UPDATED June 18! The Downtown Evanston Farmers Market guidelines for visiting, and other key information.

Posted June 18: More evolution in guidelines for the market as we get used to Phase 5.

This article gets updated every time we get new information, so read to the bottom and you’ll know everything we know about this year’s farmers market (and last year’s as well, for that matter).

June 18, 2021

The market reached out to all the vendors yesterday to provide information about changes in guidelines for conducting business at the Downtown Evanston Farmers Market. They include:

  • Sampling will now be permitted. Vendors are advised to have a hand-washing station in their booth, and to conduct sampling in the most sanitary method possible.
  • Customers may choose their own produce, if the vendor permits it.
  • Music will be returning to the market.
  • Spud Club (the kids club) will return to celebrate the 4th of July weekend.

The layout of the market will not be changing. The footprint of individual vendor stalls will not be changing, although they may be laying things out differently.

It’s important to remember that the relaxation of guidelines is ultimately the choice of each vendor. If a farmer still wishes to select your items, that is their option. Also, as the market explained in their note to the vendors, “…be mindful that some customers still want to have social distance from others so you might want to monitor how many people can be in your tent at the same time.

June 10, 2021

Evanston has reached Phase 5 of the state’s recovery plan, and among the changes are the guidelines for face coverings. From the city’s news page (emphasis ours):

Following a continued decrease in local COVID-19 cases and with approximately 72 percent of eligible Evanston residents now fully vaccinated, the City of Evanston is providing updated guidelines for face coverings as the state moves to Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois recovery plan, effective Friday, June 11. In accordance with state guidance, Evanston businesses and venues will also be able to resume operating at full capacity.

Beginning June 11, face coverings will no longer be required for fully vaccinated individuals at outdoor events and activities hosted by the City of Evanston, including the Downtown Evanston Farmers’ Market, Starlight Concerts and Movies, and other outdoor City events. Individuals are considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after their single dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. 

Evanston businesses and venues may continue to require face coverings regardless of vaccination status. Businesses and venues are encouraged to require face coverings for all patrons unless they can verify that individuals have been fully vaccinated. 

We reached out to farmers market Manager Myra Gorman for confirmation and she responded,

I’m happy to report that the Health Dept will be allowing us to start to decrease the protocols at the market starting this Saturday.

May 21, 2021:

The Downtown Evanston Farmers Market remains a place where masks are required. We’re updating today with the city’s exact language in an e-mail sent out yesterday. That link leads to a city page with even more details:

Following guidance from the CDC and IDPH, fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear face coverings in most indoor and outdoor settings in Evanston.

What does ‘fully vaccinated’ mean?

You’re considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after your second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after a single dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

Where are face coverings still required? 

All individuals, regardless of vaccination status, must continue to wear a face covering in the following settings:

  • Public transportation
  • Health care settings
  • Schools and daycare centers
  • Congregate settings
  • City facilities, community centers, libraries, and at City events, including the Downtown Evanston Farmers’ Market
  • Businesses that choose to require face coverings

The City will continue to evaluate face covering requirements as the state approaches Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois recovery plan, anticipated to occur next month.

May 14, 2021:

Posted today on the Evanston Markets Facebook page was this note from Market Manager Myra Gorman:

As of 2:30 on Friday, we will still be requiring face masks at the market. I asked the Director of our Health Dept what the status was regarding masks. This was his response- ‘Mask wearing is still required in IL unless stated otherwise by the IDPH. IDPH at this time is not following CDC’s recommendations.’ Check the board at the entrance of the square for any updates.Until then, please plan on wearing your masks for just a little longer!We have all done such a great job- let’s hope just one more market day.

April 29, 2021:

The 46th season of the Downtown Evanston Farmers Market begins on Saturday, May 1 and runs through Saturday, November 6. The market runs from 7:30 AM to 1:00 pm, but seniors and disabled persons can shop each Saturday starting a half hour earlier, at 7:00 AM.
Check here for times, location, and other important details. Visit this page for the current roster of vendors.

Individuals who use the SNAP program with their Link cards can use those funds at the market. Friends, along with the market offers a matching program. Link users receive a dollar for dollar match when they withdraw funds. This big news this year is that the maximum amount that can be matched has been restored to $25. More information about the match program is right here.

