Farmers markets in Sonoma County adjust to coronavirus rules

Don Davanzo was on the hunt for just the right freshly-picked produce.

Not finding what he wanted at one local farmers market, the 68-year-old Bennett Valley resident drove across town to Santa Rosa’s other Wednesday farm-to-table pop-up. Davanzo and his wife also keep a large garden and have still made weekly trips to the grocery store during the coronavirus pandemic, but some of the region’s finest vegetables and fruits just can’t be had through the automatic doors of a big-box chain.

“Fresh produce you can’t get. These kinds of mushrooms you can’t get - porcini and maitake,” he said through a face covering. “Once in a while you see them at the Whole Foods, but it’s a lot more expensive.”

It’s foodie faithfuls like Davanzo who have kept the weekly, outdoor farmers markets afloat across the region during the first two months of the stay-at-home orders that restricted public activities. Equipped with masks and a willingness to adjust to new protocols, such as keeping proper distance and no longer personally gripping the perfect peach, the markets have sustained themselves with smaller crowds as they prep for the fast-approaching peak harvest season.

March, which is typically a down period for farmers markets because of limited winter crop yields, acted as a dress rehearsal for adapting to new public health guidelines. Those changes included adding hand-washing and hand sanitizer stations, spacing booths at least 6 feet apart and, where possible, deemphasizing the use of cash.

Shoppers’ concerns about contracting COVID-19 at high-traffic grocery stores led to an initial spike of patrons at the region’s farmers markets, according to Kayla Hayden, senior market manager for the Walnut Creek-based California Farmers’ Markets Association, which oversees markets across the Bay Area.

“The first two weeks of that panic buying, we sold a lot,” she said. “We saw little bit of a decline in customers that came out (afterwards), but still our die-hard fan base, they never really left us because the farmers market customer will shop at farmers markets no matter what. They know the freshness and nutrients and the shorter supply chain.”

Nonetheless, market managers and vendors had to quickly navigate a learning curve of new protocols, which reduced the personal interactions between farmers and their customers. Vendors were told to change the layout of their booths, put up ropes to prohibit entry and begin using plastic bags or individually wrapping products. Many upgraded to touchless credit card readers.

“It’s just money hand and food hand, unless I have a partner,” said Rachel Walker, of Red Bird Bakery, wearing one black latex glove. “So just no cross-contamination is our goal. Otherwise we’re ‘Don’t breathe on my food’ kind of people anyway.”

But the process could get more challenging as more customers visit the county’s dozen or so markets with the return of the peak season’s expanded offerings, said Pegi Ball, manager of the year-round market held twice a week in the Luther Burbank Center parking lot. She is turning her focus to the gradual return of vendors selling non-food items.

“It’s been a big adjustment,” Ball said. “To do the spacing that we need to do, we have to be careful about how many we let come back, and we’re being very careful so that we’re not perceived as more than a farmers market. It is a farmers market, we’re an essential provider and it isn’t life as normal.”

Still, outdoor shopping is considered safer than indoor retail alternatives, where high-touch areas and greater numbers of daily customers heighten the risk of spreading the contagion. Other factors that appear to limit the spread of the virus are also present at the open-air markets, said Jim Fenton, manager of the Wednesday and Saturday market at Santa Rosa’s Farmers Lane Plaza.

“I mean, it’s common sense. It’s outdoors, everything is getting UV rays and there’s not a lot of plastic surfaces,” he said. “A lot of people feel like this is a safe place to come, swing by and get some food, and you don’t have to go through the whole store scene, standing in lines longer than ever and being in tight spaces.”

Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s public health officer, agrees and said she has herself shopped at farmers markets in the weeks since her stay-at-home order became the law of the land. Mase’s ban on gatherings of 10 or more through Labor Day for now remains in effect, but even if larger groups begin to frequent the weekly markets during the summer months, she said the proper precautions should make it relatively safe.

“I could see that it may become more crowded. The good news is they’re largely outdoors and so the risk is a little less in that sense,” Mase said. “I think as long as they’re able to wear facial coverings, even if they’re within six feet of others but trying to maintain that social distancing and not overcrowding” they should be OK.

Healdsburg welcomed back its seasonal Tuesday farmers market in the downtown plaza on May 26, which joins the year-round Saturday market in a nearby parking lot. Though it drew fewer vendors, friends reconnected over lunch on the lawn in the shade of palm trees while children tiptoed around the square’s small central fountain.

“We’re just excited to be out and about. We’re loving the weather and it’s just something to do that’s safe. And I’m pregnant, so I always try to eat organic and local,” said Emily Enstice, 41, a part-time Healdsburg resident who brought her 4-year-old daughter Olive to the market while picking out a sack full of produce.

It’s this customer base that Robert and Tara Nieto, who own Fleur Sauvage Chocolates, will be relying on to support the year-old Windsor company. In addition to joining the Tuesday market in Healdsburg, they’ve also adjusted their business plan after the coronavirus canceled several event bookings to deliver their assortment of ornate specialty chocolates to pair with wines or whiskeys.

“Today is definitely slow. But, I mean, we’re hanging out together and we were just saying how beautiful it is,” said Tara Nieto. “This isn’t so bad, even if we don’t make a lot of sales.”

They and other vendors hope to rebuild their business with locals already familiar with the Tuesday market and tourists visiting Wine Country. Christina Stafford, 44, owner of the Stafford Gallery of contemporary art on the Healdsburg Plaza, counts herself among the local devotees.

“In normal times when the gallery was open, I would come here every Tuesday. Usually some food for now and some food for the week and just to see what’s going on,” she said.

“These are all small, independent businesses, of which I am also, so you’ve got to share the love and try to keep each other going. And I get to take home some Indian food lunch, which I’m excited about.”