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Welcome to the Market!
Now that Ontario is in Phase 2 we are able to increase our customer capacity to 50%, or 104 customers. We are hopeful that this will allow us to essentially eliminate the waiting times (which have been less than 5 minutes on average) at the market entrance.
All of our other rules (mandatory masks, no dogs, no eating and drinking within the market, and no musicians) will remain in place for now, as per Public Health regulations. Many of our customers remain nervous about returning to in person shopping, and we want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and safe.
The Farmers’ Market Team
Curious about the faces you see behind the masks? We’ll be introducing staff over the next few weeks, starting off with staff from the Farmers’ Market Management Team. If you see us at the market, please don't hesitate to stop and chat!
  
From left to right, we have:
Kyla Schwarz-Lam - Farmers' Market Manager
Kyla is new to the position of Market Manager, but has been a familiar face at the market and The Stop, as Farmers' Market Assistant and a volunteer for 7 years. Kyla is a regular at farmers' markets across the city and is passionate about expanding opportunities for small farmers and food business owners. Kyla is excited to create meaningful relationships at the market with vendors and community and is committed to seeing the vendors and market thrive.
Francisco Vidal - Director of Programs and Services
Francisco has been working for The Stop’s senior management team since December 2018. Francisco came to Canada as a refugee from El Salvador in the early 90s, and has worked in the non-for-profit sector in Vancouver and Toronto for the past ten years. He and his 9 year-old daughter are farmers’ market enthusiasts, and love locally grown organic food.
Hilda Nouri - Urban Agriculture Manager
Hilda manages all things urban agriculture at The Stop, including the greenhouse, community gardens and farmers' market. Her enthusiasm towards food began when she interned as a farmer in Guelph and since has been growing her own micro farm plot at Downsview Park. Hilda is passionate about food and cultural identity, food workers' justice and equitable food access. She also loves getting to know all the vendors at the market and learning from them.
Not pictured:
- Winsome Miller - Director of Programs and Services
COVID Info
We eagerly await the next phases of Ontario's Road Mao to Re-Opening Plan, but till then we continue to have reduced market capacity of 25% of our regular capacity. Please remember to pre-order when possible; to shop alone or in pairs and as efficiently as possible; and to move through the market space quickly, leaving your food and drinks closed until you leave the market space.
Also, don’t worry if you see a line outside the market! The average wait time once you’re lined up by the dog park is less than 5 minutes, and the decreased number of people within the market means no wait times once you’re inside.
Please remember to do a COVID self-assessment, review our COVID protocols on our website, and to prepare a properly fitting mask (covering your nose to your chin) before you visit the market. Thank you for helping to keep our farmers safe!
Rooting Our Communities in Farmers' Markets
If you'd like to learn more about why we think farmers' markets are essential and vital for the community as well as some of the challenges we faced in our first few weeks this season, check out Rossen Lee's article here.
Rossen is a 2021 Social Connectedness Fellow working with The Stop Community Food Centre to complete research, consultations, blogs and a podcast to support our work!
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