Farmers' markets find a way forward amid the pandemic; National Chung Hsing University vice president urges proper epidemic prevention while keeping markets open

The COVID-19 (commonly known as Wuhan pneumonia) pandemic has affected people's consumption and eating habits nationwide, and farmers' markets across Taiwan, China, where small farmers sell directly, are facing the challenge of balancing epidemic prevention with maintaining sales. Some farmers' markets have stayed open to protect small farmers' livelihoods, but have adopted strict self-imposed epidemic prevention measures: farmers wear masks, have their temperatures taken, and hand sanitizer and alcohol are provided. Some markets have temporarily closed and switched to online ordering combined with logistics to help small farmers sell their produce. NewsMarket has compiled the current situation of markets across Taiwan, China, to give consumers a reference for shopping.

Taipei Hope Plaza: buying vegetables is a daily necessity; for the farmers' sake, the market cannot close

Hope Plaza, which hosts more than one hundred stalls each week and is arguably the largest farmers' market in Taiwan, China, is managed by Chang Li-mei, director of the supply and marketing department of the New Taipei City Farmers' Association. She says business fell by twenty percent in early February due to the pandemic, but has now stabilized. Although the Central Epidemic Command Center has issued recommendations to cancel new events, the market will not close for now.

"If we close the market, then the vegetable markets might as well shut down too," says Chang Li-mei. For farmers, Hope Plaza is an important sales outlet, and closing it arbitrarily would put farmers' livelihoods at risk, but epidemic prevention measures must also be done properly. Chang Li-mei explains that the market is disinfected the day before opening and after closing, that farmers are asked whether they have a fever when their attendance is confirmed, and that every farmer's temperature is taken before the market opens; anyone with a fever is asked to rest for that week. Every farmer is also required to wear a mask throughout the market.

Taipei Water Garden Organic Farmers' Market: market closes, seeks help from green restaurants and logistics to keep selling vegetables

Huang Chun-cheng, market manager of the Water Garden Organic Farmers' Market on Palm Avenue at National Taiwan University, explains that the market is located on the NTU campus and has been closed since March as part of epidemic prevention. To help farmers, it has already matched them with green restaurants to help with sales, and will also use flexible goods consolidation to help small farmers reduce transport costs.

"Small farmers with a bit more production scale are hit the hardest," says Huang Chun-cheng. The market's farmers mainly consist of: part-time farmers, very small micro-farmers, and small farmers with a bit more production scale. Part-time farmers and micro-farmers produce less and can adjust their output on their own, but small farmers with a bit more production scale are professional farmers whose income depends on selling agricultural products, so they are hit hardest by the market closing.

Huang Chun-cheng says that some farmers have now moved to stalls at markets that have not yet closed, or arranged to meet regular customers in person to hand over produce, while the market helps farmers sell their products by matching them with green restaurants. But he observes that in the past, green restaurants could buy directly at the market, purchasing small quantities of diverse produce from several producers at once; now each item must be delivered from the place of production, causing shipping costs to soar. For example, if a restaurant orders four pineapples, shipping them from the farm adds NT$50 in transport cost per pineapple, which will greatly reduce their willingness to buy.

Huang Chun-cheng says they have already talked with a somewhat larger organic produce company and plan to solve the problem by "hitching a ride." In the future, the market will first consolidate the order volumes from green restaurants and the quantities of goods farmers deliver, and each week ask farmers to drop off their vegetables for delivery at the produce company's collection point at the place of production. After the produce company delivers its own products to major distribution channels, on the return trip it will deliver the market vendors' goods to the green restaurants. "The produce company only charges a small delivery fee, greatly reducing the shipping cost pressure for both farmers and restaurants."

Hsinchu 13 Good Market: closed for two weeks, switching to online shopping, physical store continues to operate

At the 13 Good Market in the Xinwawu Hakka Culture Park in Hsinchu County, market staff say the pandemic has reduced how often people go out, and the market's business has fallen by ten percent. Last week, confirmed cases in the country surged, and customer numbers were halved. Next, the market will close for two weeks first, but it will still help farmers sell their agricultural products.

