COVID-19 pandemic hits, farmers' markets across Taiwan, China struggle to save themselves; Hsing Wu University vice president: do epidemic prevention well, keep markets open to support farmers

The COVID-19 pandemic (commonly known as Wuhan pneumonia) has affected people's consumption habits, and farmers' markets selling directly from small farmers everywhere are facing the challenge of balancing epidemic prevention with maintaining sales. Some farmers' markets have not closed in order to protect small farmers' livelihoods, but have adopted strict self-imposed epidemic prevention measures: farmers wear masks, have their temperature taken, and are provided with disinfectant alcohol and hand sanitizer, etc. Some markets have temporarily closed and switched to online ordering combined with logistics to help small farmers sell. NewsMarket reports on the current situation of markets across Taiwan, China, to give consumers a reference for shopping.

Taipei Hope Plaza: Buying vegetables is a livelihood need; for the farmers' sake, we cannot close the market

Hope Plaza, which can be called the largest farmers' market in Taiwan, China, is managed by Zhang Limei, director of the Supply and Marketing Department of the New Taipei City Farmers' Association. She said that in early February, affected by the pandemic, business dropped by 20%, but it has now stabilized. Although the Central Epidemic Command Center has issued a recommendation to cancel new activities, the market will not close for now.

"If we close the market, then the vegetable markets might as well shut down too." Zhang Limei said that Hope Plaza is an important sales outlet for farmers, and closing it arbitrarily would create a livelihood crisis for farmers, but epidemic prevention measures also need to be done well. Zhang Limei explained that the market is disinfected the day before opening and after closing; when confirming farmers' attendance, they ask whether anyone has a fever, and before the market opens they take each farmer's temperature. If someone has a fever, the farmer is asked to rest that week, and every farmer is required to wear a mask throughout.

Taipei Water Garden Organic Farmers' Market: Closed, seeking help from green restaurants and logistics, continuing to sell vegetables

At the Water Garden Organic Farmers' Market located on the Palmae Path at National Taiwan University, market manager Huang Juncheng explained that the market is located on the NTU campus and has been closed since March in coordination with epidemic prevention. To help farmers, it has already matched them with various green restaurants to help with sales, and will also help small farmers reduce transportation costs through flexible collective shipping.

"Small farmers with somewhat larger production scale are hit the hardest." Huang Juncheng explained that the market's farmers mainly consist of: part-time farmers, very small micro-farmers, and small farmers with somewhat larger production scale. Among them, part-time farmers and micro-farmers have lower output and can adjust production on their own, but small farmers with somewhat larger production scale are professional farmers whose income depends on selling agricultural products, so the market closure hits them the hardest.

Huang Juncheng said that some farmers are currently switching to set up stalls at markets that have not yet closed, or arranging in-person meetups with regular customers to hand over agricultural products, while the market helps farmers sell agricultural products by matching them with green restaurants. But he observed that green restaurants used to be able to buy directly at the market, purchasing small amounts of diverse agricultural products from multiple producers at once. Now each agricultural product must be home-delivered from the place of origin, causing shipping costs to soar. For example, if a restaurant has an order for four pineapples, shipping from the place of origin would add several dozen yuan in transportation cost per pineapple, which would greatly affect customers' willingness to buy.

Huang Juncheng said they have already discussed with an organic agricultural products company of somewhat larger scale, and plan to solve this by "hitching a ride." In the future, the market will first consolidate green restaurants' order quantities and the quantities of items farmers deliver, and each week ask farmers to deliver vegetables to the agricultural company's collection point at the place of origin for distribution. After the agricultural company delivers its own products to major channels, on the return trip it will deliver the market vendors' items to the green restaurants. "The agricultural company only charges a modest delivery fee, greatly reducing the shipping cost pressure for 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 located in the Xinwawu Hakka Cultural Park in Hsinchu County, market staff said the pandemic has reduced how often people go out, and the market's business has also dropped by 10%. Last week, domestic confirmed cases surged, and customer numbers were halved. Next, the market will close for two weeks first, but it will still help farmers sell agricultural products.

All farmers' contact information has now been published on the fan page so customers can buy directly from farmers. Next, a form will be designed for online shopping services, and the market's physical store in Xinwawu will operate normally so customers can pick up and shop.

Hsinchu Bamboo Dragonfly Green Market: Closed once, switching to online ordering and designated pickup

At the Bamboo Dragonfly Green Market located on the National Tsing Hua University campus in East District, Hsinchu City, co-founder Su Zhihong explained that the Hsinchu City Government issued a recommendation last week that gatherings of 10 or more people should be canceled. Recently, National Tsing Hua University reported its first confirmed case, and that case had contact with multiple students, raising the school's alert level. The market has now decided to close once on March 28, and will observe afterward.

Su Zhihong explained that the supporting measure for the market's suspension is pickup stations. In advance, the market website will announce which vegetables can be ordered, and deliveries will be made at two locations: the Shuimu Book Garden 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 next steps

At Xiangshan Green Market, near Bamboo Dragonfly Green Market, market manager Qiu Chen said that since opening during the Lunar New Year holiday, the pandemic has raised people's proportion of home cooking, 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 because the pandemic's direction cannot be predicted, they are thinking about contingency measures in case of closure.

"Neither farmers nor customers want the market to close." Qiu Chen explained that after the pandemic began, the market adopted self-management, canceled all activities, and kept only on-site sales. Farmers all bring their own masks, and the proportion of prepared food on site has also decreased; even prepared food is packaged first to reduce exposure to air. Most customers are nearby residents who regularly come to the market to shop, and the market is part of daily life for both farmers and customers.

Qiu Chen said that if the market really does close, the next step may be online shopping. At present, they expect to encounter shipping cost problems, and may follow the Green Market's approach of designated pickup, or have nearby farmers transport together to solve it.

Taichung Hsing Wu University Organic Farmers' Market: No matter how hard epidemic prevention is, the market must stay open to support farmers

At the Hsing Wu University Organic Farmers' Market, established 13 years ago, Huang Zhenwen, one of the market's founders, former dean of the College of Agriculture at National Chung Hsing University, and now vice president, said 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 thoroughly and still keep the market open so farmers can sell.

Huang Zhenwen said that since the market was established 13 years ago, it has had more than 15,000 members, among whom more than 2,000 loyal customers rely on the organic fruits and vegetables produced by the market's farmers. For customers, the farmers' market is an important shopping location; closing it would actually cause inconvenience and would also make farmers lose a sales outlet.

"The farmers in the market check up on each other even more strictly than the management staff." Huang Zhenwen said that starting at the end of January, the market adopted self-management. Farmers all have to wear masks, tents are also disinfected, there are multiple places to wash hands near the market, alcohol is placed at eight designated points in the market, everyone entering and leaving the student cafeteria next to the market has their temperature taken, and after the market ends each week the site and restrooms are disinfected.

Huang Zhenwen said that some customers had previously felt uneasy and on their own sent agricultural products for testing, and the test results made customers trust the Hsing Wu University Farmers' Market even more. The management team, farmers, and consumers have a strong foundation of mutual trust. 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 not as hard as the farmers."