Where has RAM gone?

[exnewsman]

Stopped by RAM on Saturday. Was rather shocked at how few vendors (and visitors) there were.  About half of the available vendor spots were empty. No real produce to speak of (which turned out to be a good thing as it reminded me of the Farmer's Market and I headed over to Beaver Street). Fewer food vendors as well.

So does anyone know if this is just a mid-summer lull or is RAM no longer in favor?

[Tacachale]

My wife is RAM's farmer liaison, and I'm sure she'd be happy to talk about it on her end. Basically what has happened is they've shifted their mission to feature only local and seasonal goods in the farmer's row. They no longer take vendors who do resale of goods from other farmers or regions. Based on what grows in northeastern Florida and Georgia, this means there's not a lot of produce available in the heat of the summer, but on the other hand it means that what's there really is what it says on the label.

[Adam White]

I remember once a friend was mooting the idea of trying to get a stall to sell records. The powers that be for RAM didn't approve this because I think it didn't fit with the ethos of the market - from what I understand, they only wanted people to sell food or things they made. I'm not sure if this is 100% true and it may well have changed - but if it is, this could explain why it seems a bit arts-and-crafts-orientated.

[spuwho]

I went twice, 2 years apart.

The exact same things both times and other than the live music, nothing there I took an interest in.

Now that Wayne is running Hemming, maybe the buzz will shift over there now.

[Bativac]

Wife and I go every couple months just to have something to do, if the weather is nice. All it ever is, is "listen to some live music in a cool setting and eat something." It is nice when the farmer's market it set up because it's from an actual farm and not like the Beaver St "farmers market" which is just grocery store produce sold on the cheap (not that this is a BAD thing).

[peestandingup]

The problem w RAM is if you've been there once you've been there a hundred times. It needs more variation, more things for kids to do, a proper farmers market & beer! Having our local breweries only allowed to come there a couple times a year is stupid.

[BennyKrik]

if the breweries came every Saturday, RAM would quickly become mundane also

[peestandingup]

if the breweries came every Saturday, RAM would quickly become mundane also

Perhaps, but at least it would give people more of a reason to come down & check out our brews in one place.

Besides, local craft brews are getting snubbed IMO. Esp when you consider the arts market is especially made for that very type of thing. The fact that its alcohol shouldn't mean anything, but someone somewhere thought that it should.

So yeah, its dumb.

[Adam White]

if the breweries came every Saturday, RAM would quickly become mundane also

Perhaps, but at least it would give people more of a reason to come down & check out our brews in one place.

Besides, local craft brews are getting snubbed IMO. Esp when you consider the arts market is especially made for that very type of thing. The fact that its alcohol shouldn't mean anything, but someone somewhere thought that it should.

So yeah, its dumb.

It wouldn't be riverside if people didn't figure out a way to add drinking to an activity.

[FSBA]

RAM is/was just a more pretentious flea market compared to what you'll find at Beach Blvd, Pecan Park, etc. If they're further killing off opportunities for sellers than people will go elsewhere. The beauty of something like that is having a wide variety of sellers. Not just chachkies and veggies that are twice as much because you wrote "Gluten Free" on the sign.

[Charles Hunter]

RAM is/was just a more pretentious flea market compared to what you'll find at Beach Blvd, Pecan Park, etc. If they're further killing off opportunities for sellers than people will go elsewhere. The beauty of something like that is having a wide variety of sellers. Not just chachkies and veggies that are twice as much because you wrote "Gluten Free" on the sign.

But I like my gluten free chachkies!  ;-)

[thelakelander]

Wife and I go every couple months just to have something to do, if the weather is nice. All it ever is, is "listen to some live music in a cool setting and eat something." It is nice when the farmer's market it set up because it's from an actual farm and not like the Beaver St "farmers market" which is just grocery store produce sold on the cheap (not that this is a BAD thing).

Is this actually accurate? From my knowledge, this isn't the impression I get. A significant portion of the produce coming in to the Jacksonville farmers market does come from farms.

[Adam White]

It wouldn't be riverside if people didn't figure out a way to add drinking to an activity.

God, this got a good chuckle out of me.

But, I do agree.  Adding brews can't hurt, and, if I am out for Saturday day drinking, why not on the river, under awning instead of O'Brothers or Garage or somewhere like that?

Hey - I speak from personal experience. I'm not any better (or was no better - I can't drink anymore because of migraine issues). I can see the appeal and I think RAM would be smart to diversify if it's struggling.

[BennyKrik]

You are killing me, Rachel.

Would offering beer fundamentally improve RAM? In recent years, RAM vendor fees sky-rocketed. They nearly doubled in some instances, making it possibly the most expensive market for vendors in the entire state.

Losing 3 produce vendors (Black Hog, Reeds Groves, Kings Kountry produce) could not have negatively affected the event. These guys, especially the first two, unfairly competed with actual local growers by passing off their produce for resale as their own crop.

It is well known in farmer's market circles that Black Hog Farms grows NOTHING.

Overall problem with RAM, in my opinion, is that it's not a market where people go to shop for edibles etc. It is an activity destination, where 9 of 10 people only goes to pass the time and eat free samples. 

[Tacachale]

The problem w RAM is if you've been there once you've been there a hundred times. It needs more variation, more things for kids to do, a proper farmers market & beer! Having our local breweries only allowed to come there a couple times a year is stupid.

The beer thing isn't RAM, it's some state law. They can only have beer a few times a year and keep their non-profit status. If it were up to them, I'm sure beer would feature a lot more than it does.

Wife and I go every couple months just to have something to do, if the weather is nice. All it ever is, is "listen to some live music in a cool setting and eat something." It is nice when the farmer's market it set up because it's from an actual farm and not like the Beaver St "farmers market" which is just grocery store produce sold on the cheap (not that this is a BAD thing).

Is this actually accurate? From my knowledge, this isn't the impression I get. A significant portion of the produce coming in to the Jacksonville farmers market does come from farms.

Yes and no. As RAM learned, when you allow vendors to do resale of other "farmers'" products, it's basically impossible to tell where it's really coming from. Sometimes it's from local farms, or farms somewhere else, but you really can't know. That's a lot of the vendors at the Jacksonville market. That said, a lot of the vendors there are real farmers, though they generally come from a lot farther out than northern Florida. The purists cringe, but it means a market that's open every day and keeps its prices low, so there's that.