Losing the "Commune" in Community

Today I had some sad news.

The day started off great.  Me, my roomate and my little sister all went down to the local Farmer's Market, which is always a fantastic experience.  This time we were a bit more daring in our purchases, besides the usual onions, potatoes and carrots we bought Red Pepper Jelly, Bison meat, Cow Neck, and Purple Cauliflower.  No, I'm not lying, the cauliflower is a beautiful lavendar colour, and I've been informed it will turn mauve when cooked.  Not sure exactly what mauve is, but I'm assuming it's pretty.  :P

After a great time outside in the spitting rain and the cold wind buying local fresh goods, we went inside the building beside the outdoor farmers market, where there is a sort of flea market on weekends.  It's a cute little place - not many stalls, but the ones that are there are cute.  There is quite a variety too, from people who have handmade animals hats and baby blankets, to antique and homemade jewlery, to native-american art to old books and movies, to crossbows (yep, for real), to custom hula hoops.  Well we just found out from one sweet older lady who works at a jewlery stand that this may well be the last year of the flea market in our town.  Somehow or other, it is no longer economically viable, and the building is to be sold.

I understand the importance of markets being economically viable.  Really, I do.  But there is something in that romantic nature of mine that tells me there is a loss in the vanishing of a local market, beyond the fact that I will no longer be able to find jewlery for under $5.

Local markets are a place where everyone in the community can come, and support local people trying to make their living.  It is a place beyond contracts and middle-men and beeping cashes.  It's a place where you get to know the people you buy from, you come to trust some and be wary of others, you interact with the people who MAKE your food, you care about them, and they care about you.  There is an understanding that can develop between counting out exact exact change, and trading it for a huge clove of garlic, or a hand-carved salad bowl.  A human connection that is swiftly being lost in an increasingly fast-track commercialized society.  This is not to bash capitalism - I'm all for capitalism...I guess this is just to bash commercialism, which detaches us from our food and clothing, and from our neighbours who produce them.

I really do believe that we should all try our best to keep the "commune" in community; find places where you can buy things from people, not computers or contracted companies, and take the time care about not only what you are buying, but those who provide them to you.  There's nothing I love more than walking into a shop that isn't too too crowded, where the employees smile at you and recognize you and maybe even know what you're looking for.  That's where our money should be; where our hearts and our smiles are.