Why outdoor farmers’ markets matter more than ever

NEW YORK — Tenzing Chime now has one job to do at the vegetable stand where he works, a measure of how much the coronavirus has changed the simplest rituals of neighborhood life.

He only touches the cash.

Like him, all his co-workers wear masks, plastic eye shields and gloves. One slides leafy greens into clear plastic bags. Customers point at the bagged vegetables from behind a rope, as if choosing diamonds from a jewelry case. Another worker puts their selections in plastic bins and slides them down the table toward the register, like handbags at an airport security check.

The city’s 50 outdoor farmers’ markets have always been a precious commodity for New Yorkers, providing fresh produce for urbanites and supporting the quiet work of local farmers.

But now, during the coronavirus crisis, some shoppers said the greenmarkets were more important than ever. They said they felt safer shopping outdoors than inside grocery stores.

“I’m not going into the supermarket, around people,” said Sioux Nesi, 52, who was shopping at a market in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn after running out of vegetables and finding that delivery services were backed up for days.

But the festivallike atmosphere of outdoor markets, which traditionally have throngs of people browsing, chatting and tasting free samples, had recently become a risk: In several locations they were drawing crowds too packed for the social distance that public health now requires.

So the markets are transforming into laboratories for new communal safety habits, a shift from the community building they were originally designed to do.

Last week, GrowNYC, the organization that operates the markets, issued a set of stricter guidelines to prevent the crowding that alarmed officials at Union Square and other large markets earlier this month.

On Saturday, market staff twice used movable barriers to close the entrance to the Union Square market, which in the high season can attract tens of thousands of shoppers. As shoppers dispersed, new customers were gradually allowed in.

Among the other rules: Shoppers cannot touch the produce and must stay 6 feet from one another. Tables must have plastic coverings. Workers must wear protective gear.

“Going to the market felt like a social thing to do, before this outbreak, but right now we are an essential business, keeping the city fed as safely as possible,” said Marcel Van Ooyen, the president and chief executive officer of GrowNYC, who helped patrol a market in Brooklyn on Sunday.

“Families do still come together, and they’ll talk to other families from 6 feet away,” he added. “So there is still that communication, but from a safe distance.”

Visits to three markets over the weekend found some of the most rigorously distanced public spaces in the city — and evidence of New Yorkers’ ability to adapt to almost anything. GrowNYC employees kept an eye on vendors, who appeared to be following the rules.

Shoppers policed themselves — and each other.

“Please step away from me,” one older woman urged a group of fellow shoppers at Grand Army Plaza, near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. “I’m in the age group that is most at risk.”

“Distance, please!” boomed a masked customer at a market in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, extending a raised palm like a stop sign.

Nesi, with a yellow bandanna over her face, considered Walnut Hill Farms’ artisanal sausages — soppressata, fennel, juniper and a new variety with pork liver, citrus and clove. She took three from John Burton, 35, who said customers had already learned the rules, and he no longer needs to rope off his wares.

“People seem to have internalized the distancing,” he said.

Burton had counted $600 in revenues by noon.

“Not bad for a rainy day in March,” he said.

Chime, 30, the vegetable vendor, said the new situation was tougher on produce sellers.

“With vegetables and herbs, you need to smell them and touch them,” he said.

But customers appeared willing to take a chance, buying delicate lettuces and bright radishes as well as more adventurous fare: chrysanthemum greens, fresh turmeric and Jerusalem artichokes.

Chime said all the protective equipment was provided by his employers at Lani’s Farm in Bordentown, New Jersey.

“Good boss,” he said.

About half the usual 10 vendors sat the week out as they reorganized to get the staff and equipment needed to comply with the new GrowNYC rules, said Caroline Hiteshew, a regional coordinator who was at the Carroll Gardens market.

GrowNYC can also help provide safety equipment, Van Ooyen said. And while some greenmarket stands cater to the wealthy — with $5 baggies of herbs and $15 sausages — the organization also provides food boxes for lower-income communities, where it also operates its own stands.

A few markets have been closed for now, mainly ones in Lower Manhattan business districts. Others have been relocated or changed their hours. Food-scrap drop-off has been suspended.

The biggest challenge, Hiteshew said, is “redesigning the markets so that it’s easy and intuitive for people to stay 6 feet apart.”

In Carroll Gardens, that meant getting permission from the community board and police to allow the market to place tents in the street and close it if needed; otherwise there would be just 5 feet of space in places for people to pass between tables and houses.

“We’re essential for both farmers and residents,” she said. “It’s rewarding to still be able to feed people.”

c.2020 The New York Times Company