Middletown. Cornell Cooperative Extension distributes hand sanitizer and face masks to local farmers
| 11 May 2020 | 03:16
CCE Orange County Agriculture Program Leader Maire Ullrich at the Orange County Vegetable Growers Research Center helps Carol Roe of Roe’s Orchard in Chester load the hand sanitizer. (
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Commercial Horticulture educator and organic grower Erik Schellenberg and Food Safety educator Nathaniel Lartey at the regional distribution in Millbrook.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County has been working with local and state government officials to continue to assist farmers now more than ever.
New York State Department of Ag and Markets has also been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to find ways to assist farmers with continuing their operations while improving safety precautions.
One way has been the plan to distribute some of the products needed to improve safety and which are in high demand for us all – hand sanitizer and face masks.
The hand sanitizer was produced by New York State, secured by the N.Y. Department of Ag & Markets and the masks by the Cornell Farmworker Program. Cornell Cooperative Extension offices around the region organized the distributions.
Orange County Extension educators distributed hand sanitizer and washable face masks to local farm workers on Thursday, May 8, and Friday, May 9. More than 1,300 gallons of hand sanitizer were distributed to 29 farms representing 538 in Orange County
The recipients were greenhouses, fruit, vegetable and livestock farms. A special thank you from Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County goes to S&SO Produce Farms for loaning a truck for the transportation of the 10 pallets of hand sanitizer from Millbrook to Goshen where distribution to farmers took place.
Seventy gallons of hand sanitizer was also allocated to all of the Orange County farmers markets in an effort to keep producers and shoppers safe as we move into the season when visits to local markets increases.
More distributions are being planned as supplies are consumed and worker populations increase during the growing and harvest season.
For more information call Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County at 845-344-1234 or visit www.cceorangecounty.org.