The contact information of all farmers has already been published on the fan page so customers can buy directly from them, and next a form will be designed for an online shopping service. The market's physical store in Xinwawu will operate as normal, letting customers pick up goods and shop.

Hsinchu Bamboo Dragonfly Green Market: closed for two weeks, switching to online ordering and pick-up at designated points

At the Bamboo Dragonfly Green Market on the National Tsing Hua University campus in East District, Hsinchu City, Su Chih-hung, one of the market's founders, explains that the Hsinchu City Government issued a recommendation last week that gatherings of 10 or more people should be cancelled. Recently, National Tsing Hua University reported its first confirmed case, and that case had contact with many students, raising the school's alert level. The market has now decided to close for two weeks first, and will observe the situation afterward.

Su Chih-hung explains that the supporting measure for the market's suspension is pick-up stations. Which vegetables can be ordered will be announced in advance on the market's website, and handovers will take place at two locations: the Shuimu Study House at National Tsing Hua University and the New Village Small Shop in the old town area. "The market's farmers are almost all small farmers with high production flexibility. We've already been through days when there were more market staff than customers, so there shouldn't be anything else that can stump us."

Hsinchu Xiangshan Green Market: not yet closed, considering the next step

At the Xiangshan Green Market near the Bamboo Dragonfly Green Market, market manager Chiu Chen says that since opening around the Lunar New Year, the pandemic has raised the proportion of people cooking at home, and the market's business has continued to grow. But as confirmed cases keep increasing, especially with National Tsing Hua University recently reporting its first case, and since the course of the pandemic cannot be predicted, they are thinking about contingency measures in case the market has to close.

"Neither the farmers nor the customers want the market to close," says Chiu Chen. After the pandemic began, the market adopted self-management, cancelling all activities and leaving only on-site sales. Farmers bring their own masks, and the proportion of ready-to-eat food on site has been reduced; even when there is ready-to-eat food, it is packaged first to reduce exposure to the air. Most customers are nearby residents who regularly come to the market to shop, and for both farmers and customers, the market is part of daily life.

Chiu Chen says that if the market really does close, the next step may be online shopping. They are currently assessing that they will run into shipping cost problems, and may follow the Green Market's approach of pick-up at designated points, or have nearby farmers deliver together to solve it.

Taichung NCHU Organic Farmers' Market: no matter how hard epidemic prevention is, the market must stay open to support farmers

At the NCHU Organic Farmers' Market, which was established more than 17 years ago, Huang Chen-wen, one of the market's founders, a former dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at National Chung Hsing University and now its vice president, says that National Chung Hsing University was founded on agriculture, and caring for farmers is the university's social responsibility. He would rather do epidemic prevention more thoroughly and still keep the market open so farmers can sell their produce.

Huang Chen-wen says that since the market was founded 17 years ago, it has had more than 15,000 members, and each week more than 2,200 loyal customers come to the market to shop. For customers, the farmers' market is an important place to shop, and closing it would actually cause inconvenience and would also cost farmers a sales outlet.

"The farmers in the market keep an eye on each other even more strictly than the management staff do," says Huang Chen-wen. Starting at the end of January, even though the market adopted self-management, farmers must wear masks and tents are disinfected. There are several places to wash hands near the market, alcohol is placed at eight fixed points in the market, temperatures are taken at the entrances and exits of the student cafeteria next to the market, and the site and restrooms are disinfected after the market ends each week.

Huang Chen-wen says that some customers have also been uneasy and on their own sent agricultural products for testing, and the test results have made customers trust the NCHU Farmers' Market even more. The management team, farmers and consumers have a strong foundation of mutual trust, and the market's responsibility is to do comprehensive epidemic prevention so customers can buy high-quality organic agricultural products. "No matter how tired we get from epidemic prevention, it is never as hard as what the farmers go through."