Open Forum for Farmers Markets & COVID Guidelines

COVID is still with us, although we may finally be starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! But we are certain that, for at least the next few months, we will be under COVID restrictions for operating our farmers markets. Questions on those restrictions are surfacing, not the least of which are: will we see new guidelines, and is there any clarity on past guidelines regulations?

To respond to everyone’s questions and concerns, the Farmers Market Federation of NY will be sponsoring an Open Forum on March 31 at 10am. We will be joined by Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Kevin King. Deputy Commissioner King will be offering insights into COVID guidance for farmers markets, providing clarity on current guidelines, as well as any possible updates. Once he has given his comments, the forum will open to allow farmers market managers and direct marketing farmers to ask any further or follow-up questions. We want this to be your opportunity to have all your questions heard and answered.

View the recording here

2021 Farmers Markets Managers Virtual Conference

Reimagining Markets for a Brand New World:
Adapting Markets in our Newly Changed Environment

Farmers Market Managers Virtual Conference March 1-4, 2021 

2020 showed us the dynamic resilience of Farmers Markets and their operators to restructure, redesign, and renovate for safely providing delivery of locally grown nutritious food for their customers.  The 2021 Market Managers Conference will highlight lessons learned through the 2020 season by looking at best practices, expanding upon how markets can be reimagined as agents of change for future challenges while continuing to ensure we meet the needs of our communities, customers, farmers, and vendors in our newly changed environment.  

Here is a description of three of our featured conference sessions to look forward to:

Renovating your Market when Change is Needed

We welcome Chereese Jervis-Hill and Deb Wagoner, managers of markets in both downstate and the Western region. They will share their experiences as new managers, how they implemented measures that helped to transform their markets, and what promotions and strategies they used for rebuilding and creating smart business planning.

Building your Database of Market Knowledge

Darlene Wolnik, Training and Technical Assistance Director for the Farmers Market Coalition will lead this session about collecting data and analyzing the numbers to build your market story and narrate the impact your market is making in the community, which in turn can expand outreach opportunities that will help grow our markets.

The How-To of Building SNAP Programs Now and for the Future

We are joined by Mallory Burnham of Cornell Cooperative Extension and Margaret O’Neill of the Rochester Public Market for a discussion of fortifying SNAP at your market and getting the most out of participating by targeting promotion efforts and creating strategies for outreach to customers and community partnerships.

The conference will also feature interactive networking opportunities to allow managers to share experiences, ideas, and challenges; a virtual tour of the Kriemhild Dairy farm, built-in fatigue breaks, and a virtual Happy Hour hosted by Jim Farr of the Rochester Public Market and featuring John Urlaub, owner of the Rohrbach Brewing Company in Rochester, NY. Together they will lead us to celebrate farmers markets and a successful conference.

You can view the full agenda here

The conference registration fee of $50 per person will cover the full conference, including access to presentation documents and recordings. Register now for the 2021 Farmers Market Managers Conference: “Reimagining Markets for a Brand New World”. All registrations and payments will be done online through Eventbrite. Once registered, you will receive an email with your unique links to all conference sessions.

Register for Conference 2021

For more information, contact the Farmers Market Federation of NY at deggert@nyfarmersmarket.com or call 315-400-1447.

"Reimagining Markets for a Brand New World" Farmers Market Managers Virtual Conference 2021

Farmers Market Managers Virtual Conference 2021 to highlight adapting Markets in our newly changed environment.

2020 showed us the dynamic resilience of Farmers Markets and their operators to restructure, redesign, and renovate for safely providing delivery of locally grown nutritious food for their customers.  The 2021 NYS Farmers Market Managers Conference will highlight lessons learned through the 2020 season by looking at best practices and expand upon how markets can be reimagined as agents of change for future challenges while continuing to create successful marketplaces. 

Three featured conference sessions to look forward to are the following:

ADA Requirements and Farmers Markets 

We welcome guest speaker Stephanie Woodward, an attorney and disability rights advocate. Stephanie will help markets better understand the needs of the disabled community, ADA legal requirements, and how to improve market access and the market experience. She will talk about service animals, what is allowed, what is required, and how we navigate through the process. She will also highlight the issue of mask-wearing mandates – what are everyone’s rights and how to best protect everyone.

De-escalating Contentious Situations at Markets - Skills for resolving conflicts 

Will Nassau is a de-escalation negotiator with Nassau Facilitation Services. Will’s presentation will help us to better resolve issues that have the potential to blow up on us – customers who refuse to follow rules, vendors that feel entitled. By using real-life examples, Will uses an interactive technique with the audience to learn to understand the behavior and diffuse the conflict before it gets out of hand.

Undoing Racism at Our Farmers Markets

Taisy Conk, Program Director of Community Food Action, and Iyeshima Harris, Project Director of East New York Farms will lead this session which focuses on how markets can develop strategies to reflect ethnic and diverse communities. This interactive workshop will provide a space to discuss how race and racism affect farmers markets’ staff, customers, and vendors. The facilitators and participants will share challenges, practices, and successes in building more just and equitable markets.

The conference will also feature interactive networking opportunities to allow managers to share experiences, ideas, and challenges; a virtual tour of the Kriemhild Dairy farm, built-in fatigue breaks, and a virtual Happy Hour hosted by Jim Farr of the Rochester Public Market and featuring John Urlaub, owner of the Rohrbach Brewing Company in Rochester, NY. Together they will lead us to celebrate farmers markets and a successful conference.

You can view the full agenda here

The conference registration fee of $50 per person will cover the full conference, including access to presentation documents and recordings. Register now for the 2021 Farmers Market Managers Conference: “Reimagining Markets for a Brand New World”. All registrations and payments will be done online through Eventbrite. Once registered, you will receive an email with your unique links to all conference sessions.

Register for Conference 2021

For more information, contact the Farmers Market Federation of NY at deggert@nyfarmersmarket.com or call 315-400-1447.

6/5/20, Coronavirus COVID-19 Update: Outdoor Dining

As you may have heard, Governor Cuomo is now allowing outdoor dining. This also includes farmers markets. So each market can decide for themselves whether to allow customers to eat in the market. But keep in mind:

You still need to maintain social distancing, so be sure that if you have people eating food in the market that you are still keeping everyone at a 6-foot minimum distance.

You still need to manage crowd control so that you do not overcrowd your market and diminish social distancing. If you have a waiting line for customers to enter the market to do their shopping, you may want to consider whether in-market eating will negatively impact others to enter the market.

Food vendors still need to keep condiments, cream and sugar, napkins, utensils, etc., within their control and not allowing customers to handle these items on their own.

The updated guidelines from the state will be out in the next few days, but this will be the change you will see.