Covid-Certified Businesses Try to Woo Leery Patrons

Farms in Southwest Florida are facing a decline in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing restaurants and farmer's markets to close and social distancing to be mandated. To stay afloat, some farmers are "adding onsite markets to their fields and teaming with restaurants-cum-grocery-services," while others are joining together to offer grocery delivery or grab-and-go-vegetable boxes direct from the farms.

With restaurants closing and people panic-buying groceries, food waste is inevitably going to rise. There are many initiatives going on throughout the United States to address this very issue. For example, nonprofit Rethink in New York City pays restaurant staff to create meals out of the surplus ingredients that other restaurants have, which are then sold to the public with a $3 donation. For individuals, there are even ways to shift your behavior with preserving and consuming the food you buy that will allow them to last longer and be eaten in entirety.

Because of drastic and proactive steps, Taiwan has been able to keep their number of positive COVID19 cases low. Preemptive actions like stopping flights from China and an early stimulus bill has helped the country get ahead of the public health and economic impacts.

Small-scale livestock producers and farmers are facing dire economic consequences from the coronavirus pandemic, so many are turning to a collective approach to help one another out. From home-delivery services to pivoting to online sales, farmers across the nation are testing out different models to survive the economic downturn.

As restaurants across the nation have been forced to close their doors during the coronavirus pandemic, some are turning to creative means to help account for the loss of revenue. In Philadelphia, restaurants have created a virtual tip jar to encourage patrons to "donate a tip" to a person or business while in San Francisco a restaurant owner has created a Facebook group that helps connect out of work servers with childcare jobs.

To help mitigate the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on some of its most vulnerable populations, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is paying otherwise closed restaurants to make food for short-staffed homeless shelters in the area.

Many supermarkets spend most days overcrowded and rapidly out of stock due to the coronavirus crisis, so the major grocery retailer in Australia designated the first hour of business to serving seniors and the disabled. Although there's no guarantee that all items will have been restocked, the dedicated time allows this at-risk population to have a better chance at obtaining the necessities.

Throughout the economic crash of 2008, banks were "vilified" for their response, but as the economy again teeters on crashing during the coronavirus pandemic, regulators have been able to be proactive in their approach. While several banks are making financial contributions to philanthropies, and public health efforts or creating relief funds, others have agreed to temporary forbearance on certain types of loans which enables "local business owners and workers to defer payments without penalty to the end of their loan terms."

Despite being among those hit hardest by the coronavirus, restaurant owners and workers in Minnesota are stepping up to provide meals for those in need. But, to sustain their generous operations, business owners may eventually need more outside help.

European countries like France and Germany have been able to keep their unemployment rates low because of pre-existing programs that have been called to action during COVID-19. In France, the government subsidizes up to 84% of wages to incentive companies not to lay their employees off. In Germany, their short-time work program pays up to two-thirds of employee pay. While not an inexpensive method, some say it could help their economies replenish quicker after the pandemic.