Farmers market at Wave will go high-tech to fight coronavirus

Wave partner Adam Hartke has had to lay off workers and postpone plans like a lot of business owners trying to navigate the coronavirus outbreak.

“I’ve, you know, been having many sleepless nights really focused on what to do for our workers.”

Then, he had an idea on how to help them and other service industry workers and also proceed with a farmers market he’d been planning to launch late this month at the Second and St. Francis venue.

He’s now going to do a virtual farmers market.

“This just hit in the middle of the night,” Hartke said of the idea.

Funky Fresh Farmers Market will be a traditional Sunday farmers market once it is safe for people to gather again.

In the interim, it will be an online market where shoppers can order fresh produce, meat, eggs, bread, coffee, soap and other items that Wave’s employees and others will deliver in a 15-mile radius of Wave every Wednesday and Saturday.

Shoppers also will have a pick-up option on those days. They can call from their cars, share their order numbers, and workers will bring their items to them.

Hartke’s goal is to help people who need food, workers who need work and farmers who have fewer outlets at which to sell.

“The last thing I want to hear about is farms going under,” he said. “It’s just a proactive effort to try to do something in a crisis to help.”

Shoppers also can buy produce to donate to those in need.

Hartke said he hopes the market is successful enough that he can put more people to work.

“That’s the overall goal.”

He’s taking beer out of Wave’s coolers to make room for food.

The store will be online Monday, and deliveries will start Wednesday.

Zack Bell, a farmer, will manage the market.

He said it’s especially important to him to help fellow farmers with perishable products.

“They need to move that product pretty dang quick.”

Bell said he is still looking forward to the fun that he thinks an in-person Wave market one day will be.

Wave has let the Old Town Farmers’ Market use its space in the winter months, but Bell said the Funky Fresh Farmers Market will offer its own fun twist on markets, including “some pretty chill live music every week.”

There will be things specifically geared to children, such as games and a garden where they can watch the growing process each week.

“We’ve got a lot of good ideas for the space,” said Gerard Rodriguez of Adios Nachoria at Wave.

“We’re going to play more toward the educational vibe.”

He said there will be speakers to educate the public on things such as no-till farming, nutrient-dense soil and regenerative agriculture.

Rodriguez said Funky Fresh will be a “lazy 10-to-2 market.”

“Just get up later. Take your time. . . . Slow play it a little bit.”

For now, though, the experience will be a virtual one for the foreseeable future.

“It’s an idea to try to keep everything moving,” Hartke said. “It’s scary times, and this feels like something we hope will help.”

He said his nights are still sleepless, though.

“We’re still very concerned about all of our employees and just our community and the world. We’re just going to take one day at a time and get through it.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 12:53 PM.