Jaime Grant, manager of the Innisfil Farmers’ Market, was originally looking at a July 2 reopening for the popular market – but the situation has been changing almost daily, with new directives from the province relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan is now to reopen the market on Thursday, June 25, from 1 to 6 p.m.
It will be an outdoor farmers’ market, in the usual location at the south parking lot of the Innisfil Recreation Complex, but it will be anything but business as usual, Grant said.
“We’re going to open with safety in mind, and with new rules.”
Social distancing will be the norm, with limits on the number of shoppers allowed into the farmers’ market at one time.
Customers won’t be able to handle the produce, but will be able to point to what they want – and will be served by the vendors, wearing face masks.
“That’s the only way we could make it safe,” Grant said.
Other changes? “We’ll be sanitizing between customers,” she said. “We will be encouraging non-cash options.”
And visitors to the market will be met by a greeter, who will explain the rules, provide a squirt of hand-sanitizer, and tell customers to follow the directional arrows as they move through the market.
There will also be new limits on the vendors. Only food vendors – sellers of fresh produce, fresh baking, or pre-made foods – will be allowed at this time, with none of the usual artisans, although Grant noted, “By opening day, that might change.”
Don’t expect special events at the post-COVID market. Pie-eating competitions and other activities involving close contact and shared surfaces will be put on hold, at least “until the pandemic is over.”
Shoppers are also warned to head to the washroom before they attend. The Recreation Complex remains closed at this time, and there will be no public washroom facilities on site, by order of the Health Unit.
It was a deliberate decision not to move market sales online, Grant said. While some individual vendors are selling their produce online, with pick-up at the market, “We just didn’t have the manpower to do order and pickup” across the board, and handle the volume of sales, she said.
There was another reason for backing away from a virtual marketplace.
“I didn’t like the disconnect of it. Farmers’ markets are not set up that way. We’re not big conglomerate businesses – we’re family-run,” she said, offering a unique opportunity to meet the farmers and growers. Moving sales online would “defeat the purpose.”
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Innisfil Farmers’ Market, and Grant and her vendors had planned to celebrate with a big party – but that has also been scrapped for the time being.
At this point, Grant is just grateful to be reopening, and hopes that residents will embrace the new format.
She has received plenty of inquiries, so far. “There seems to be a lot of interest in buying local this year,” she said. “Hopefully there will be support.”
So, right now, the plan is to open June 25. “I just want everything in place, moving forward,” said Grant. “Keeping it safe and keeping it open… unless the province shuts us down again.”
In addition to a market at the recreation complex on Thursdays, the Innisfil Farmers Market will have a second location at the Cookstown Tanger Outlet Mall on Fridays, starting June 26 from 1 to 6 p.m.
The Market at Tanger initiative started last year and was a success. Vendors will once again set up in the parking lot at the west side of the mall.
For more information on the Innisfil Farmers Market, including contact information for some of its long-time vendors, click here.
