Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market Opens Today Online

(BLOOMINGTON) – The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market is online. Here’s a tip for the less intrepid shopper; now that more produce is coming into the market, you’ll find produce added daily through Thursday.

While a coffee vendor may know how many bags of coffee he can roast in a given week, a farmer who raises strawberries can’t know on Monday how many strawberries she will have on Saturday, so as the crop ripens, more product is added to the online store.

After confirming your order, you can always add to it up until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.

The market has safety measures in place and added ease of shopping through the online/walk through Market. 

Being outside adds a high level of protection. Also the product you purchase at the market comes from close by with very few people involved in bringing it to market. In some cases, the “supply chain” is one person. Below is a description of additional measures to enhance safety during this public health crisis.

In order to balance customer traffic through the day, officials have been assigning times for pick up based on the customers last name. If you can’t come in your assigned time slot, please, still come. We will not turn you away.

For Saturday, May 30, the process will be as follows:
The online store opened for shopping today, Tuesday, May 26 at 6 a.m. and will remain open until we receive 1,000 customer orders, or until Thursday, May 28 at 11:59 p.m.  

Pick up takes place Saturday, May 30 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Showers Common, 401 N. Morton St., with pick up times based on the first initial of your last name following the schedule below:

  • 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Pickup for last names beginning with A-Be
  • 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Pickup for last names beginning with Bf-Bz
  • 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Pickup for last names beginning with C-D
  • 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Pickup for last names beginning with E-G
  • 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Pickup for last names beginning with H-J
  • 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Pickup for last names beginning with K-L
  • 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Pickup for last names beginning with M-O
  • 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pickup for last names beginning with P-R
  • 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Pickup for last names beginning with S
  • 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Pickup for last names beginning with T-Z

There is a single entrance, and a single exit, to and from the Market area. Both entrance and exit are located on the brick plaza in front of City Hall. 

  • Customers check-in at the Farmers’ Market entrance on the plaza in front of City Hall at the designated pick-up time. 
  • A maximum of 75 customers is permitted in the Market area at one time. Customers walk through the Market to pick up pre-ordered items. There are NO onsite sales. The vendors are arranged in alphabetical order by farm or business name, mirroring the customer order forms. 
  • Customers are asked to move in and through the Market quickly, with the goal of picking up pre-ordered food. Customers are strongly encouraged to wear masks with gloves being recommended. Please send only one person per family to pick up.
  • Safety features inside the Market include one-way traffic, with a designated entrance and exit; hand washing stations; increased spacing between vendor stalls; and physical distancing between customers and vendors.  All vendors and staff wear gloves and masks and sanitize hands and tables frequently. There are no on-site purchases, only pre-ordered pick up.
  • SNAP customers may continue to use their EBT cards for the Double Market Bucks program. SNAP customers use the online form to place their food orders, and check the “SNAP customer” box at check out. Bring your EBT card to Market on Saturday, and redeems your SNAP benefits for Double Market Bucks on-site at the designated table by the Market entrance.

For up-to-date information about participating vendors, visit the online store.  More information is also available on the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market website or by sending an email to onlinefarmersmarket@bloomington.in.gov.