SPHIS Home » Gray Street Farmers Market
2020 Season Announcement
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the Gray Street Farmers Market for the 2020 season. 
We have been anxiously awaiting the start of the 2020 farmers market season so that we can greet all of our loyal customers, vendors, and volunteers and welcome everyone back for another successful year. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the Gray Street Farmers Market for the 2020 season. We share this news with heavy hearts and know it is disappointing to our loyal customers as well as our amazing vendors who sell the finest in local fruits, vegetables, breads, honey, canned goods, lunch, crafts, and so much more.
As a joint effort sponsored by UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences (SPHIS) and the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness (LMPHW), there are three substantial impediments that influenced this decision.
First, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt normal public gathering. While we all hope that the peak will come soon and we can point toward reopening much of our economy, the fact is we still do not have the capacity to implement adequate case tracking, contact tracing, and testing to return to a safe set of normal activities.
Second, both LMPHW and UofL SPHIS are deeply engaged in activities related to managing the pandemic and steps to strategically transition from stay-in-place mandates to slowly reopen the economy. We are committed to following social distancing guidelines and limit mass gatherings for as long as possible.
Third, like everyone else, UofL SPHIS has been severely impacted financially by the COVID-related shutdown. While the farmers market is not a high cost item, we have suffered furloughs and salary reductions and altered work assignments that also conspire to impact our ability to organize the market this year. At this time, we do not have adequate facilities or equipment to protect our customers, vendors, or volunteers (e.g., handwashing stations outside, barriers, etc.) and we don’t have the bandwidth to ramp up as needed.
We encourage everyone to continue to shop for local, fresh products at one of the farmers markets operating this year in our area. Also, once we return to more normal operations, we will look for opportunities to host pop-up markets on Gray Street.
So until we can welcome you back for another #GreatDayOnGray, please stay safe, happy, and healthy! If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Schreck at farmersmarket@louisville.edu.
The Gray Street Farmers’ Market began in 2009 as an outreach program of the UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences. The goal of the market is to increase access to fresh, locally grown food in the downtown area. Food access and food insecurity are major problems in Louisville.
