Safe Practices at Farmers Markets Amidst COVID-19

By Molly Berntsen and Sharon Mcdonald et.al

New resources to help promote safe practices for customers and vendors at farmers markets.

In this new era of social distance and quarantine, food shopping is one of the few remaining outings that most people are required to make on a regular basis. Finding grocery options that feel safe can be a challenge due to concerns around contaminated surfaces and congregating with others.

In the face of these new challenges, farmers markets remain a good choice for consumers when it comes to safety. Outdoor markets are exposed to open air, sunlight, and temperature variation, all of which have been shown to be less conducive to virus survival than the uniformity of indoor environments. Additionally, many markets are offering (in some cases requiring) pre-ordering and are implementing new procedures to streamline the shopping process, reducing time that customers spend shopping at the market and limiting the chance of virus spread.

Penn State Extension is working to provide farmers markets, vendors, and customers with the most up-to-date information to ensure a safe and healthy market season for all. To that end, we have developed two posters and one fact sheet for use at market that outline new practices for vendors and customers to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

These posters are available for you to print and hang, or to use for general reference while preparing for farmers markets as a vendor, market manager, or customer. Click on the title links to view the posters.

Poster: Consumer Key Safety Points

• Wear a mask and follow physical distancing guidelines of 6 feet between yourself and vendors or other customers.
• Minimize time at the market. Prepare a list for efficient shopping and consume prepared foods at home.
• Use hand sanitizer after payment at each vendor.
• Avoid touching your face.
• After returning home, wash your hands for 20 seconds, wetting hands first. Wash your hands again after putting away groceries, and sanitize kitchen counters.
• As always, wash produce with running water and a scrub brush if needed before eating or preparing food.
• And remember - there is no evidence that food or food packaging is associated with spreading the coronavirus that causes COVID-19!

Poster: Vendor and Staff Key Safety Points

• Train and monitor staff to not come to work if showing signs or having known exposure to COVID 19 such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell.
• Always wash your hands with soap and water, wetting hands first, for 20 seconds after going to the bathroom, blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing, or touching your face; before prepping food and eating; and after handling money or credit cards.
• If soap and water are not readily available, use hand sanitizer with a minimum of 60% ethanol or 70% isopropyl alcohol and avoid working with unwrapped foods.
• Avoid touching your face.
• Wear gloves and a mask while handling food.
• Provide a minimum of 6 feet distance between food stands and between customers and staff.
• Frequently clean and disinfect high-touch areas like counters, phones, and cash/credit machines.
• Assign different staff to handle money and to handle food.
• Provide hand sanitizer for customer use, especially at checkout.

Fact Sheet: Farmers Market Shopping Tips With COVID-19 In Mind

See the above fact sheet for detailed information and tips for customers to implement before shopping, while shopping, after shopping, and for storage and preparation of food.