SARASOTA, Fla. -- Florida farms are taking a nasty financial hit with health concerns and restrictions in place over coronavirus.
- Albritton Fruit Farms promoting blueberry picking
- Hoping to save profitable produce before it goes bad
- Farm offering $5 per pound of blueberries
Many fields across central Florida are full of perishable produce as a result of Safer at Home orders impacting grocery stores and restaurants.
At Albritton Fruit Farms in Sarasota, public blueberry picking is being promoted over the next several weekends in an attempt to sell blueberries that will otherwise go bad.
"Right now on top of all of the health concerns over COVID-19, Mexican berries have absolutely flooded the market so that made a huge drop with the price," Sarah Albritton said.
Albritton said it is the peak of the growing season for blueberries.
Usually by this time the farm would have moved 170,000 pounds of blueberries.
Instead, only 38,000 pounds of blueberries have been picked and shipped, leaving a lion's share of the farms profit exposed on the fields.
Starting Friday, Albritton Farms is promoting a public blueberry picking for $5 dollars per pound, around 50% cheaper than buying blueberries in the store.
For pickers concerned about social distancing, Albritton says, "I've been telling people to stay in your own row, there's enough acreage out here that everybody can stay completely distant without even seeing anybody."
Albritton Fruit Farms says separate tables have been setup for each group, blueberry buckets are being lined with plastic bags and are sanitized after each use and for the public picking, the farm will only accept credit cards to avoid the spread of germs on cash.
Albritton Farms in Sarasota is open for picking from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and every weekend after that through the end of May.