SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It wasn’t business as usual at the Sacramento farmers market under I-80 on Sunday morning, but people still came for shopping.
Chris Hoover, of Hoover Farms, is a 25 year veteran of selling at farmers markets. He says the shoppers brought him a sigh of relief and that business has been picking back up.
“Normally, I would have in front of me a crowd, but, now, we are dealing with two to three customers at a time," says Hoover.
He says on a normal day, he can make up to $1,000, but , for these past few weeks, he’s only been making a fraction of that.
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“It'’s unbelievable. It's so far beyond comprehension," Hoover said.
Nezhelle Dismer, a local shopper, says she felt safer there than at a brick-and-mortar grocery store right now.
"It's open-air. The produce is super fresh, [and] the stand that I like going to has all of the produce behind the table," said Dismer.
From a distance the safety measure taken by the farmers were noticeable. Some were bagging items for the customers, while others didn't even allow customers to touch the produce.
Hoover said his crew was wearing gloves to handle the produce and some were even wearing a mask.
According to the Food Safety Administration, there is no evidence of food or food packaging be associated with the transmission of the coronavirus. The administration says there is "likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures."
Whether you choose a farmers market or a grocery store, Placer County’s Health Officer Dr. Amy Sisson says the key is to stay six feet apart.
"I don’t know if I can say that is it safer to be outdoors versus indoors, but I do think that a farmers market tends to be more spread out than a grocery store. So, it is safer to maintain the six feet of recommended distance," said Dr. Sisson.
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