Farmers Markets in Canberra - are they truly 'regional'?

pajs, I remain unconvinced that Tweed valley is anywhere like in the Canberra Region, whereas I can understand why some products such as seafood could be deemed as in the region (as set out in the rules you cite), given that Canberra is only an hour or two from the coast.
And unlike the ‘rules’, I don’t have any issue whatsoever with agencies (e.g. milk suppliers, which are often cooperatives of several producers) as long as the goods are as advertised – i.e., Canberra region.
Essentially I am concerned that consumers are being misled.

There used to be a guy who sold spuds at the Farmers Markets at EPIC who religiously went into a wholesaler in Fyshwick and bought brush spuds from them, then passed them off as his own home grown produce.

Don’t know if he’s still around though.

I reckon you might have saved yourself a post if you’d looked at the ‘Market Rules’ part of website for the EPIC markets: http://capitalregionfarmersmarket.com.au/about-us/market-rules/

“Market Rules

The Market aims to maintain the authenticity of the products and ensure its customers’ trust through simple rules. The rules and code of conduct are applicable to all stallholders – both existing stallholders and new applicants. These rules are designed to maintain the authenticity and reputation of the Market.

Stallholders are producers passionate about their products, who attend the Market on a regular basis.
All stallholders must display approved Market ‘Producer product’ and ‘Agency product’ signs. Stalls must have signs with the name of the stallholder, and approved agencies must show who grew the produce and where it was grown.
All products sold must be approved by the Market Committee and are identified for each stallholder on this website.
ACT Health, Fair Trading and other laws must be observed, including rules relating to the labelling of products such as ‘organic’, ‘chemical free’ etc.
Producers are visited to ensure the authenticity of their production systems and suitability for the Market.

Market Rules – anomalies

The Market and its rules have evolved since their inception in 2004 and are constantly being updated. Consequently the Committee is continually working on the elimination of anomalies. Anomalies are currently managed under ‘grand-fathered’ arrangements and no further applications of associated products will be approved.

Current Market anomalies include:

Flower products – because of seasonal constraints on flower production in the Capital Region Farmers Market region, agencies are accepted from out of region.
Fish products – because of sustainable fish management policies and seasonality, fish products may be sourced outside of the CRFM region (but must be from Australian waters).
Ingredients for secondary and tertiary products – these products may include some imported products (e.g. spices, coffee beans); however priority is given to products with locally produced ingredients.
Non-food products – some non-food products were approved early in the Market’s development (e.g. soap, beeswax).
Most stallholders are genuine producers; however Rule changes have resulted in two agency only stalls. These stalls are currently the subject of grandfathered management agreements to eliminate them from the Market.

Freshness, quality and environmental benefits

The Capital Region Farmers Market offers a number of benefits to consumers in addition to freshness, quality and access to a wide variety of regional and seasonal food.

The Market helps to substantially reduce food miles between the growers and your table. Food from the Market comes direct from the producer, with the majority of produce coming from less than 300 kilometres, resulting in lower transport costs and a reduction of the carbon footprint.”

We head to Woden farmers markets most Sundays and they are always good. The furthest away I have seen stallholders come from is Narooma, but they sell fresh seafood so allowances have to be made.