12/24/2022
A Tale of Two Markets
We started the Palominas Farmers Market as a direct response to the tyrannical government response to the covid paranoia. PFM originated from the idea that private people must be the sovereign decision makers over their own private lives. PFM started as a private market and has always respected each individual’s right to make their own decisions, especially about their own health. PFM never assumed the title of “health police”, nor did they or their vendors ever press their own personal belief upon other vendors or customers. The result? PFM has operated for nearly THREE YEARS now without ONE SINGLE INSTANCE OF CONFLICT arising at the market regarding political or medical opinions! We have witnessed gun-toting, flag waving, “MAGA hat” wearing conservatives walking through the market alongside rainbow-haired, Trump-hating, mask wearing liberals, and NOT ONE ALTERCATION has ever occurred! Because PFM’s primary policy has always been one of respect toward each person’s fundamental rights.
The Bisbee Farmers Market, on the other hand, was operating on City government property, under strict control of special permits. Therefore they had to obey the whims and fancies of whatever tyrannical policy was created by out-of-touch bureaucrats. There were mask mandates, “two person per vendor tent” mandates so one could handle money and the other could handle products, there was “social distancing” mandates, and barricades, and the entire city park was cordoned off to force a single point-of-entry and exit. And on and on. The result? Physical and/or verbal altercations EVERY WEEK! It became normal for the police to be called in almost every single week! Anger, divisiveness, discouragement, frustration, paranoia, fear, and general feelings of being abused and oppressed were the reigning attitudes.
Finally, the Bisbee market left the park, taking cues from the private property ideas pioneered by PFM, and moved to a private lot on the other side of the city. The result? Much calmer, peaceful, and friendly interactions began to reign.
Instead of the government seeing this as a good thing, they felt threatened by not having control over the people! They initiated a request for someone to apply for the position of “farmers market liaison” to START A NEW MARKET at the park! Knowing that Bisbee cannot support TWO farmers markets, they started a new one anyway, and chose to run it at the exact same time and day asthe Original Bisbee Farmers Market always had. In other words, they created a government supported market to run as direct competition against the now-free Market, and building upon 20 years of work that BFM had created – including using the City Park.
Needless to say, Bisbee cannot support TWO farmer’s markets, and it is impossible in a small town to compete with the resources of the City Government. The BFM began a steady decline as more vendors jumped to take advantage of the “convenience” and better foot traffic that the government market essentially stole from BFM. People have short memories and have already forgotten the abuses suffered by everyone at the hands of the City.
We took over control of the BFM right at the point when momentum for the decline was already unstoppable. Our resources have been split between PFM and BFM for almost a year now, and we have reached the point where we can no longer afford to fight a lost battle. We apologize to the community that we couldn’t save the market, but it is clear that the will of the community sides with the convenience and comfort of a government-controlled City Park setting and not with the freedom of a private Free-Market solution.
We salute those of you who stood with us to the bitter end! The faithful customers and the staunchly loyal vendors are a tribute to the spirit of Liberty, and we are truly grateful for the opportunity we had to meet you, interact with you, and serve the community to the best of our ability alongside you!
December 31, 2022 will be the last meeting of The Original Bisbee Farmers' Market, LLC. The market will be OPEN on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, and then the vendors who wish to carry on will be moving to the Palominas Community Market going forward.
