The Antipolo Public Market during MGCQ, some observations

I took a few photos at the Antipolo Public Market as I waited for the eggs I bought (they were being placed on a tray). I usually went to the market early Sunday mornings (around 5:30 AM) so there's less people in the market. Unlike the summer though when days were longer and it was already very bright at 5:30 AM, these days it is still dark. So there seems to be even less people.

Fruits and vegetables stands at the Antipolo Public Market - there are markers on the floor showing the suggested directions of flow for people. There are no enforcers and people just walk whichever way they want to go.

My suking egg store at the market - here's where I get our supply of eggs. I usually buy the brown ones, which are marketed as organic eggs. I also buy salted eggs here and the occasional quail's eggs that my daughter likes to eat.

Another photo of the fruit stands. On the let are stores selling packaging supplies including those used for baked goods, food and drinks (e.g., foil and plastic containers, paper cups, paper plates, etc.). One vendor quipped that their merchandise have been selling very well as the demand for delivered food has increased dramatically due to the lockdowns.

One of the fruit vendors I buy from observed that there were fewer people at the public market these days. I thought that it is probably because people nowadays limited their trips to places that are perceived to be crowded and therefore have higher risks of Covid-19 infection associated to them. Then of course it is also possible that other people have been able to source their food from online sellers including entrepreneurial efforts of bringing the farms' produce, seafood, meats and poultry almost if not directly to the consumers' homes. We certainly know this from experience as much of our vegetables are sourced from friends' program sourcing vegetables and fruits from farms and plantations around their place in the mountains of Antipolo. And then there are those who have their home gardens they started during the lockdown and now are growing and consuming the products of their labor. I guess this will be the 'new normal' for markets now. We just hope that vendors will still be able to sustain their businesses and perhaps innovate so they can still earn a decent living.

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