Farmers in North Carolina are finding new ways to get produce to customers amid the coronavirus outbreak.
While there's still a large demand for fresh food, the typical ways of distributing it have been disrupted. Restaurants operating under social distancing restrictions need significantly less produce. Some farmers markets have closed temporarily.
Hannah Dankbar is with the North Carolina State University Extension. She says many farmers have started offering home delivery or roadside pickup.
"Overall any direct to consumer market channel has been doing pretty well, at least from what I've been hearing from farmers across the state," she said.
Dankbar is holding weekly calls with organizers of farmers markets about how to best adapt to the new guidelines.
However, selling directly to consumers is not making all ends meet for farmers. Some made a lot of investments - including opening their own restaurants - that are now being seriously curtailed.