The Union Square Farmers Market is gaining traction in 2021 after experiencing a tough period of low attendance in the previous year.

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Last Saturday, Union Square Farmers Market gathered for the third time in the 2021 season of the market. Located at the intersection of Somerville Ave. and Carlton St., the Farmers Market is looking to have a successful season following the struggles that 2020 posed.

The market currently runs every Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with this being the fifteenth year the Farmers Market has been in operation. The market has become a staple of the Somerville community.

But in 2020, the COVID Pandemic brought new challenges to the market and its vendors alike.

According to Executive Director of Union Square Main Streets, Jessica Eshleman, the Farmers Market adapted to the pandemic in different ways.

“Last year’s market was run with very specific guidance and guidelines from the city of Somerville, that did reduce our capacity,” Eshleman said. “It was very important to the city, that open air access to fresh healthy food remained available.”

Moreover, although the Farmers Market was able to adapt to the new guidelines placed by the City of Somerville, the Market and its vendors still felt the economic impact of the COVID pandemic.

“Last year, Union Square Main Streets saw a decrease of 68% of revenues related to this market. That represents a huge amount of impact to our tiny non-profits budget,” Eshleman said.

Paul O’Connell from Mariposa Bakery, one of the many vendors in the Union Square Farmers Market, spoke on the effects of the pandemic on his girlfriends and his business. “It was tough last year, our sales were off because of a combination of them having to limit, to keep up with the city mandated protocols as well as, maybe people not being comfortable even with those protocols,” O’Connell said.

Furthermore, Marie Hills Owner of Kimball Fruit Farm, another vendor at Union Square, spoke on these effects as well. “The biggest change was that it was so not busy. Union Square used to be our best market and when the pandemic hit, we might have gotten a third of our customers,” Hills said. “When you’re not selling two thirds of what you used to sell you have to find an outlet. We ended up giving a lot away to food for free because we just couldn’t sell it, it hurt our bottom line.”

But it has not been all doom and gloom for the Farmers Market and its vendors. Eshleman talked about the reaction that the local community has had to the markets’ reopening.

“Folks are so happy to see this tradition carry on, and in a continued modified way so that we can be responsive to the evolution of the pandemic that were in,” Eshleman said.

Vendors like O’Connell and Hills expressed cautious confidence that the market was on the way back to pre-covid levels. “I think it’s back, we can only wait and see,” O’Connell said.

“The residents of Somerville are incredibly dedicated to the Farmers Market. It will come back to pre-COVID, but I’m not sure it will be this year,” Hills said.

Eshleman expressed optimism, and with the easing of restrictions by Governor Baker on May 29, this sentiment has become more and more realistic. “I am very confident as the crops come from the fields and the temperatures warm up, that we will be getting back to our pre-pandemic numbers,” Eshleman said.