ROCKINGHAM — Farmer’s markets have the option of staying open during the COVID-19 outbreak because they are considered to be invaluable sources of food for the communities they serve.
That means the Rockingham Farmer’s Market is still set to open for business on Saturday, May 2 . The market will operate from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, although a location hasn’t been finalized. The market will also be open from 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday in front of the Richmond County Department of Social Services building.
Farmer’s markets still need to obey state and federally mandated orders concerning social distancing and crowd size, among other things.
“I’m learning from other markets that are currently operating about changes that can be implemented to reduce the risk of passing the virus at the market,” said Paige Burns, Richmond County’s N.C. Cooperative Extension director. The Cooperative Extension provides support for the farmer’s market.
“Such things as pre-packed and priced product so there is no customer handling of product, limiting the use of coins (rounding up to the nearest dollar), possibly using some type of online payment (which maybe beyond our technical capacity), having hand sanitizer (and other necessary materials) readily available,” Burns added.
Taking steps to mitigate the COVID-19 threat at the farmer’s market isn’t the only challenge organizers are facing; they also need to generate more interest in the event.
“One of our biggest challenges frankly is lack of vendors and customers,” Burns said. “It is a chicken and egg thing — in order to bring more customers you need more vendors. In order to bring more vendors you need more customers. We hope things will improve this year.”
While Richmond County residents are just over a month away from having access to a farmer’s market, the situation is different in nearby Anson County.
Julian Swittenberg, director of Uptown Wadesboro, said the Uptown Wadesboro Farmers Market will not take place this year. But COVID-19 isn’t entirely to blame for the cancellation.
“Even before this started happening, we decided not to have our market this year,” Swittenberg said.
Weather patterns affecting product development, along with a lack of foot traffic in the area, influenced Uptown Wadesboro’s decision to cancel the market. The coronavirus threat would have added yet another hurdle for the organizers to deal with.
“I’m as stunned as everyone else at this point,” Swittenberg said.
