Successful Spring Harvest: Farmers market returns to Bentonville square Saturday

When the Bentonville Farmers Market kicks off the season Saturday at 7:30 a.m., Farmers Market manager Stephanie Marpe will surely breathe a sigh of relief. When the pandemic hit last year -- a month before the Farmers Market was to open -- she was in just her second year on the job. What followed was around six months of constant pivoting as she worked to make the market as safe and accessible as the circumstances would allow. First, the market opened a month late, and as a drive-through service; later, when it returned to the square in July, there were rigorous safety standards to observe and enforce.

"I feel like last year was four market seasons -- every change was so completely different," she says with a laugh. "It was definitely challenging to pivot, but it was what was absolutely necessary at the time. Farmers markets are essential for our community. The extra work to figure out how to do a drive-through model or to transition back to the square was definitely worth it."

Marpe and her team also beefed up the online Farmers Market as well. With it in place for about three years, they were used to handling some 15 orders on the Thursdays the online option was available; in March and April of last year, they were averaging around 145 orders.

"We kept it going all through the market season -- normally, it's an off-season deal," she explains. "But we wanted to provide that contactless shopping experience. So we're going to do the same this year -- the Thursday online market will be available throughout the market season. ... You know, the whole point of farmers markets is getting local food into the hands of local people. And so the convenience of being able to order on an app and then do curbside pickup is great."

To keep everyone as safe as possible, safety precautions are still in place: Shoppers are asked to wear masks, which will be handed out at the event. Maintaining at least six feet between shoppers is recommended. High-risk shoppers are encouraged to shop between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. And vendors will be socially distanced as well: the market is used to hosting around 120 vendors but will have around half that many as the booths are being spaced at least 10 feet apart. Marpe says that reduction in vendors will have no effect on the quality of the market offerings, however.

"We have a phenomenal group of vendors, so there's not going to be any decrease in quality or product variety," she assures. "We're still going to be able to offer a full market even though we're socially distanced.

"We're super excited to be opening back up, especially opening back up on the square, which has been the market's home for over 50 years," she adds.