The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way that our state, cities, and communities operate, and farmers' markets play a key role in this dramatic shift. Governor Newsom's Stay At Home Order identifies farmers' markets as part of the State's critical infrastructure sectors, as an essential service. At the same time, other local municipalities have listed farmers' markets to be essential businesses. The essential role that farmers' markets play, in community access to healthy food and farmers' livelihood, is apparent in this crisis.

The California Alliance has been working hard on behalf of farmers' markets. In partnership with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and others, we have been advocating for farmers' markets to remain open during the pandemic. We are also piloting and aggregating the State's best practices for a COVID-19 response in a farmers' market context.

Many of you have felt the pressure to "step up" and respond to new official state and local requirements and guidelines: increasing staffing, extending shifts, providing sanitization and other supplies, and modifying and creating new procedures to keep customers, vendors, and staff safe.  We must do this. The industry is on the line, and most importantly, so is the physical and economic health and safety of our key stakeholders.