(Submitted/ Meadow Lake Farmers Market)

By Nicole Reis

MEADOW LAKE FARMERS MARKET

Meadow Lake Farmers’ Market looking at changing the way vendors do business

Apr 24, 2020 | 1:31 PM

Meadow Lake Farmers’ Market is looking at ways to do business in the coming weeks after some confusion arose about what is currently considered a non-essential service.

According to the provinces Business Response Team, farmers’ markets can only perform curbside pickup or online ordering due to the services drawing of large crowds and it is too soon to tell when farmers’ markets can officially open to the public.

Rick Musleh, Business Response Team coordinator said the popular spring pastime is currently not an allowable service.

“If the farmers’ market controls crowds to 10 at a time, it could be possible, but as of now, farmers’ markets are closed except for curbside pickup and online ordering,” he said.

Vicki Cockrum, owner of Naturally Nice Orchard and Market said plans are underway to open June 9 and some vendors may want to consider how their product is delivered.

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“Some vendors, myself being one, may want to change how they deliver their product,” she said. “Maybe people will want to pre-order and have it packaged up, or possibly orders placed online. Maybe then you might have less contact with people and less touching of the product itself and less wait times.”

Chris Bencharski, president of the Meadow Lake Farmers’ Market said the decision will be made to open the market at the beginning of July based on provincial recommendations.

“We’re planning to open in June, but everybody is planning to do things,” he said. “There’s no planning really involved, other than a week before.”

The market president said locally grown food is as essential as grocery stores but he’s waiting for provincial direction before he can be sure about how to proceed.

“It’s so difficult right now to decide exactly where we’ll be at that time,” he said. ”By then, if the government mandates we have crowds of 25 people, no problem – crowds under five will be a problem.”

Bencharski is considering in his current planning phases of whether to perform crowd-control by having security present at the entrance, asking vendors and customers to wear masks, alternating vendors by week and ensuring customers are not demonstrating any symptoms of illness.

“The only way to overcome restrictions is through [crowd] control so people can come to the market,” he said. “We’d patrol entrances and maybe have five at a time, there’s a way to get around it.”

Last year, the Meadow Lake Farmers’ Market drew crowds of about 200 to 400 customers on a Friday afternoon, although Bencharski said has never counted. Between 12 to 15 local vendors sell their product.

“We will have to put some health and safety precautions in place,” Bencharski said. “It doesn’t matter how we do it, we’re still at risk because we’re still in contact with people – its challenging but Saskatchewan is lucky, we have low fatality numbers.”

Meadow Lake Farmers’ Market typically operates from 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. on Friday’s during the summer months.

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722