What’s Safer, a Grocery Store or a Farmer’s Market?
Here’s what the experts say
Grocery shopping is an essential task, but it’s not always the easiest to navigate. There are ways to keep the shopping safe by staying distanced from other customers and wearing masks, but if you have an option to go to an outdoor market, should you take it?
“A farmer’s market might generally be a little safer than a grocery store if it is outside,” says Robin Patel, MD, the president of the American Society for Microbiology. “You would of course need to take into account the level of crowdedness as well as measures that either the grocery store or farmer’s market have in place for physical distancing.”
If it is possible to comfortably keep an adequate distance from other shoppers and both settings are equally crowded, then Patel says the outdoor option of a farmer’s market might be safer because it’s an outdoor space with more fresh air. “Masks should be worn in both situations and shoppers should stay at least six feet away from others,” says Patel. “Another option would be to pre-order from either the grocery store or farmer’s market and pick up your goods without spending a lot of time there.”
