Farm Markets Will Have a New Normal this Summer
June 10, 2020 
Photo by Anna Shvets
As society loosens the reins of the coronavirus restrictions, outdoor farm markets’ summer shopping season is getting underway.
During the lockdown era, many continued operating as essential businesses.
Growers will likely adopt a new normal at farm markets. That includes face masks, staggered guest entrance policies, and fewer communal spaces for customers to relax in.
The Ohio State University is issuing some updated guidelines for farmer’s markets around keeping both consumer and vendor safe and healthy all summer long.
Shoshanah Inwood, assistant professor of community, food, and economic development at The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), recently shared these thoughts on what will look different at markets across the U.S.
“You may see vendors wearing masks and gloves, more hand sanitizing, and different people handling food and payment transactions at each stall,” Inwood told OSU Extension’s Pat Brinkman in a recent article in the Washington Court-House Record-Herald. “Busy markets may implement staggered entry, and you may notice the stalls at your local market are spread further apart, there is tape or chalk on the ground marking 6-foot distances, and/or there are separate operating hours for the vulnerable shopping population.”
What to Tell Your Customers
If you’d like to post recommendations for your customers on your website and social media accounts, here’s what OSU’s CFAES Lean on Your Land Grant Task Force is telling consumers:
- Wear a mask over your mouth and nose.
- Practice the recommended six-foot social distancing from one another while at the market.
- Prioritize only essential food purchasing, and discontinue social gatherings at the markets.
- Send only one member from your household to the market, in order to curtail crowds.
- Do not touch any products; instead, allow the vendor to select and bag the products you wish to purchase.
- Follow the CDC recommendations, and clean your hands frequently.
- Discontinue the use of reusable bags and materials. Accept only new plastic bags from your farmers and food producers.
- Order directly from farmers and food producers for delivery or pickup, when possible.
- Follow more stringent vendor and market guidelines, as requested.
CFAES has published a coronavirus clearinghouse, called the “COVID-19 HUB” with resources for all aspects of the food chain.
Subscribe Today For
