Etiquette Reminders
The last year has been difficult given the unexpected circumstances thrust upon everyone by the pandemic. We’ve masked up, locked down, cancelled, pivoted, Zoomed, ordered online, picked up curbside, socially distanced, among other inconveniences to daily living. Market vendors showed up with food that was hard to find in the grocery stores week after week, month after month as infection and hospitalization rates for COVID-19 rose and commercial supply chains ground to a halt. It seemed that each week tempers flared one way or another as everyone was frustrated and fearful.
Vaccines sent us back to somewhat normal. Masks are no longer required. Music has returned. The whole family can come to the market, including fur babies. There’s no one on a ladder with a bull horn telling everyone to Shop & Move. Yes, you still have to queue up in the morning to enter the market—a huge relief for vendors who had to constantly fend off early birds in the past while trying get everything set up.
I thought the new normal would include the heightened sense of gratitude for all of our efforts, but the last few weeks it seems as if the pendulum has swung back to pre-pandemic {if not further} market faux pas. So this week’s Dishing the Dirt is a gentle reminder that we’re all in this together and that basic common-sense decency as well as good market etiquette will make everything operate smoothly for everyone.
Your poor planning isn’t my problem. A farmers market isn’t a grocery store where the isles are getting restocked with product stored in the back as soon as the shelf is empty. When it’s gone, it’s gone. You know that old saying, The early bird gets the worm holds true at the farmers market. Don’t show up closer to closing time and expect to get eggs, milk, bread or any of the coveted fruits and vegetables, especially when they are first coming into season.
Similarly, don’t take these frustrations out on the vendors. You wouldn’t believe how many people got mad at me when my market neighbor was MIA and patrons couldn’t get their yogurt or mozzarella for a few weeks. Producers only bring so much to market and when it’s gone, it’s gone. An adult toddler melt-down won’t magically make the object of your desires appear out of the back of the truck.
Go with the flow. The urge to socialize with friends is strong after a year of being cooped up, however, please be cognizant of fellow patrons trying to navigate a crowded market. Fellow customers shouldn’t have to muscle through a phalanx of gabbers to do their shopping. If you want a chatty visit longer than a quick hello, please move outside of the market. Think of the isles as a traffic circle.
No, it’s not free or discounted at the end of the day. This is my biggest pet peeve of all. When Bon Appetit magazine published a How to Shop at Market article several years ago the author suggested readers go at the end of the day for a better deal. But one of my early market mentors told me under no circumstances should I fall into this trap, suggesting it’s better to donate to the local food banks than to start down that slippery slope. It was actually one of these episodes that pushed me into writing this blog post, albeit the current version has been super-edited with all four-letter epithets removed.
If you want a deal, sign up for your favorite producers’ newsletters. Follow them on social media. At the height of harvests they often offer specials for bulk purchases and seconds, but don’t show up at the end of the day expecting us to hand it over for free so we don’t have to backhaul. Central Farm Market vendors have donated thousands of pounds of food to our local food banks and will continue to do so.
The vendors are not your mommy. This means setting down your trash on our stands tables for us to toss out is unacceptable. There are trash receptacles located around the market. If you can’t find one—ASK! I realize that sometimes customers set down a drink to load their newly purchased goods into their market baskets and errantly forget their cups. When this happens the cup usually contains liquid.
But it seems these last few weeks I’ve found empty containers on my tables, on other vendors’ tables, and worst of all, on the ground. One of the stipulations for using the school property is that the market must keep the area free of garbage. Stick around late enough and you’ll see vendors with brooms sweeping up anything from their stands that have hit the ground in the course of business. We’re happy to clean up our own messes; not yours.