Brussels, possessing a population of half a million, reaps considerable advantage from its picturesque municipal markets, four of which are covered, while several are in the open air.
The renting of space to standholders at the central market is according to the highest bidder, provided the price is not below $11.58 per month for meat, $9.65 for poultry and game, $5.79 for fruit, vegetables, butter and cheese.
Both producers and dealers sell at these markets, all their supplies being subjected to drastic inspection regulations. All meats are tested by the municipal veterinary surgeon and his staff, while a communal chemist regulates the milk, butter and general dairy produce. The cleansing of the markets is done by the department of public cleanliness. Some of the public markets are managed by a contractor, who receives $250.90 a year for setting up the stalls and keeping them in good order. He deposits a security on undertaking his contract and in default of a satisfactory performance of his work the commune does it and charges him with it.
Comments
It has been testified that New York's annual food supply costs, at the railroad and steamer terminals, $350,000,000. But the consumers pay $500,000,000 for it. The balance of $150,000,000 does not necessarily indicate that any particular section of middle-men have been exacting excessive profits. It merely demonstrates that too many people handle the produce between the farm and the fireside. The provision of an adequate Terminal Market system for New York would apply the remedy.
New York stands alone, for a city of its importance, in having to face an annual deficit on its markets. The results elsewhere prove that the deficit could be turned into a profit by the creation of a Terminal Market system, equipped and administered on twentieth century lines.
America is exporting less foodstuffs than formerly. The annual value has fallen $126,000,000 in eleven years. The growth of the manufacturing population and the relative decrease of the agricultural population, together with the gradual impoverishment of much of our farm land, will soon make conditions worse unless we organize our food distribution.
The first step for New York is the establishment of a Terminal Market system. It is estimated that New York's population will continue to grow at the rate of fully 100,000 a year, so this problem admits of no further procrastination.
In natural resources America is the richest country in the world. Other nations have to import vast quantities of produce because of the restricted area of their territory, the comparative unfruitfulness of their soil, or their adverse climatic conditions. We have a wide land of boundless fertility, never wholly in the grip of winter's cold. Yet we no more escape the high cost of living than these less favored peoples overseas. They have partially compensated for their disadvantages by organizing their markets, while we have neglected that important branch of civic enterprise.