More people buying Central Coast produce boxes during pandemic

With many staying at home due to the pandemic, some Central Coast produce box companies are delivering locally-grown food straight from the farm to your front door.

Shelby Bernard, owner of Armor Farms, launched her produce box when the pandemic began and says demand for fresh fruits and vegetables continues to grow during the pandemic.

“When the pandemic hit, I just knew I had to figure out a way to get fresh produce direct to consumer, so we launched and we found that people were really interested in getting it."

She says with many staying in due to shelter-at-home orders, she wanted to offer a solution an easy solution for people to eat healthy.

“It’s just hard to get the nutrients you need right now because you are not going to the store and getting what you would normally get so this is important to me to offer to people a really healthy option,” Bernard said.

Talley Farms also saw increased interest in their produce boxes.

"Some locations where we dropped maybe 50 or 60 boxes at a time grew to 150 boxes," Talley Farms Fresh Harvest program manager, Andrea Chavez, said.

Talley Farms grows their own produce, however, during the pandemic when they saw a rise in demand, they starting purchasing produce from neighboring farms as well.

"There were some local farms who had a lot of food service and restaurant customers and that business just went away overnight so we were able to purchase produce from them," Chavez said.

They have also expanded their packing sites to adapt to safety regulations and meet the growing demand.

“We had to change how we pack our boxes, before the pandemic we had one line for packing in our cooler and when we increased very fast we increased to two lines," she said.

Addressing food insecurity in the community has also been important for Talley Farms during the pandemic.

“There is a lot of need out there and were really glad that we can help," Chavez.