The Boise Farmers Market Reinvents Itself

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Boise Farmers Market refines a drive-thru market to keep customers safe and local food flowing.

Thinking Inside the Box – Making Healthy Food Accessible with Curbside/Drive-Thru (Contactless) Models at Farmers Markets During COVID-19

Presenters

Farmers Market Leaders! Remember when everyone was talking about alternative delivery models and how to reduce contact at farmers markets? Let’s bring that conversation back!

Are you interested in learning to operate a curbside/drive-thru (contactless) model at your market? COVID-19 has impacted almost every aspect of farmers’ market operations. From wearing masks to social distancing, keeping shoppers and vendors safe has created new opportunities for innovation.

“Box programs” or curbside/drive-thru models have popped up across the nation to provide small and mid-sized farmers with an additional opportunity to sell their products and continuing to elevate farmers markets and make healthy food accessible to communities.

Largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers market customers – including those in COVID-19 high-risk groups – are looking for lower-touch options.

In this webinar, market operators using this model will present on:

How to run a curbside/drive-thru (contactless) model in a farmers’ market, including offering SNAP/EBT payment and nutrition incentives (the match provided on SNAP benefits).

Participants will also get knowledge on best practices for:
Logistics and operations
Securing funding and staffing/volunteers
Compliance with COVID-19 health and safety guidelines

Attendees will leave this webinar feeling inspired and supported to run your own box program, or with a better understanding of how viable the program may be for your market.

Click the image below for the recording of the webinar.

Access presentation slides here.
Webinar Q&A
Min: 09:55 Land Acknowledgement/ Essential Workers Acknowledgement
Min: 18:00 About the Nutrition Hub
Min: 19:30 Presenter line-up
Min: 20:40 Presenter #1, Cristina Berthelot, Crescent City Farmers Market, New Orleans, LA
Min: 35:32 Presenter #2, Angie Warkentin, Visalia Farmers Marker Åssociation, Visalia, CA
Min: 51:48 Presenter #3, Megan Kenney, North Coast Growers Åssociation, Arcata, CA
Min: 1:06:05 Presenter #4, Ruth Arhelger, Rochester Farmers Market, Rochester, MN
Min: 1:18:37 Presenter Q and A

Coronavirus Outbreak: The COVID-19 Pandemic

From the latest headlines about the global coronavirus crisis to practical advice on how you can protect yourself and your loved ones at home We make sure that all the medical professionals on the front-line share advice to help inspire and enable self-care during the pandemic.

Penn State Extension: Recommended Vendor Setup at Farmers Markets Under COVID-19 Guidelines

Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets: Webinar on Vendor Practices during Covid-19

Farmers’ Markets have dramatically changed their layout and rules to fall in line with the Governor’s emergency declarations and the Maine Department of Agriculture’s guidance for farmers’ markets. This webinar is an orientation for Maine farmers’ market vendors to learn what best practices they must be following. Topics covered include: Pre-ordering, booth setup, payment processing, product handling, and how best practices pertain to every aspect of your booth’s operations.

Webinar: Pickup and Order Options at Farmers Market: Create Resilience, Not Legal Vulnerability

WEBINAR: As Farmers Markets add curbside pickup, take advance orders, and offer bundled market purchases, customers are getting fresh, local foods in the midst of a pandemic. But, these innovations can also bring legal risk as well. With some advance planning, market managers can address these risks and create a program with strength beyond COVID-19. We’ll cover issues including increased liability risk, shifting insurance needs, potential licensing obligations, and concerns under site agreements. Your webinar presenters have expertise in farmers markets, legal obligations, and insurance. Join us to learn where legal risk lies and what to do to resolve it.

Presenters: 

• Rachel Armstrong, Farm Commons
• Darlene Wolnik, Farmers Market Coalition
• Emily Spiegel, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems Vermont Law School
• Chris Van Leeuwen, Food Liability Insurance Program

Read more about the importance of farmers market insurance and mitigating risk during COVID in our interview with Chris Van Leeuwen here. 

TEXAS FARMERS MARKET: How to Shop the Farmers’ Market During COVID-19

The team at Texas Farmers’ Market is working diligently to keep our markets open and safe for our customers, vendors, and operations crew. While we love that our markets are built on a central core of conversation, gathering and community, it is critical that our markets be a food access point right now and not a space for socializing.

We have developed these dozen tips to help make your trip to the farmers’ market as safe as possible in order to protect you, our vendors and our staff. We can only keep the markets safely open if our shoppers help us by following these new guidelines. Thank you for doing your part to protect yourself and your community, while supporting the local farmers, ranchers and small businesses who are on the frontlines working hard to feed us.

Tracking visitor count in the market and managing people waiting to get in

In this new world formed under the cloud of COVID-19 there are 3 additional challenges farmers markets need to deal with:
1) Ensuing only a certain number of people are in the market at any time
2) Managing the line of people/cars outside the market waiting to get in.
3) Trying to have a steady flow of people throughout the day.

While thinking of these challenges, I came up with a solution that will
1) Allows customer to see online how long the wait is to get into the market
2) Shows market management the total visitor count and how many people are in at any point of time
3) Lets people add themselves to a virtual queue and wait anywhere or in their car till they are called in. This will avoid a long line of cars or people blocking other traffic.

Virginia Cooperative Extension: COVID-19 Social Distancing Signage for Use at Farmers Markets

The purpose of this Extension publication is to provide interested Extension agents, farmers market staff and vendors with lighthearted and effective examples of social distancing signage for potential utilization at farmers markets in Virginia operating during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. An important key to implementing social distancing measures recommended by governmental officials is the utilization of easy to understand and informative signage. Conspicuously displaying effective signage throughout a farmers market environment to prompt, remind and encourage both vendors and visitors of the importance of social distancing to prevent person-to-person spread of the COVID-19 virus assists in safe market operation during the pandemic.

Utah Farmers Market Network: New FM Shopping Etiquette (English/Spanish)

Spanish version