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Bloomfield Saturday Market During COVID-19

Help Bloomfield Saturday Market during COVID-19 provide universal, safe access to healthy, locally-grown food while supporting the livelihoods of local farmers and food entrepreneurs.

Leader

Abigail Gildea

Location

5050 Liberty Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15224

About the project

Everything farmers markets have come to be known and loved for - a place to see friends and neighbors, stumbling on delicious new food, creating community in a setting that is accessible to everyone - is gone due to COVID19. This crisis has forced many markets to change over to a “pre-order/pickup/drive-through” model that excludes onsite purchases. While we’ll adopt the “pickup/drive-through” model, we’ll also open for on-site shopping to support our neighbors who rely on SNAP/food stamps (barred from online shopping by state legislation) or don’t have bank or credit accounts. Our market, as well as most markets in the City, match every $5 in SNAP/food stamps with $2 free (no limit!) to purchase fresh produce. This 40% increase of a household’s grocery budget not only encourages purchasing produce that can help maintain health during this stressful time, but also support Pittsburgh residents who have been recently laid off.

We will also open for on-site shopping because we have the benefits of space and being outside. Maintaining a safe distance between shoppers, vendors and staff is easier with more space, and viruses don’t like variable temperatures and sunlight. 

Our national food system is being tested right now by disruptions in the trucking and factory-food industry. When that system shakes, our local food system proves its strength as a necessary fail safe. Our vendors, food producers of all kinds, have dedicated their lives to ensuring access to fresh and local food and are the people who can carry us through this crisis.

The Steps

Bloomfield Saturday Market needs to completely reinvent and adapt our summer outdoor market to provide all safety measures possible for our vendors, shoppers, and staff. We’re working to create operating guidelines to provide a safe environment that will provide ample room for vendors and customers to distance and manage traffic flow to minimize contact.

We’re taking on significant unanticipated costs - masks, bleach, hand sanitizer, hand washing stations, so many cones and sign holders - as well as added staff time to create solid operating procedures, a new layout, and provide hazard pay. We’re working to get an online shopping platform up for our vendors who don’t have the capacity themselves where shoppers can preorder for the market. One of our goals with this fundraising campaign is to pay for their fees to participate in that shopping platform for a full year.  At the same time, our vendors are small businesses who, in many cases, need more time than usual to pay. And we’ve seen much of our sponsorships disappear due to the inability of sponsors to be on-site at the market.

Why we‘re doing it

This project will allow a vital food access point to stay open and operate in Bloomfield and the City of Pittsburgh while providing support to our growers and producers. Those who use SNAP/EBT or are at high risk for infection will have a safe and accessible option to shop in while increasing their food budget. While the national food system is being tested, our local food system will stay strong and be there when we need it most.

$0.29 still needed of $5,137.00