The Point Reyes Farmers Market opened under blue skies this weekend after a four-week hiatus, but the improved weather doesn’t spell the end of the market’s struggles. Covid-19 has dealt a significant blow to an already-thin market, and supporters are pondering a way to strengthen business, with an eye toward local customers.
The market looks quite different this year. The live music, chef’s booth and kids zone have paused, the picnic tables are gone and samples are unavailable. Fewer people wander through, and mornings, when locals typically shop, are especially quiet. Booths are few and far between, and low sales caused two vendors, McEvoy Ranch and Wild West Ferments, to drop out mid-summer, leaving just eight food vendors left.
While markets elsewhere are thriving as people gravitate to outdoor shopping, the local market is seeing far less foot traffic. It’s a trend that preceded the pandemic, as produce sellers like Paradise Valley, Marin Roots, Fresh Run and Wild Blue Farms stopped coming for various reasons. Only two farmers remain, and both joined in the last year or two.
It’s a chicken-and-egg predicament: Do customers stay home because fewer vendors are selling, or do vendors drop out because fewer customers are shopping?
The market faces competition from more direct and convenient venues. Self-service farm stands, where vegetables can be purchased using the honor system at any time, have increased in popularity, as have community-supported agriculture boxes, where customers pay up front and receive a weekly harvest. These avenues allow customers to avoid crowds, and farmers don’t have to pay an employee or booth fee.
Luke Regalbuto, the co-owner of Wild West Ferments, has been selling his sauerkraut, pickles and other fermented foods in Point Reyes Station for 10 years. Since he began, he has observed a steady decline in the number of both local customers and vendors. The bounty of farmers’ booths that inspired him to start his business has faded.
Wild West Ferments dropped out of this year’s market a couple weeks in as low sales made it no longer financially viable, but plans to return next year, hopefully to more sales. Mr. Regalbuto is on the market’s steering committee and advocates for its value in creating a resilient local foodshed.
“It’s really run by the community, for the community,” he said. “All of the other markets I’ve been involved with are large organizations, and it often feels challenging to pay the booth fees and keep up with the competition.”
Unlike markets in San Rafael and San Francisco, the local market has little overhead, with just one part-time manager and a couple of workers to help set up. Toby’s Feed Barn provides the space for free, and the nine-person steering committee is made up of volunteers. Vendors pay between $27 and $44 each Saturday, depending on their spot and what they sell; that’s less than half the price of stall fees at larger markets.
For Scott Chang-Fleeman, the owner of Shao Shan Farm in Bolinas, the decrease in vendors has reduced competition, but he isn’t making more money. When Jack Corwin of Wild Blue Farm in Tomales told him that he was retiring last year, Mr. Chang-Fleeman diversified his crop with kale and chard, expanding beyond his usual Asian veggies. But even with steady weekly sales, profits are down. He’s paying an employee to handle cash while he handles produce to be sanitary, and he missed two markets this summer due to unfounded Covid-19 scares on the farm. With another four weeks canceled by poor air quality, the profit loss was crushing.
“That’s the difference between being able to pay myself at the end of the year, or just keeping the business open,” he said.
Mr. Chang-Fleeman’s booth relies on local customers. He said that on overcast days, his sales are actually better than on sunny days, because locals can come without feeling overwhelmed by tourists. He focuses on learning the tastes of customers who shop week after week.
He sees room for the market to improve. A fruit vendor and a meat vendor would be a good complement to the current slate, but his first priority is to push the market to accept electronic food stamp benefits. Last year, he was on such benefits, and selling at a market he could not shop at.
The market stopped accepting the benefits in 2018, citing administrative obstacles and low use, but the steering committee is exploring how to bring them back next year. If not, Mr. Chang-Fleeman said Shao Shan Farm will not return.
In his second year at the market, he’s already the longest-tenured farmer. Markets make up about half of his sales, while the other half comes from his new community-supported agriculture program. He pivoted to the direct-sale model this year when restaurant sales evaporated. Sixty-one people bought into the program; for $33 a week, they receive about a dozen vegetables at a pickup location in their neighborhood. The program is a way for customers to buy stock in the farm, so if crops are lost, the business doesn’t collapse.
Another increasingly popular way for customers to buy directly is at self-service farm stands. Arron Wilder of Table Top Farm and Molly Myerson of Little Wing Farm both said sales have been strong at their stands this year, except for during the smoky month. Mr. Wilder said the stands make more sense for him than the market because it involves less time, expense and competition.
Produce vendors are a critical draw to the market, so when fewer farmers attend, other sellers suffer. Naomi Toada sells her Mami’s Crunch organic crackers exclusively at farmers markets, and this year has been the hardest since she started selling in Point Reyes Station six years ago. Compared with the market at the civic center, the West Marin market has been dismal. She relies on samples and repeat buyers, but loyal customers who visit the area from across the United States are no longer flying out, and locals, particularly older folks who are at higher risk from Covid-19, have told her they want to avoid crowds.
Still, for some businesses, the market is a saving grace even with depressed sales. Karen Taylor, the co-owner of Bivalve Dairy, said her two-year-old cheese business was just entering into the restaurant market and doing demos at grocery stores when the shutdown took effect.
“We’ve had to pivot our energy in new directions to survive,” she said. “It is tough. We do a lot of talking instead of sampling, so people have to trust us to describe the cheese.”
The farmers market started in 1995 when local food enthusiasts, organized as the West Marin Growers Group, became concerned about the future of agriculture in Marin as land costs soared, production decreased, and diversity lagged because of a historical focus on dairy farming. To ensure food quality and security, the group organized a small market outside Toby’s Feed Barn, despite some local businesses objecting to the competition.
The growers group evolved into Marin Organic; sustained support from Toby’s, then-Supervisor Steve Kinsey and local businesses helped establish the market as a mainstay of summer weekends. In 2005, Prince Charles visited the market to learn more about sustainable farming in the United States, while thousands of onlookers gathered.
Looking forward, the market isn’t planning any major restructuring, because the hope is that some normalcy will return next year. But small changes could be in store, like running the market for an hour longer, until 2 p.m., to allow for more tourists. This would especially boost the prepared food sellers who thrive at lunchtime.
The market relaxed its requirement this year that vendors are certified organic, allowing Annie Izaki of Moon Fox Farm in Hicks Valley to have the second produce booth. The steering committee chose to be flexible because many of Ms. Izaki’s biodynamic practices, like seed recycling and crop rotation, go beyond the organic requirements; she just hasn’t been certified.
Despite the challenges facing the market, manager Andi Wandt is remaining positive in her first year in charge.
“I am encouraged by the vendors who continue to come week after week and the regulars we can count on, but the market is definitely in a transition time,” she said. “And if we’d like to see it grow and thrive, it really depends on the local community to support our vendors… Now more than ever, it is important to spend your money wisely.”