Farmers Markets Providing Bounty in COVID-19 Crisis

As grocery store shelves empty at warp speed, local farmers and food makers can offer you a safer way to access locally farmed food to feed your family.

Malvern based Growing Roots, manages the Malvern Farmers Market, as well as markets in Downingtown, Eagleview and others. It was obvious as the COVID-19 crisis emerged, the nation's food supply system would contract, making it more difficult to access food. Large scale food distribution is complex and relies on intricate supply chains to move food ingredients to food producers, and food products to grocery shelves, across the country and continents. Disrupting any link in a supply chain can lead to issues, disrupting many links can result in significant challenges and food shortages.

Local farmers markets have far shorter supply chains, basically farmed food offered direct to consumer, having little reliance on outside resources to produce a product. Early on in the COVID-19 crisis both the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Governor Wolfe confirmed that farmers markets are "essential businesses". But for Growing Roots Farmers Markets, business as usual was not an option. They recognized that the most important issue was to contain the spread of the virus, that while essential, they needed to design a new business model for their farmers markets to to prevent the spread of the virus, while offering a safer alternative to access food.

For the past 5 weeks Growing Roots Farmers Markets have been utilizing and refining a pre-order only, zero contact business model to market farmed goods. Shoppers place and pay for pre-orders directly with the farmers and food makers through links at the Growing Roots website: www.GrowingRootsPartners.com. Orders are collated, and shoppers are assigned a pick-up time. When a shopper arrives at the "market" they find their order(s) alphabetically organized on tables. They simply pick-up their orders and leave the market without human contact.

The most significant challenge in moving to a fully pre-order market was technology. Most of the farmers and food makers did not have online ordering capability, but quickly transitioned their business model to meet the needs of what would allow their products to get to consumers.

Growing Roots Farmers Markets offer:

• dairy: milk, cheese and yoghurt
• meats, poultry and eggs
• seasonally fresh veggies and fruits
• grains, flour and yeast
• fresh made pasta
• heat & eat items, and ethnic options
• jams and seasonings, locally roasted coffee, local libations, olive oil and more

For more information on Growing Roots, and to sign up for the Malvern Farmers Market Weekly Newsletter visit: https://www.growingrootspartners.com/malvern