Guidelines

We begin the season as we ended the last, wearing masks, practicing social distancing, no-touch, no sampling.
Here are the specific guidelines for our market as the season begins:

  • Stay home if you are sick
  • Please wear face covering or mask
  • Please be patient. There will be defined entrances at the market and a line. There will also be an outline showing the 6’ feet distance between shoppers.
  • You will only be allowed to enter the market by a Farmers Market staff who will monitor the flow of the customers in and out the market.
  • Please sanitize your hands before entering the market. There will be locations throughout the market for this purpose. Sanitize your hands as frequently as you can as you move throughout the market.
  • The beginning of the market is usually the busiest. We encourage customers to come later to the market to avoid crowds and having to wait in long lines.
  • Please pre-order your food items if the vendors offer such services.
  • There will be no lingering at the market. Please limit interactions with others and vendors. No hugs or handshakes, please.
  • Maintain at least an arm’s length distance between other shoppers and vendors, especially while you are walking in the market.
  • PLEASE NO DOGS OR OTHER ANIMALS AT THE FARMERS MARKET UNLESS THEY ARE SERVICE DOGS.
  • We will be running a “no touch” market this season until further notice. Please limit your hand-to-hand contact between vendors and shoppers. Point to the product that you would like, allow the vendor to bag it and set it down on the table before you pick it up.
  • Vendors cannot use your personal bags. They will bag your products in plastic bags.
  • Do not hand vendors payments directly. Place cash and credit cards on the table for vendors to pick up.Our vendors are now required to offer a contactless payment option like Venmo or Apple Pay (which allows you to hover your phone, (but NOT TOUCH) it over their wifi-enabled reader.

INFORMATION BEYOND THIS POINT REFERENCES LAST YEAR’S MARKET. WE’VE RETAINED IT FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES. BEYOND THIS POINT, PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT LINKS OR MARKET DETAILS ARE STILL CORRECT.

August 21: Beginning with last Saturday’s Downtown Farmers Market, the maximum amount that is matched when a user withdraws funds has been lowered from $25 to $15. This action is the result of the increased usage of Link funds at the market; usage is up by at least a third, and the last couple of weeks have seen record numbers of Link users accessing their accounts at the market. Faced with the likelihood of this trend continuing, the match has been dropped to allow the money that supports the grant to last longer.

The Link Match has been altered before in the decade it has been offered. Funds come from a mixture of grants, corporate and business donations, and donations solicited with our own JUST25+ campaign. There has never been a better time to support this program. Friends is reaching out for more financial support to help the match be sustained throughout the rest of this season, and to fund next year’s program. It’s never to early to start.

July 29: In response to an instance of a person unwilling/unable to wear a mask entering last week’s market (the individual was not served by vendors), the city has articulated exactly how the market will manage a situation like this.

Market Manager Myra Gorman explained that, “…to avoid this situation in the future and based on the health and safety of all our visitors, farmers and staff, I am instituting [a procedure that] if a visitor comes to the market and they state they can’t wear a mask, then they will be required to put on a face shield which will be available for them at the City’s tent. The face shield doesn’t restrict their breathing but does allow for some form of protection for both the individual and others in the market. If the individual continues to refuse a face shield, then they will be asked to leave the market without being served.

“We have the right to not serve anyone if they are not willing to comply with the rules and regulations that have been instituted to keep everyone safe and not spread the disease while visiting the Evanston Farmers Market.”

The background for this plan is guidance provided by the city’s Health Department back in early June. They explained that if a person has a medical waiver, then that person has an underlying condition, making them at risk. They should not be allowed in the market, they concluded.

July 3: Food doesn’t stop growing and you can’t reschedule a Saturday, so all your favorite vendors will be “business as usual” on July 4. The big news is that on-site prepared food makes its return. Market manager Myra Gorman reports that, “We will have bbq, Mexican food, Raclette cheese sandwiches and coffee and lattes.” These items will be prepared on-site again, but the food items are meant to be consumed at home–it’s not quite time to restore the table set-up at the south end of the market. You’ll be able to drink your hot coffee, though. That’s a fact that makes the vendors very, very happy!

June 12: Disabled parking has moved to make room for vendors who are now located on University Avenue. Disabled parkers can find space on University, north of the hotel (that’s the east half of the street). There is also disabled parking available inside the garage; it’s on every floor, near the elevators.

June 5: This is just a confirmation of last week’s news that University Avenue will be blocked to traffic during the farmers markets, and that extra space will be used to redistribute vendors as more sellers return. This will cause disabled parking to move to the Maple Avenue garage, close to the elevators.

