Headhouse Farmers Market Continues to Operate Smoothly Despite Covid-19 Concerns

Located at 2nd and Lombard Streets, Headhouse Farmers Market is one of the largest farmers markets in Philadelphia, with over 20 local vendors located on the premises and an additional 11 or so vendors rotating monthly and bi-monthly. Operated by The Food Trust, a non-profit organization founded in Philadelphia that operates 25 farmers markets across the city, Headhouse is an example of one program that aims to work to wards the goal of The Food Trust’s farmers market program. With the goal of “ensur[ing] delicious, nutritious food for all,” The Food Trust provides access to healthy food for children and families across Philadelphia.

When Covid-19 first hit the United States, businesses were unsure of how to adapt or where to even begin, since the country had little knowledge of how the virus affected the public. In the case of Headhouse, since the market dealt specifically with food, major changes were put in place nearly immediately.

“In the beginning, we made sure that customers weren't touching any of the produce because, for example, if you're like picking up an apple and checking it and putting it back, it could possibly be spreading germs,” explained Gabrielle Rumney, the previous market manager from 2020 to 2021. “And so we had the vendors all handle the products, and then the customers would point to what they wanted.”

The market was deemed an essential service by the city of Philadelphia, meaning the guidelines presented by the Public Health Department were strictly enforced. Ensuring the safety of the vendors as well as the customers was the number one priority.

“We never shut down the farmers market, but we had to pivot and make sure masks mandates were in place and social distancing measures were taken seriously,” Rumney commented. “So we spaced out all the vendors. There were specific vendors that we knew would create a line within the farmers market, so we used chalk to mark out x's on the ground, just to help direct the flow of traffic better. We would often like walk through the market and make sure that we could freely walk and felt comfortable with six feet of distance.”

2020 marked a year of many restrictions placed on Headhouse. As the U.S. worked together to gradually decrease the amount of cases spread, fewer restrictions were eventually put in place. However, with the introduction of Omicron, it seemed as though the country was back to square one. Mask mandates were reintroduced after a brief period of calmness, and precautions were set back in place, regardless of vaccination status. Headhouse was particularly affected heavily this time around, the impact being even greater due to the high transmissible rate the variant brought.

“Omicron was having a pretty large impact [on us]. We went back to encouraging vendors to wear masks, as well as customers and volunteers,” said Meghan Filoromo, Senior Manager of The Food Trust. “The biggest changes […] would be having fewer vendors here because we had to keep the spacing six feet apart between vendors.”

Meanwhile, a wide variety of vendors located at the Headhouse Farmers Market had to transition from a free-flowing and once-normal environment to one that they had to work around to continue to stay in business. For Aurora Grace, a handcrafted confections shop located on Fifth street, the change brought upon struggles for their primary location.

“We actually completely closed our retail shop for almost all of the pandemic. We reopened it, I think in November. We had, like, little tables so people come in and sit down. And we don't do that anymore. We also used to do some small in-person events in the shop, like chocolate-making classes, chocolate tasting classes, how to bake cookies, and stuff like that. We just started doing a few of those again, but we completely cut off a lot of that,” commented Katie Hanson, a worker at the Aurora Grace stand.

Despite these setbacks, their business has continued to grow and thrive. The addition of the stand at the market allowed for more customer exposure that encouraged their business growth. “I know we always did a lot of farmers markets. But I think we have expanded even more into that. People obviously are more comfortable shopping outside than they are inside. [...] We actually grew from the farmers markets into a retail location. I think we have expanded to more farmers' markets since the pandemic than before.”

The Aurora Grace stand at Headhouse Farmers Market

For other businesses, like Ploughman Cider located in Adams County, PA, their retail business relied solely on online orders. “At the start of the pandemic, we basically stopped selling in restaurants and in bars and Philadelphia, which is one of our biggest markets, because restaurants were shut down. So it definitely hurt us at first, but we were able to transition pretty quickly to finding alternatives,” said Gabriella, sales rep for Ploughman Cider. “We really pivoted to doing distribution online and having people order online.”

The cider is produced from apples from the Three Springs Fruit Farm, which also has a stand at Headhouse located next to the cider stand. Stands such as these, selling produce that customers tend to touch and look at before deciding to buy, had to be restricted.

Apples from Three Springs Fruit Farm for sale at Headhouse Farmers Market

However, as more restrictions regarding the virus are being lifted every day, the atmosphere in the market is slowly returning to its once busy state.