families waking around the market. As one of the farmer addressed,
“People just want to come and spend time here, it almost becomes a kind of
habit”. It was actually the way same as the participatory music. Every one
wanted to join in the market and the seller & consumer relationship was not
necessary while people were just having fun here.
Family participation was actually an important part in the
market. Parents bought products in the market while their children played
together near the fountain. In fact, these families did not participate in the
market like they usually spent time in parks or somewhere like that. They
actually had fun playing when musicians were playing the music. On the map you
can see the icons of kids and adults were almost everywhere in the market. The
music was originally in presentational form. Then the music provided those
families an atmosphere to participate in. They did not sing or play music.
Instead, they danced and saw their family members smiling. When I passed by
them and took pictures for them, they did not even notice my existence, which
showed a high level of flow situation we introduced from the textbook. They
combined in the market and music so much that the noise and tiredness were not
able to disrupt them.
In the other hand, though the frame was almost the same for
every one, people still did things depended on their different intensions. For
example, as I mentioned before, we had people who made crafts and who did
political activities there. Every one has their own identity and actually they
defined themselves as different roles in the farmers market. My job was to
interview and observe people and I was a role of IUB students, while some
people had a place to send the idea that people should not eat animals. Those animal
protection activities used their identity to spread their belief. At the same
time, a group of people set up a table for publicizing the democrats. These
people were actually not supposed to be seen in a farmers market, but they
still come and join in as a part of the market. Beside those political
participations, those crafters showed on the right of the maps talked about how
they enjoyed the market with us. A crafter addressed that they wanted to come
to the market and they knew lots of people in the community through the market.
Actually, the crater’s kid played with other kids from farmers or local
families. The same as this crafter, many people in the market did not expect
just for earning money, but for participating in the community.
When people share some identities with others, those
individuals may start to emphasize their common parts of their identities.
Among the society, we see a lot of phenomenon similar to the farmers markets.
Even a man like me who possess a different culture could enjoy a lot for this
event in the community. The sigh-object term in the aspect of music can be
similar to the participatory aspect of farmers market. The market itself should
be the sign that interpret a number of objects that represent different
identity from people. For example, those political activists use the market as
a stage to directly present their ideas. Also, people join the market both in
participatory way and presentational way, which are almost the same as the way
in music. Families could be a great instance for the participatory way while
those farmers and crafters are coming in the market in presentational way.
All those things come together and help people not only have
fun on the weekend, but also make the social bonding stronger. This kind of
farmers market is a good idea which is valuable for me to tell people in China
to have a try. If Chinese people can make this happened in city, social efficiency
and community identity will boost a lot for the whole society, and for all
human being in the world.
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