PORT TOWNSEND — With tourist flow down, local food lovers stepped up, said Jefferson County Farmers Markets manager Deirdre Morrison as she looked toward the last market of the year this Saturday.
Overall revenue fell by nearly half for the Port Townsend and Chimacum markets, Morrison noted: from $1,332,823 last year to $710,363 over the course of this season.
But there are two parts to that story.
“At the height of tourism season, sales were down about 50 percent,” but that was offset somewhat by fall’s influx of hometown shoppers.
Starting in October, “we’re showing much less of a hit in sales. That feels really fortifying,” she said.
“Our community really stepped in to support us,” added Roxanne Hudson of SpringRain Farm & Orchard in Chimacum. Her market sales matched last year, while business at the SpringRain farmstand, at 187 Covington Way off state Highway 19, saw a jump up.
This year’s final Port Townsend market, with its entrance at Lawrence and Tyler streets, will be open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The Port Townsend Community Center at 620 Tyler St. is the pickup point for those who choose to shop online in advance at JCFmarkets.org; a 15 percent discount is available during this final week. Online shopping was a hit, Morrison noted, with 700 customers placing $130,000 worth of orders.
When she took the job in October, Morrison succeeded Amanda Milholland, a seven-year veteran of the manager post, and “Amanda really set the stage,” Morrison said, when it came to shoppers wearing masks and spreading out.
There were a couple of times when Morrison encountered resistance to the mask rule, she said, as some felt being outdoors negated the need for face coverings.
One cheekily told her, “I drink a lot of whiskey, so I don’t need [a mask],” which prompted her to explain such protocols are not only about protecting oneself, but also about helping others feel safe at the market. (Health authorities also have said that drinking alcoholic beverages does not protect against the virus.)
Bruce Gleeman of Chimacum Valley Dairy offers holiday cheese-and-soap baskets at the Port Townsend Farmers Market, which wraps its season this Saturday. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)
The physically distanced queues, the Plexiglas, the smaller numbers — still, “it was definitely worth it,” said Amy Rose Dubin of Chimacum Valley Dairy.
She and husband Bruce Gleeman sell raw milk and farmstead cheeses and goat’s milk soap; this Saturday, as a last hurrah, they will offer gift baskets of both.
All season, Dubin said, “people were focused on getting in and getting out,” and they brought their appetites for cheeses they hadn’t yet tried.
“What I appreciate about farmers market shoppers is how they say, ‘What do you have? I’ll take that.’ That is delightful,” she said.
The vigorous food sampling and socializing of years past couldn’t happen in 2020, added Morrison, as farmers market managers around the state strove to be outdoor grocery stores instead of community gathering places.
She also emphasized the market’s grant-funded program for low-income shoppers with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
“The market is able to match those benefits dollar for dollar,” doubling EBT cardholders’ food budgets, she said.
SNAP shoppers can visit the market information booth for tokens that are the same as cash.
After Saturday and throughout this winter, seekers of local produce will find vegetables, fruits and preserves at places such as Midori, SpringRain and Red Dog farms, Morrison said; she urged shoppers to talk with the farmers they know and check their websites for information.
The 2021 markets will start in Port Townsend in April, Morrison noted, though a firm date isn’t set.
“That will possibly have to be adjusted,” she said.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
