Our Covid-19 Response
*Last Updated: 5/17/2020
The Eastside Sunday Market is closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak as it continues to develop. Please continue to check this page for the most up-to-date information.
The Eastside Sunday Market is closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak as it continues to develop. Please continue to check this page for the most up-to-date information.
Safety Protocols
Under Knox County’s phased reopening plan, farmers’ markets are allowed to operate as essential businesses. In an effort to keep shoppers, vendors, and market managers safe, the Eastside Sunday Market is implementing the following safety protocols:
SHOPPER EXPECTATIONS:
VENDOR EXPECTATIONS:
STAFF EXPECTATIONS:
SHOPPER EXPECTATIONS:
- Keep your market visit simple and short; buy what you need and do not linger, socialize, or congregate in the market space.
- If you are sick, or a member of your family is sick, STAY HOME.
- Households should send no more than one shopper to the market, if possible.
- Leave your pets at home. Service animals are permitted.
- Masks are highly encouraged* while inside the market area, in accordance with the CDC recommendation regarding the use of cloth face coverings.
*Masks are REQUIRED during our dedicated hour of shopping for the elderly and immune-compromised: 1 pm – 2 pm on Sundays. This requirement does not apply to children under the age of 2 or to individuals who are unable to wear a face-covering due to a medical condition. Free masks will be available to those without one. - Wash or sanitize your hands upon entering the market, regularly during your time at the market, and then again upon exiting the market footprint. We have a hand washing station and hand sanitizer available.
- Practice “social distancing” – maintaining a space of six feet from each other – and markets will inform customers of this policy as they enter the market, have signage reminding customers of the practice, as well as chalk marks in front of each vendors booth, showing 6’ spacing.
- Customers will not handle items on the vendors’ tables. They will order verbally, and vendors will bag their purchases. Vendors will have their booths arranged to prevent customer contact with products and have signage explaining the policy.
- Customers are encouraged to use contactless payment options at the market such as Venmo or PayPal and to place pre-orders with individual vendors.
- Onsite consumption of food or drink is not allowed (including food/drink purchased onsite). Wash your produce and wipe down any packaging with a disinfectant when you get home.
VENDOR EXPECTATIONS:
- If a vendor is sick or has been exposed to (or suspects they have been exposed to) COVID-19, they will not be able to attend the market.
- Vendors are required to bring sanitizing wipes or paper towels and a bleach/peroxide/alcohol solution and wipe down their booth surfaces (tables, tent legs, POS systems, etc.) often, at least once per hour. No tablecloths will be used.
- All product sampling has been suspended.
- No food preparation is permitted on site. All prepared foods must be ready to take away to eat off-site. If shoppers purchase ready-to-eat food, vendors will ask them to eat it at home and not in the market space.
- All vendors must use gloves and change or sanitize them after touching potentially contaminated surfaces. Vendors will regularly sanitize or wash their hands, at least once per hour and after handling payments.
- All vendors must wear a mask, in accordance with the CDC recommendation regarding the use of cloth face coverings.
- All vendors with two staff members must have one designated staff member to handle payments and one designated staff member to handle food products. Vendors with only one staff member at the market handling money will wash or sanitize their hands before touching food products again.
- Vendors are required to arrange their booth in such a way that doesn’t encourage customers to touch the product or come in close proximity to the product.
- Vendors will implement a contactless pay system or low-touch pay system and will encourage and promote pre-order/pickup whenever possible.
STAFF EXPECTATIONS:
- If a staff member is sick or has been exposed to (or suspects they have been exposed to) COVID-19, they will not work the market.
- Market staff have redesigned booth locations to limit contact and still allow people to purchase from vendors. The space between vendors has been increased to 10’ to reduce crowding.
- Only food, farm, and hygiene vendors will be present. No craft vendors will be participating.
- Market staff will sanitize all common, high-touch surfaces, such as the market information table, phones, POS systems, handwashing stations, etc. regularly, at least once per hour.
- Market staff and vendors will wear masks and use disposable gloves.
- Market managers will enforce social distancing by placing marks at 6 feet intervals to help with line management at vendor tents and will remind shoppers as they enter the market, and throughout the market space.
- Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the market as well as an additional, portable handwashing station.
- All special events and programming, including Nourish Kids Club (formerly POP Club) in-person activities, have been suspended until further notice. Farmers’ markets will be for food and hygiene product sales only.
- We will be restricting access to the market area, creating one entrance and one exit to market so that we may control the number of shoppers in the market at one time.
- We will continue to offer SNAP processing and matching. Please bring your SNAP card as usual to the information tent. To aid in processing, we will have extra gloves and hand sanitizer available for all to use.
