Dear guests,

If you, like us, are connected to the thoughts and feelings described below, then we have prepared something for you.

FARMERS MARKETS OF HERMANAK AND NAPLAVKA CLUB

This association is here for everyone who is a supporter of the Náplavka Farmers' Market, who visits it, shops there, and wishes to see it improved and refined. This association is for those who would like the market to fulfill their primary purpose: the sale of authentic and high quality Czech food, the majority of which comes from small, local, and oftentimes family farms. This association is for those who would like the markets to connect friends, and it is for those who want to strive to continually improve Czech food, its quality and origin.

The association is also for those who are willing to stand up for what they believe in.

What can we look forward to? We would like for members to meet from time to time. We would like to invite members, for example, to sample new foods (cheeses, meats, breads…). We would like to invite members to various seasonal celebrations (apples, honey, herbs…). We would like to introduce members to interesting guests working in gastronomy. We would like to share interesting recipes and experiences. And for those who are so inclined, we would like to invite you to interesting educational lectures concerning food quality and security. More details are coming soon.

If you identify with these ideas, fill out the below form so that we can best know your needs and wishes – members and those who wish to become members.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

1. We are responsible and thoughtful consumers. We are not indifferent to what we eat and where we shop.

2. We support Czech food. We give it a chance on the market, and we are interested in the producer.

3. We desire high quality, fresh food.

4. We respect the principle of a fairer price for goods, if you pay directly to the producer.

5. We desire to learn credible information about the availability and security of food.

6. We are not indifferent to ecological concerns, and the condition of the Czech countryside rests on our hearts.

7. We are aware that by supporting farmers markets, we are supporting the creation of jobs and advocating as a consumer that taxes and profits arising from business with Czech food producers remain at home and in the (Czech) state coffers.

8. We would like to meet one another at the market. We feel that we have had enough expansion of retail markets, which cause continued globalization and financial insecurity.

9. We are happy to support with our purchases small, and oftentimes, family farms, and we enjoy meeting directly with the producers at the market.

10. We honor our roots. We are loyal to traditions that create a kind of national sense of belonging and health, and we support something that could be called patriotism.

WHAT ARE FARMERS MARKETS (AND WHAT SHOULD THEY ASPIRE TO BE)?

Farmers markets, as we understand them and as we try to organize them, are small islands of personal freedom in a gigantic world where rules are often determined, and will increasingly be determined by, multinational organizations and large retail chains.

Farmers markets are sales outlets for family farms, for small growers and farmers, for small producers, and even for surplus from the garden. Inexpensively and free of trouble with so-called browsers, farmers markets make it possible to realize direct sales for fair prices – without a middleman, simple and direct. Shopping at the market is not a sterile, consumerist experience; it is a social gathering.

Farmers markets bring city dwellers the opportunity to buy fresh, high quality, local food directly from the source; farmers markets bring the opportunity to meet with the growers or producers, to share your opinions with them, and to influence what is grown or made. An active market helps to maintain a minority of knowledge about agriculture and farms, or production practices that emerged over generations

An active market in the region supports natural human creativity – would you like to know, for instance, how to make excellent jams, how to grow and arrange flowers, how to make home syrups or anything else outstanding that people appreciate. Then we must not sink into despair. We can work for it. The market can be an ideal place to start.

Everyone has long known that trade, industry, or country cannot feed us all. Plenty of people must rely on their positive, individual abilities (emphasizing the positive, because ability means to know how to steal, which we confront in despair). Therefore, a place for free, direct sale cannot be allowed to vanish. We must protect a little public space and not let all of it go to advertising agencies, supermarkets, and corporations. It is in our interests, in the interest of our society where we live.

Ambassadors

We introduce the ambassadors, those individuals who contribute not only their expertise and professional skills, but who bring all types of contributions to the blossoming club.

CONTACT

FARMERS MARKETS OF HERMANAK AND NAPLAVKA CLUB ©

• Membership is free

• It does not commit you to anything

• Association meetings

• Food and drink tastings

• Popular educational and expert conferences

• Meet-and-greets with personalities from the food and gastronomy world and elsewhere

• Food safety and quality