By Penny Leff
Communities support their local farms and ranches
During this COVID-19 emergency, as most agritourism operations have canceled events and on-farm activities, many are refocusing on direct sales - selling to their local community members directly through on-line sales, CSAs, and pick-up and delivery services. UC SAREP is helping consumers purchase directly from local farms and ranches by sharing connections to local farmers all over California on our UC Agritourism Directory,
www.calagtour.org.
The new webpage,
COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place Direct-from-Farm Resources, includes information and links to local agricultural and community organizations connecting consumers with farms and ranches offering box deliveries, farm stands, online ordering, delivery and pickup services, organized by region.
We need you! Please help grow these connections
Resources for connecting with local farmers and ranchers in many California regions are not yet included on this website. We need your help!
If you are an organization promoting local direct sales by farmers and ranchers, or if you are an individual farmer or rancher who would like to be included on this page, please contact Penny Leff, UC SAREP agritourism coordinator, at paleff@ucdavis.edu.
Farmers' markets open as "Essential Services"
In many areas, farmers' markets remain open, with major adjustments for social distancing and sanitary protection for everyone involved. These farmers' markets are essential for farmers as well as consumers, and are a wonderful way for community members to support local farms, but some have changed hours or limited their seasons. Please check the website or Facebook page of your local farmers' market before you visit to learn of any changes.
The Ecology Center has a great tracking tool which allows users to search for farmers' markets and filter for Market Match and EBT acceptance:
https://ecologycenter.org/fmfinder/