May 19, 2020
Guidance for Farmers' Markets Related to COVID-19
We have been getting a few questions recently related to guidance for farmers' markets and how they can operate safely in light of COVID-19, so I thought I would share this information here.
KDA has been frequently updating their useful guidance for farmers' markets to operate safely in light of COVID-19, which is available from www.fromthelandofkansas.com/page/farmers-market-resources (in the yellow highlighted section at the top). At the time of this writing, the most recent version was updated May 8, 2020. A key message is that there are no restrictions on the number of people that can be in the farmers' market at one time, but they don’t want more than 10 people in one area in the market at one time. But markets should always check with their local public health department to be sure if they have stricter requirements for number of people allowed.
KSRE has a number of COVID-related resources for farmers' markets available in the farmers' market section of this page: www.ksre.k-state.edu/foodsafety/topics/covid19.html; and general farmers' market information here: www.ksre.k-state.edu/foodsafety/topics/market.html. Please feel free to contact Londa Nwadike if you have additional questions in this regard.