Your favorite vendors may be in a new spot tomorrow, in part to help manage the various longish lines that characterize this year’s market. Myra promises that, “We will have new maps available at the entrance of the square and at the City of Evanston tent.” Seven vendors should be returning to the market this week, including kombucha Brava, TC’s Mixes, defloured Bakery, PM Gardens, JW Morlock & Girls, Not Just Cookies Bakery, and Pasta Pappone.

And a lot more vendors are offering pre-ordering, so we’ve updated the list and dragged it up here for your pre-shopping convenience.
It’s current as of 4 June 2020.

1st Orchards
Adam’s Acres
Bhoomi Chai
defloured Bakery
The Eating Well
Green Acres Farm
Green Fire Farm
Katic Breads
kombucha Brava
Marilyns Pies
Morsels Patisserie
Newport Coffee
Phoenix Bean LLC
PM Gardens
Richard Oosterhoff
River Valley Ranch
Roedgers Blueberries
Sheekar Delights
Smits Farm
Soul and Smoke
Teresa Farm
Zeldenrust Farm
Vendors offering pre-ordering.

May 29: In her weekly Facebook post, market manager Myra Gorman reports that, “Next weekend (6/6)please be aware that the market will look different. We have to get spaces for the rest of all our Michigan fruit farmers. We will be blocking University Ave. for vendors. This additional space will give us more room for social distancing, more space for our growing amount of produce we expect. Consider the market like a scavenger hunt for the next few weeks! You will definitely get your steps in at the market.”

Once this change is made, disabled parking will be “offered in the Maple Ave garage located close to the elevators.”

May 15: The big news this week is that the market will be opening one-half hour earlier, at 7:00 a.m., BUT ONLY FOR SENIOR CITIZENS, THE DISABLED, HEALTH-COMPROMISED INDIVIDUALS, AND COMMERCIAL ACCOUNTS. These groups benefit from the smaller crowds at that time of morning, and should help keep everyone visiting a little safer.

An innovation that should be good to hear for shoppers who purchase a lot of products is that, if you need to make a trip back to your car in the middle of your market shopping, you can get a ticket from the city tent that will allow you to return and finish your shopping, without having to get back in line.

We’ve updated the list of vendors offering pre-orders and pre-payment. One of the ways this year’s market has adapted to the pandemic is by encouraging these options. Many vendors, both farmers and artisans, are doing just that. There’s not a central on-line source for ordering, however–the vendors who are offering some sort of online service are using several platforms, so you’ll have to follow the links we’re about to share, and see for yourself how each vendor is handling the process.

If you know of vendors offering online services that’s not on the list below, please let us know.

So, here’s a list of vendors offering online ordering,
current as of 4 June 2020.

1st Orchards
Adam’s Acres
Bhoomi Chai
defloured Bakery
The Eating Well
Green Acres Farm
Green Fire Farm
Katic Breads
kombucha Brava
Marilyns Pies
Morsels Patisserie
Newport Coffee
Phoenix Bean LLC
PM Gardens
Richard Oosterhoff
River Valley Ranch
Roedgers Blueberries
Sheekar Delights
Smits Farm
Soul and Smoke
Teresa Farm
Zeldenrust Farm

A quick caveat regarding this list is that, although we tested each link to be sure there was something at the other end, it appears that some of these set-ups don’t include pickup at the market. We’ll do our best to improve the comprehensiveness of this list. And finally, everyone’s got a cut-off day/time for ordering, so plan ahead!

We’re incredible excited about the market’s return; even the transactional, all-business version we’ll be mounting for the immediate future. Keep checking this space for the latest information.


Posted April 26:

Evanston’s Director of Parks and Recreation (under whose aegis the market is held) told us at the beginning of the month that,

“We are proceeding to open the market as planned. You should let anyone who contacts you that is the current plan and expectations.”

That commitment will be fulfilled when the 45th season of the Downtown Evanston Farmers Market begins as scheduled on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30am.

The market will look much different than it did back in November, because the city is interested in running a safe market. Vendors have received instructions, explanations, background, video, and whatever else they require to redesign the way they set-up, present their product, and most importantly, interact with their customers.

Activities like the Spud Club for kids and our own Friends’ chef demos are suspended until further notice. There will be no sampling and no prepared foods to consume.

