Our Wednesday and Sunday farmers’ market provides an essential service to a neighborhood that lacks a supermarket and will remain open until further notice. The new Friday farmers’ market is closed. We follow enhanced health and safety measures to keep you safer.
Why are we open during the COVID-19 crisis?
Mayor Breed and Governor Newsom have officially designated farmers’ markets as an essential service needed to remain open to provide food.
Our market serves the nation’s densest and most diverse extremely low-income urban neighborhood, which doesn’t have a supermarket.
We are the nation’s largest farmers’ market food assistance program and distribute $1.5 million in food assistance annually. Many customers can’t afford to eat without our programs. We are distributing an additional $100,000 to low-income households to provide support during COVID-19.
Over 50% of our customers speak a language other than English at home and have diverse cultural food needs. Many linguistically isolated customers shop exclusively at our market.
Low-income customers on food assistance can’t afford to buy an entire box of produce at one time. HOCFM is partnering with WIC and Care.org to deliver produce boxes to WIC households.
Open-air environments with disinfecting sunlight are safer alternatives to crowded urban supermarkets that can quickly run low on nutritionally-dense, immune-boosting fresh produce.
Food brought directly from the farm to our market is handled at a much lower rate than in supermarkets. Farmers' markets are transparent and traceable because local food travels short distances.
Closing farmers’ markets means produce will rot in the field and essential food will be wasted. It is not possible to develop new distribution systems for local farms before ripe produce spoils.
Now it is even more important that we protect our delicate local food system. We need to protect small farmers now, so they remain to feed us later when hyper-local food chains are critical.
What health and safety measures are in place during COVID-19?
Crowd control measures are in place at the market, please pay attention to posted signage and chalk markings. Keep 6 feet of distance between you and other customers.
Many vendors offer pre-order options to speed up your shopping trip or shipping and delivery options if you are not able to visit the market, learn more here.
Customers are not allowed to touch produce before purchasing. All items for sale will be pre-bagged and sold in a container. Vendors will help to select and weigh your produce over barriers if items are not in packages.
No sampling is allowed at vendor stands.
Vendors are spaced farther apart to allow customers to keep 6 feet of space between them.
We have adopted enhanced sanitizing and disinfecting procedures for information tent equipment and tokens.
Customer seating areas including tables and chairs and non-essential signage has been removed.
Non-essential programming has been cancelled until further notice, including the Biblio Bistro education program, on-site education outreach, and market tours.
Farmers’ market staff receive additional sick leave during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We will continue to ensure vendors follow enhanced health and safety measures and health department regulations.
We will continue to pay close attention to recommendations from the City and County of San Francisco and the CDC as they develop in order to adjust our operations as needed.
What can you do to keep yourself and others safer?
Stay home if you are sick and ask family, friends, or a neighbor to shop for your food.
Keep 6 feet of distance between you and others when outside your home, called “social distancing.” Pay attention to the chalk marks on the ground that show where you should stand in line and also to the COVID-19 Advisory signage posted at the market in three languages.
Wash all produce thoroughly.
Wash your hands with soap and water frequently for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer, including before you leave your house and as soon as you return home.
A handwashing station for community use is available near our market information tent, at the corner of Leavenworth and MacAllister Streets maintained by San Francisco Department of Public Works, and on the eastern boundary of our market next to the SF Pit Stop bathroom kiosk maintained by San Francisco Department of Public Works.