Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Shuts Down All Farmer's Markets

Source: Alexander Spatari / Getty

While there aren’t many places that people in the United States can go right now, the one business that remains constant is the grocery store. They have always been among the first on the list of essential businesses in discussions surrounding COVID-19 closures, and with good reason: people gotta eat.

Since grocery stores remain operational, it’s not surprising that farmer’s markets were also deemed essential businesses, providing fresh produce for people who will have to remain cooped up inside for the foreseeable future. But while some markets in Los Angeles have been enforcing strict social distancing policies, others seemed to disregard them completely, which ended up ruining it for everyone.

Photos surfaced over the weekend, showing just how packed the Brentwood Farmer’s Market was on Sunday. Many Los Angelenos, including Katherine Schwarzenegger, pointed out how irresponsible this was, calling for farmer’s markets to be closed.

Unsurprisingly, Brentwood–which is an affluent neighborhood–has one of the highest number of infections of any LA neighborhood. As many people pointed out, other farmer’s markets around the city were enforcing strict social distancing rules, like this one in Echo Park.

Nonetheless, photos circulating of a packed open-air market obviously don’t look good for Los Angeles, so Mayor Garcetti finally ended up temporarily suspending all farmer’s markets. In the meantime, he told said markets to submit plans that would allow them to safely re-open, which he will consider.

Rich people ruining it for everyone? Can’t say we’re surprised.