Farmers markets mull ways to stay afloat

Dozens of food growers in Ontario team up to create delivery service

Canada’s farmers markets, traditionally reliant on bustling crowds paying cash for locally produced food, seem particularly ill-suited to the age of physical distancing.

But those in the industry say business is surprisingly robust as they find ways to stay afloat in the present while hopefully modernizing the field for the future.

Farmer Dave Kranenburg said he’s never been busier despite not setting foot at a traditional market for weeks.

When faced with the prospect of losing 95 per cent of his annual revenue due to pandemicrelated shutdowns, the co-owner of Kendal Hills Farm near Orono, Ont., set about creating an online alternative to the sorts of spaces that allowed him to make a living prior to the outbreak.

By teaming up with at least 35 nearby farmers, Kranenburg and his partner set up a virtual farmers market. Shoppers can browse a list of what local food growers expect to have on hand in the coming week and arrange to have their purchases either delivered to their homes or dropped off at a handful of regional businesses.

Kranenburg said the notion of turning the farm into a local food hub had been under discussion for years, but seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream until circumstances caused by COVID-19 forced their hand.

“At first it was very, very scary around what it meant for the future of my farm and small food businesses,” Kranenburg said in an interview. “It’s morphed into a very exciting and hopeful period now. A lot of us are hoping that ... it’s not just an emergency solution. It’s addressing some of the challenges we’ve always faced as farmers.”

Kranenburg said he and others in the field have long struggled with the distribution side of the business, noting that spending time driving to markets, restaurants and other potential customers significantly decreases the amount of time farmers can spend raising crops and animals.

By creating a food hub and contracting out the deliveries to students looking for work, Kranenburg said that problem has been addressed through the virtual market.

Some traditional markets have also had to adopt virtual practices to reach their usual patrons while they’re heeding public health advice and remaining at home.

Evergreen Brickworks, a popular year-round market in central Toronto, now allows customers to order and pick up boxes filled with local produce, bread and cheese.

Others have adopted a community-supported agriculture model that sees customers pay at the start of the season for a share of the year’s harvest.

A list of directives prepared by Farmers’ Markets Ontario outlines some of the new measures that will be in place once markets reopen for business. The organization said only food should be available for sale in order to comply with government emergency legislation that shutters non-essential businesses but allows food retailers to keep their doors open.