Over the summer I was invited to join 3 of my friends at the Rochester Public Market, located on North Union Street. It was the first time I had ever been to that particular public market, and I promptly grew enamored with the place. Between the all the fresh food and flowers, a large and diverse population of people gathered in a communal space, for business, for fun, and for conversation. I want to who built it, why they built it there, and how. I want to know how the rules and regulations of the Rochester Public Market have morphed over time; as well as what might have stayed the same. I'd like to compare how the operations and structure of the Rochester Public Market compares to others; where do they get their food from and how much are they selling it for? Where does the money come from to run something like this? Where does it go? Who lived in the area when the market was initially created and who lives there now? What are the demographics of the attendees? I just have so many questions.
I noticed when visiting, that people arrived by various modes of transportation, and were (superficially at least) composed of many different socio-economic backgrounds. Furthermore, although many people may have posed more money than others, the style of dress for most adults and little children was mostly casual or "blue collar," the exception being people around my age (high school/college kids). If I had to guess, it's because public markets are being seen as cool/trendy/fun places to just go and enjoy; thus encouraging visitor participation and business through "cheap" advertising.
I think I'm researching this topic, a lot of constructive knowledge can be gleaned on successful visitor engagement, as the Rochester Public Market is a thriving place of color sound and experiences that's drawing in all different demographics consistently in droves. Furthermore, I believe that the Public Market would be a great place to facilitate academic learning about business,food, and hospitality to younger audiences. I have found that the market already hosts so many other events, ranging from musician performances to impromptu consortiums on whichever popular topic. I'm interested in /considering what a public program might look like for educating children about food in more depth in a place of informal learning.
I was told that a popular idea for instutions of early 1900's was for the place in question to be located near the heart of a city , ideally next to public transportation centers, with affordable pricing and accessible facilities/hours. While the Rochester Public Market is not a museum, I feel that there are a lot of ideas that can be transplanted and repurposed for museums to better improve themselves; expanding knowledge of public history in the process.
I really like this idea for a thesis project, because I got to learn about and experience Rochester history in a really fun way without being drowned in factoid after factoid of written prose. Also, I wanted to chose something that I thought others would like to read about.
How can you not be interested? After all,
Everybody eats.
I love this idea! I'm a frequent public market-goer here in rochester, it's such a great place, but I always wonder about the other people who visit and how it got started. Your beginning questions about the history and demographics of the market, and towards the end how you intend to crossover what you learn from the market to other institutions both sound really interesting! I can't wait to see how your project develops.
ReplyDeleteThis could be a very engaging topic for a thesis. You made me realize that I actually do not know anything about the history of the Rochester Public Market, despite it being such a popular locale. But I have learned a lot by talking to the vendors there. They always are happy to discuss which vegetables are in season, how to take care of plants, how the weather affects the crop, etc. Informal learning definitely takes place there!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting idea! I'm really curious to find out how the market has changed over time. From a quick google search I could see that the market has been around since 1905, so it would be interesting to examine how the rise of chain supermarkets and bodegas have affected how the market does business.
ReplyDeleteKayla, It might be interesting to think of your work as being based in "food knowledges" and how that knowledge develops. One way to draw out the informal learning at the market is to compare/contrast the Rochester Public Market experiences with other food-based-informal-learning experiences, such as festivals, demos of products at foods at grocery stores, and other means. I'm hungry for more of your ideas (Pun!!) :)
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