The Impact of the Coronavirus/Covid-19 on the 2020 CSA Season
You may be wondering about the impact of the CoronaVirus/Covid-19 on our operations for this year. The net-net is that we are moving forward and fully expect to have another great season feeding the Mad River Valley community! Here are our plans:
Muddy Boots CSA Response to Coronavirus/Covid-19
We want to let members and potential members know that we have been giving thought to how the Coronavirus will impact our CSA. The health and safety of our members, their families and our employees is paramount. Our farmers are all moving forward with the coming growing season and some of the food our members will be enjoying in mid-June is already taking root! We are anticipating high demand for local produce this year as a result of the Coronavirus/Covid-19.
Governor Phil Scott, in Addendum 6 to Executive Order 01-20, identifies CSAs as one of the “Service or functions in Vermont deemed critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security.”
The Coronavirus/Covid-19 will not change what we grow, but we may need to make some changes to how it is “delivered” depending on the state of the virus when pick-ups start on June 17. Our tried and true model of people picking their own veggies from bins may need to change. We are considering how we might prepack shares to reduce exposure of the veggies to the virus and to minimize the time it takes members to pick-up their shares.
We know that prepacking shares isn’t ideal for members or the farmers; it makes providing choice difficult and will add labor costs that we haven’t factored into our pricing. Yet, it is a tenable solution to an unforeseeable problem.
Luckily we have many more weeks to come up with other creative solutions to this dilemma. We will keep you posted on our thinking as time gets closer to our first pick-up. We just wanted to let members and potential members know that we are well aware that this virus may require us to think differently about this year’s CSA pick-up process.
When it rains, it pours. Learn about the Washhouse Fire at Kingsbury Farm.
