Despite the numerous closures of businesses due to COVID-19, our farmers and farmworkers, along with other members of the supply chain, are still working hard to make sure that we have access to safe, nutritious food.
This doesn’t mean that it’s business as usual on the farm – modifications to farming practices are essential to ensure the safety of workers by maintaining social distancing recommendations and reducing the spread of the virus.
Numerous farm industry groups, as well as local and state governments, are helping farmers by providing them with resources and best practices to maintain food and worker safety at all levels of the food production network. Rest assured that even in these times, you can trust that food grown and produced in Washington meets the highest standards for quality and food safety.
Here are a few of the many resources available to our farmers. We will continue to update this list as more resources become available.
· National Milk Producers Federation – COVID-19 Prevention and Management Handbook in English
· Washington State Department of Agriculture – COVID-19 and Food Storage Warehouses in English and Spanish
· Washington State Department of Labor and Industries – Farmworker Housing Emergency Rules
· Whatcom County Health Department – Farmworker Guidance in English and Spanish
· Benton Franklin Health Department – Numerous safety posters in Spanish
· Seamstresses Unite – Cloth Masks by donation
· Washington State Department of Health – Cloth Mask Guidelines
· Governor’s Proclamation – Additional Agricultural Covid-19 Requirements
Additional resources are also available from the Washington State Farm Bureau and Washington State Department of Agriculture, among others.