The Really Really Free Market has landed in Preston, a community event where everything is absolutely free. No Bartering, no trading and certainly no money.
Attended by several hundred, the inaugural Preston market included everything from food to homeopathic therapies to furniture and yoga classes.
It was held on the Railway Reservation Bike Path.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Eric Hornung, Bean Crane, Tess Newport and Miranda helped to organise the first RRFM in Melbourne’s suburbs.
One of the organisers Eric Hornung, said the Really Really Free Market, or RRFM, is largely an anti-capitalist movement. “[It] has traditionally occurred in the context of anarchist politics, in the sort of ‘give what you can, take what you need’ style”
Really Really Free Markets have occurred all around the world, beginning in
Emily Drago’s stall gave away an eclectic selection of household objects including a fishing suit, old magazines and even a working typewriter.
New Zealand as a protest against Free Market policy discussions, they have since gained popularity in the Philippines, Russia, US and UK.
But free isn’t a familiar concept in Western society and many market-goers said they felt awkward receiving goods without payment.
Emily Drago, who gave away household objects, said, “One thing that we were talking… was that people might feel uncomfortable about taking something for free, so we’re just trying to build an atmosphere where that is accepted and allowed.”
Food Not Bombs provided food for the day, sourcing their ingredients for free from Queen Victoria Market. This free food movement has been in operations since the 1980’s.
Food Not Bombs was at the center of the gathering, with almost everyone carrying around a plate of salad and dahl, gifted by Food Not Bombs, a global anti-capitalist movement which takes unused food from markets, cooks it and provides it free to the public.
Alicia’s free lavender macarons were a hit at the RRFM, all gone in the first hour.
Alicia manned a table filled with muffins and pastries. Recently qualifying as a pastry chef, she used the market to use up leftover ingredients from cooking experimentation. “It’s a good opportunity to practise something I love, learn some things and share it with the community.”
Preston is becoming a hub for anti-capitalist movements. Theo Kitchener, giving away pamphlets, discussed the other initiatives in the area. “There are quite a few different social movements going on in Preston… There is a group call Gnome Farming co-operative and Livelyhood.” Livelyhood is a domestic co-op involving 50-100 people, all offering goods or services, such as childcare or vegetables.
However, the trendy, alternative atmosphere of the suburb, of which this event is the latest manifestation, has the potential to accelerate capitalism rather than deconstruct it.
From 10 to 11.30 free yoga lessons were held. While it was slow to start within an hour every mat was taken.
Eric Hornung said, “We’re conscious that projects that are seen as cool and new or hip affect property prices and ultimately end up forcing people to move further away from the city. So for me, if the market doesn’t have some sort of antidote to that effect, then it could potentially be more harmful than good.”
Attendees were majority white. To help counteract the effects of gentrification, organiser Miranda said next time a concerted effort will be made to try to broaden the market’s racial reach. “As we look around, there is definitely a certain demographic here. So hopefully in the future, we’ll manage to promote it better and translate marketing into different languages.”
The first RRFM was well attended and will be be held monthly at the Railway Reservation Bike Path.
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