Farmers markets adjust to the coronavirus pandemic
Observer-Reporter
In this file photo, Joe Jodikinos, left, of Jodikinos Farms, bags apples for a Main Street Farmers Market customer in downtown Washington. The market will start in June due to coronavirus concerns.
In this file photo, shoppers peruse a vendor’s wares on High Street, Waynesburg, in front of Greene County Courthouse during a weekly farmers market. An additional market is coming to Lions Club Park.
By Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
Peppers at the Marigold Farm table at the Main Street Farmers Market in Washington are a rainbow of color.
April showers may bring May flowers, as the old adage has it, and May would also typically be the start of the season for farmers markets, as consumers eager to buy homegrown produce, prepared foods and plants descend on them after a long winter.
But the coronavirus has interrupted the regular flow of seasonal activities, from commencement ceremonies to baseball, and farmers markets are no exception.
Most of the farmers markets in the region have moved their starting dates and will be instituting new procedures that they hope will keep vendors and customers safe.
The Main Street Farmers Market in Washington had been set to open May 21, but it has been pushed back one month to June 18. When it does open, “there will be a lot of changes, and we hope the public will understand,” according to Betsy West, the president of the market’s board of directors. First, there will be designated entrances in the front and back of the market at the Community Pavilion on Main Street. No pets will be allowed, no musicians will be playing, and no tables will be set up so customers can eat or converse with one another.
Basically, customers will be encouraged to make purchases and be on their way, West explained.
“They should not linger,” she said.
Also, tables will be spaced farther apart, vendors and volunteers will be wearing masks, and some will be wearing gloves. Hand sanitizer will also be at every table.
There are many unknowns still attached to the coronavirus outbreak, and one possibility is that it will subside in the summer and re-emerge in the fall. West noted that “the big question is whether we’ll have to cut it short.”
The Original Farmers Market, located in South Fayette Township, has also pushed its opening day back to June. The organizers of the market could not be reached for comment, but a message on the market’s website states a decision will be made in mid-May about how to proceed.
“It is our goal to provide a healthy place for our loyal customers to shop locally,” it says. “We will be putting up signs at the market, and will put information on the website and social media explaining any changes.”
The message continues, “The market will open this year, but may have to implement specific guidelines to protect the health of vendors themselves, their employees and their customers.”
The Peters Township Farmers Market, which was due to start May 27 at St. David’s Episcopal Church, will be pushed back to June, according to Bridget Crnkovich, the market’s manager.
“We’re going to kind of wait and see,” she said.
Once the market does open, an entrance will be created, and keeping people moving will be a main priority, Crnkovich said. It will be a stripped-down farmers market, she said, with no tables or entertainment.
Some of the vendors are “on the fence” about participating in the farmers market in Monongahela, according to Tanya Chaney, a member of the committee that oversees the market. It is set to start June 12. When it comes to face masks, for instance, Chaney said the market “will comply with what is being suggested.”
The farmers market on Waynesburg’s High Street will reopen as planned on May 13, said Larry Marshall, the borough’s Main Street manager. The market usually only draws anywhere from three to five vendors, he said, and they will be spread out and wearing masks and gloves.
Opening the farmers market represents an opportunity “to break the monotony we’re in,” Marshall said.