FRESHFARM “implementing the following safety protocols at all of our farmers markets.”

courtesy FRESHFARM

Ed. Note: You can find their open markets here.

From FRESHFARM:

“In an effort to keep shoppers, vendors, and market managers as safe as possible while continuing to provide the essential service of providing fresh food to our communities, and to adhere to social distancing requirements in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, FRESHFARM is implementing the following safety protocols at all of our farmers markets. Market managers will remind all market participants to follow these expectations.

Shoppers:

Keep your market visit simple and short; buy what you need and do not linger, socialize, or congregate in the market space. DC, Maryland, and Virginia have all issued shelter-in-place orders, with exceptions for completing essential tasks such as food purchasing.
Leave your dogs, children, and senior family members at home. Households should have no more than one or two people in their shopping group.
Wash your hands (for 20 seconds) or sanitize when you enter the market space. Most markets have hand washing stations available!
Maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from other shoppers, especially when in line. Market managers will be reminding shoppers to keep their distance.
Pre-order with your favorite vendors as much as possible for quick and contact-free pickup at the market. If you cannot pre-order, bring your grocery list so you can make your market visit as quick as possible. Find info on how to pre-order and other shopping alternatives.
No browsing or lingering at market tents! Aim to get in and out of the market in under 20 minutes.
Try to attend the market later in the day, when attendance is lower. Farmers have plenty of food, so no need to come right when the market opens!
If you are sick, or a member of your family is sick, STAY HOME.
Do not eat any food you purchased in the market space.
Wash your produce and wipe down any packaging with a disinfectant when you get home.

Farmers/Producers:

No sampling will be permitted at the market, and access to condiments, silverware, cup lids, etc. should be restricted and available only on request.
No food preparation will be permitted on site. All prepared foods must be ready to take away to eat off-site.
If shoppers purchase ready-to-eat food from you, ask them to eat it at home and not in the market space.
Keep hand sanitizer and disinfectant available at your tent, and use it frequently.
Wear gloves and change them frequently, and/or use hand sanitizer between transactions.
Assign dedicated staff to manage money only and product only.
Implement contactless pay, pre-order/pickup, and other low-touch or no-touch options as much as possible.
Bag or package items prior to arriving at market to encourage grab-and-go purchasing as much as possible. Rearrange your market setup to discourage shoppers from entering your tent, keeping products at the back of the tent and allowing shoppers to select items that you grab for them.

FRESHFARM Market Managers:

We have added hand washing stations at most markets, with hand sanitizer available at the market information table.
Market managers will enforce social distancing by placing chalk or tape marks at 6 feet intervals to help with line management at vendor tents, and will remind shoppers as they enter the market, and throughout the market space.
We will restrict the number of shoppers in the market when necessary and will limit the number of entry points to the market. Please check details for market entry on your preferred market’s page.
Managers are working with farmers and producers to increase spacing between vendor tents. We will close off the front of vendors’ tents with caution tape to prevent shoppers from entering.
We have postponed all market community events, including music, entertainment, community tables, and sponsor tables.
Market managers will wipe down commonly used surfaces, such as the market information table, EBT redemption devices (phones, card swipers).

FRESHFARM will continue to offer SNAP processing and matching. Please bring your SNAP card as usual to the information tent. To aid in processing, we will have extra gloves and hand sanitizer available for all to use. FRESHFARM typically collects the coupons that we use to run our food access programs from our vendors at the end of each market; however, given the need for increased social distancing we are asking vendors to bag and date a given day’s coupons for collection in the future. We can also work out arrangements on a case-by-case basis as needed.”