Christopher Wagner, Burlington Farmers Market Interview

Main Four to Six Interview Questions: 

If you could please state your name and title? If you could also spell it for me that would be great! 

      Christopher Wagner, market manager for the Burlington Farmers Market

How did you get involved in Burlington Farmers Market? How long have you been a part of it?

      I have been with the market for 7 years now and they were looking for a site manager to run the day to day operations when I got hired. I got accepted as the site manager and then someone who ran the behind the scenes stuff left so I got asked to take on more behind the scenes responsibilities too. I work with both the summer and winters markets, I also have culinary backgrounds working in kitchens which helped me get the job, I knew where the vendors where coming from.

In your own words can you please define what sustainable living is? How does this pertain to households and local farms?

      It is making those conscious decisions everyday about your impact on the environment, and even on your own little world and the bigger picture. It's making decisions that are right for you. Everyone might have a different idea of what that means to them and have their own definition. In regards to the farmers market, my job at the market is to provide an opportunity for those vendors and what they envision it to mean, and for the customers too. I am like a go-to bring those two groups together. 

How prominent do you feel that sustainable living and local foods is in Vermont? How do you feel Vermont would be without it?

      I have been here 10 years but it would be hard to imagine it any other way. It has really been kind of a safe haven for a long time. Really get back to the earth and it’s one of those untouched areas by pollution or big businesses. I don't know how Vermont would be if it wasn't the way it is now, there would really be no Vermont. 

More Possible Questions:

How long has Burlington Farmers Market had its own farmers' market? Where is it usually held and does it work in coalition with any other markets? How many local farms and businesses does it support and source from?

      We just got done of our 27^th year of the summer market and we are going into the 7^th year of the winter market. The summer market has 94 vendors, and the winter has 54 vendors. The summer one might be able to grow, it depends on the capacity we can hold. The winter market is really maxed out. We have done head counts with NOFA-VT before and we had a count of about 8,000 people walk through in the summer market but now on a busy day in the summer we might have about 10,000 people. We do have a lot of tourists so vendors sometimes cater to that crowd, same with college students. It’s interesting to see the different groups of people that come in whether to hangout or to just grab their produce and go. The Rutland market and Norwich market are big but ours has to be up there. 

How beneficial do you feel that it is having an organization such as a farmers' market in the community?

      It's one of the largest aspects that community has because we are that avenue for people. We do have City Market and other great places and groceries but to have that interaction with the farmers themselves is huge. They work all week long and they come and you are buying the food from the actual farm. I think that is huge but when you are handing them that money, it might be expensive, but you are handing it to the person who raised that. Its huge that there is no middle man between you and the person who created that product. It s a huge culture here and Vermont, it has been here for a long time, and now its spreading across the country which is hard to argue about. Its hard to say that wouldn't be an asset to the community.