"Food Safety Market" Model: Building a Civilized Commercial Lifestyle

Civilized and safe market

Early in the morning, at Dai Thuong village market (Dai Dong commune), many traders wear hats, aprons, and gloves to set up their stalls. In front of the stalls, there are signs committing to "5 no, 3 clean" and clearly listed prices. This is the first market in the country to be chosen as a point to deploy the "Food Safety Market" model from mid-2023. Initially, only about 60 business households participated, but now Dai Thuong village market has nearly 70 households, of which more than 80% meet environmental protection criteria, more than 64% ensure food safety...

Members of the "Food Safety Market" model in Ke market ( Bac Giang ward) do business at the market.

To implement the model, the Commune Women's Union conducted a survey of business households, organized training, advised the government to support funding and materials; and at the same time, integrated propaganda content about the market model to ensure food safety to members. "In each meeting, we not only disseminate legal knowledge but also share how to identify clean food, waste treatment skills, and classify goods. Up to now, 100% of traders participating in the model have kept their business locations clean, collected and put garbage in the right place," said Ms. Dang Thi Dung, Vice President of the Dai Dong Commune Women's Union.

Previously, Ke market (Bac Giang ward) used to be a hot spot for environmental pollution. The chaotic trading situation, stalls not planned for each area, people selling goods encroaching on the walkways, and littering were quite common, greatly affecting the urban beauty and public health. In order to overcome the above limitations, since July 2024, the model "Market ensuring food safety" has been deployed at Ke market with the participation of more than 80 small traders.

The traders attended 4 intensive training sessions on proper waste classification and collection, ensuring food hygiene and safety; were instructed on how to identify safe food, how to preserve and display goods... and participated in regular activities associated with cultural and sports activities, creating cohesion, contributing to sustainable behavioral change. This is one of the pilot models of Bac Giang city (formerly) in building a civilized commercial lifestyle and raising awareness of environmental protection.

Up to now, Ke market has had many clear changes: The business environment is clean, goods are neatly displayed, reasonably divided into zones; waste is collected in the right place. Many households that previously encroached on the aisles have now voluntarily cleaned up and rearranged their stalls. 100% of members have signed a commitment to strictly comply with regulations, resolutely saying no to poor quality goods of unknown origin. In particular, many small traders have proactively linked with reputable agricultural cooperatives and gardeners to ensure a stable, safe and traceable source of input food. The hygiene situation at the market has many positive changes, households in the model have signs identifying safe sales areas, commitment boards on food origin, glass cabinets, biodegradable bags... Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, Phu My 1 residential group shared: "Before going to the market, I used to worry about food of unknown origin. Since the safe market model was introduced, I feel much more secure. The stalls have clear signs, vendors wear gloves, uniforms, and transparent prices."

Step by step replication of the model

The three criteria of the "Food Safety Market" model include: Food safety (no trading in products of unknown origin or expired; food must be packaged and preserved according to standards). Environmental protection (waste classification, no indiscriminate dumping; use of biodegradable bags and hygienic containers). Business culture (polite communication, clear price listing, no haggling, no soliciting of customers).

The whole province has nearly 240 traditional markets and wholesale markets, of which about 180 markets mainly trade food. Through assessment, after 2 years of implementation, the whole province has built 8 models of "Food Safety Markets" with more than 400 participating households. The models not only create a clear change in the awareness and work of small traders but also create trust with consumers, contribute to protecting public health, gradually moving towards building modern, safe and sustainable traditional markets.

Despite achieving positive results, the model still faces many difficulties such as: Due to limited funding, many temporary markets do not have suitable infrastructure; there are still households selling food of unknown origin... Along with that, the awareness of some business households about the significance of implementing the model is still limited...

Article and photos: Ngoc Anh

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/mo-hinh-cho-bao-dam-an-toan-thuc-pham-xay-dung-nep-song-van-minh-thuong-mai-postid421686.bbg