Atlanta area farmers markets fight to stay open amid a COVID-19 crisis - AJC

Across metro Atlanta, an early marker of spring is the opening of neighborhood farmers markets, their tables full of tender salad greens, eggs and fresh bread.

But as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, small local farmers who sell at those markets are racing to find ways to stay afloat if those markets do not open in the coming weeks. For the handful of popular farmers markets that operate year-round or that opened in early March as the coronavirus crisis intensified, the ever-changing federal recommendations and local ordinances regulating the size of public gatherings has complicated matters. And farmers who depend on sales not only at those markets, but also to restaurants, say their financial peril is compounded since many high-end dining rooms are scaling back service to take-out only or closing their businesses indefinitely.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms designated farmers markets as “essential services” in the city-wide, 14-day, stay-at-home order she issued on March 23. It was welcome news to farmers market managers and farmers. 

Yet, as uncertainty continued to rise this week, more than a half dozen local food advocacy groups rallied to raise money for those farmers. Even as that program gets off the ground, some farmers are trying to convert to a direct, home-delivery or community-supported agriculture (CSA) model to stay viable. The markets say they should be considered grocery stores, providing an essential resource — fresh fruits and vegetables — during an unprecedented calamity.

“This is a much bigger picture than, ‘Are we going to cancel our garden workshop on Saturday?’” said Judith Winfrey, co-owner of Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens in Decatur. “On a doomsday level, could all of these farms go out of business?”

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