Shoppers at the market will also have procedures to follow. In order to make the market as safe as possible for all, market shoppers will have to abide by these guidelines (They are all important, but we boldfaced a few key points):

Guidelines for Shoppers:

  • Stay home if you are sick
  • Anyone who is at higher risk including individuals who are over 65 and/or with underlying health conditions should stay home
  • Please wear face covering or mask
  • Please be patient. There will be defined entrances at the market and a line. There will also be an outline showing the 6’ feet distance between shoppers.
  • You will only be allowed to enter the market by a Farmers Market staff who will monitor the flow of the customers in and out the market.
  • Please sanitize your hands before entering the market. There will be locations throughout the market for this purpose. Sanitize your hands as frequently as you can as you move throughout the market.
  • The beginning of the market is usually the busiest. We encourage customers to come later to the market to avoid crowds and having to wait in long lines.
  • Please pre-order your food items if the vendors offer such services.
    We encourage you to pick-up your items and leave. This will limit the number of people at the market.
  • There will be no lingering at the market. Please limit interactions with others and vendors. No hugs or handshakes, please.
  • Maintain at least an arm’s length distance between other shoppers and vendors, especially while you are walking in the market.
  • PLEASE NO DOGS OR OTHER ANIMALS AT THE FARMERS MARKET UNLESS THEY ARE SERVICE DOGS.
  • There will be no consumption of food on site and no congregating of any form at the market.
  • No hand-to-hand contact will be allowed between vendors and shoppers. Point to the product that you would like, allow the vendor to bag it and set it down on the table before you pick it up.
  • Do not hand vendors payments directly. Place cash and credit cards on the table for vendors to pick up. Our vendors are now required to offer a contactless payment option like Venmo or Apple Pay (which allows you to hover your phone, (but NOT TOUCH) it over their wifi-enabled reader.

One item not on this list, but rather important for many of the market’s most loyal shoppers. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SHOP AT THE MARKET BEFORE THE OFFICIAL OPEN TIME OF 7:30AM. That rule has been lightly enforced in the past because many regular shopper work on Saturdays, but before the vendors are all set up, it’d be impossible to abide by all the social distancing requirements.

It will be a challenge for every market veteran, shoppers and vendors alike, to participate in a market without all the social and family-friendly aspects that are as important as the food itself. Except that, for a while, they’re not.

The city’s commitment to a (safe) market is a lifeline to the farmers and ranchers and artisans who need a place to sell their products. For customers, it is a source for local, healthy fare that you can purchase in a managed space that’s about as safe as a shopping space can be these days.

So we’re all going to stick to business, pay attention to details, and make this set-up work. The guidelines for vendors are copious and sensible. You’d probably like to know what they are.

Guidelines for vendors

  • Stay home if you are sick
  • Anyone who is at higher risk including individuals who are over 65 and/or with underlying health conditions should stay home
  • Please wear face covering or mask
  • All vendors must have handwashing stations for their employees and gloves. Any vendor who violates this will not be allowed to participate in the market.
  • There must be sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol content) at every booth, provided by the vendor for customers.
  • Vendors are highly encouraged to offer pre-order services to limit time spent at the market by customers
  • No samples of any kind is allowed and no self-serve services/areas
  • No seats should be made available for the customers
  • All prepared foods must be prepackaged and offered to go.
  • Post a sign(s) at your booth alerting customers that they must follow the 6-foot separation recommendation and signs alerting them of efforts in place regarding COVID-19.
  • All booths will be 6-7 feet apart to maximize space and to minimize clustering.
  • Booth layout will be designed to increase social spacing. The layout should only allow a customer to enter and exit the booth area. Add fences and ropes with signs that state you are only allowing  3 people at any given time. Add marking/signs that indicate where customers need to stand to maintain a 6 feet distance from each other.
  • Vendors bag items for customers, then put the bag down and let customer pick up bag. The same should be applied to payment; no hand to hand contact.
  • Please limit interactions with others and vendors. No hugs or handshakes, please.
  • Vendors must sanitize surfaces every two hours.

Link Users and the Matching Program

Link cards (food stamps) will continue to be accepted at the Downtown Evanston Farmers Market, and the Link-matching program that Friends of Evanston Farmers Markets supports is on as well. That program matches the first $25 that a Link user withdraws from their account, and can mean over $600 of additional buying power for a shopper who shops regularly at our Farmers Market. Link cards can’t be used for pre-pay pre-orders. Otherwise, they are the same as cash.

The “JUST25” Campaign continues to support people in need.

With things as they are, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the market will see an uptick in Link usage this season.

To that end, Friends continuously seeks wide financial support. By that we mean that our hope is that more people support our efforts, each contributing a comfortable amount. For many people, $25 is such an amount. We solicit support from foundations, community organizations, local businesses, and from people like you.

Where to get more information

Post photo courtesy of  Karie Angell Luc/for Chronicle Media