The Challenges of Indoor Farmers Markets During a Pandemic

By Diana Broadaway
Published on March 1, 2022
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Courtesy Farmers Market Coalition

Throughout the pandemic, farmers markets have worked through a multitude of regulatory challenges and established their role as essential food access points in communities across the country. In the summer, farmers markets thrive outside in open-air shopping areas and provide a safe space for community members to gather and build connections within their local food system.

But what about when the weather turns cold? Many farmers markets are closed by late fall but, before the pandemic, some markets would head indoors for the winter, taking over high school gyms, church basements and other community spaces. Winter farmers market operations are important for farmers selling storage crops, for the livelihood of craft vendors whose sales increase during the holidays, and for maintaining local connections throughout the winter season. But how have indoor winter farmers markets fared during the pandemic?

Here at the national Farmers Market Coalition (FMC), we brought together stakeholders from across the farmers market sector into a “community of practice” focused on one goal: understanding how farmers markets could operate safely indoors over the winter. In the context of farmers markets and farm direct work, FMC uses communities of practice as peer-to-peer platforms for bringing together small groups of market operators, organizational leaders, network partners, and other farm direct site operators to address specific topics or areas of interest impacting their work. Nurturing communities and the connections they foster is central to strengthening local and regional food systems. These communities may be formal or informal, large or small. We may not realize how many of these communities we participate in each day and how these opportunities to share with and learn from one another influence our personal and professional experiences.

Our indoor market community of practice included a small group of market operators who were facing unique challenges in navigating the impacts of COVID-19 within indoor (or partially indoor) markets. Over the course of five months, market leaders shared past and current experiences with their operations, anticipated challenges, and proposed solutions. There were common and unique obstacles faced by each of these markets with local guidelines, capacity limitations, and resource availability all playing a role in operational responses to COVID.

This group highlighted some of the limitations (and lack of resources for issues) faced by indoor or winter season markets which may not impact outdoor spring and summer markets. Many of the operators faced significant obstacles to indoor operations in any form, due in part to space restrictions and other limitations which made redesigning market layouts difficult.

masked customers at an indoor farmers market browse a vendor's table
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