P’ville Farmers Market Opens New Online Preordering Service
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the area in March, the Pleasantville Farmers Market had to act quickly.
“Being an essential business dedicated to bringing healthy, locally produced food to our community, we made some immediate changes to enable us to stay open,” said Peter Rogovin, president of Foodchester, Inc, which operates the market. “The first step was to move outside three weeks earlier than planned.”
The market quickly relocated to Memorial Plaza, its warm-weather location.
Since then, there has been a wave of adaptations, all designed to keep shoppers, vendors and staff safe.
“We run the market with serious attention to best practices, as outlined by public health authorities,” said Steven Bates, executive director of market operations. “By implementing smart safety protocols, we have been able to continue to safely support producers and residents.”
The Pleasantville Farmers Market is one of the only markets in the region to have remained open for walk-through shopping throughout this crisis.
“We’re proud of this,” Rogovin said. “If you have to get groceries and home delivery is not an option, doing so outside with all the safety measures we’ve put in place is a pretty darn good way to do it.”
Online Shopping Begins This Week
The market is adding another level of convenience and safety: Pleasantville Farmers Market Online (PFM-O) opens on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“A small group of board members and staff have spent countless hours consulting with other farmers market managers and analyzing several platforms to come up with the best solution for our customers and vendors,” Rogovin said. “We are thrilled with our solution. PFM-O is easy to use and offers benefits for all.”
Shoppers can place orders with participating vendors and pay with a single click. While all shoppers share a safely-spaced queue to enter the market, PFM-O shoppers can enjoy a contact-free pickup during their visit and skip walk-up lines at many vendors.
Vendors are happy with the system, too, since they can come to market on Saturday with some of their inventory already sold. It also enables them to tap into a larger inventory than what they would ordinarily bring to market.
PFM-O will be open every week from 7 p.m. on Tuesday to 2 p.m. on Thursday. More vendors are joining every week. Visit www.pleasantvillefarmersmarket.org for more information and to get started.
Other Safety Protocols
The walk-through market will continue to operate as usual even as PFM-O opens.
“We are committed to ensuring that our products are available to all customers, no matter how they prefer to shop,” Rogovin said. “And we encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with some of our new safety policies.”
Highlights of these policies include:
- A mask or cloth covering both nose and mouth is required at all times.
- All shoppers enter through one gate only (near the gazebo) to prevent crowding during peak periods.
- Physically distanced lines for busy vendors have been created.
- Vendors are required to wear a mask and gloves, clean regularly and abide by other industry-leading safety measures, which are constantly being updated.
- Customers may no longer touch products prior to purchase.
- Two handwashing stations are available.
- No music, kids’ activities or seating for onsite dining.
- Shopping is to be done purposefully: Customers are encouraged to get in, get food, and get home.
- In addition, shoppers are strongly urged not to bring children and to divide shopping duties if they come with a partner. The fewer people in the marketplace, the more quickly and safely everyone will be able to get in and out.
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