{"id":51919,"date":"2020-08-27T12:59:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T18:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/residents-rally-in-support-of-grocery-stores-free-choice-mask-policy\/"},"modified":"2020-08-27T18:59:08","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T18:59:08","slug":"residents-rally-in-support-of-grocery-stores-free-choice-mask-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/residents-rally-in-support-of-grocery-stores-free-choice-mask-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents rally in support of grocery store\u2019s free-choice mask policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Community
Community members rally Saturday in front of Farmers Fresh market in Ignacio to show support for the store\u2019s decision not to require customers to wear face masks, in defiance of public health orders.<\/span>Courtesy of Elaine Nobriga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Farmers Fresh Market supporters rallied outside the Ignacio grocery store Saturday in a show of support for the store\u2019s free-choice mask-wearing policies.<\/p>\n

The store has received a legal warning from La Plata County authorities for flouting the state\u2019s mandatory mask order. Gov. Jared Polis issued the executive order in July to help reduce coronavirus transmission. On Saturday, community members weighed in with a vote of support for Farmers Fresh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very, very thankful for it. I think now is the time to make your voice heard one way or another,\u201d said Amos Lee, the store\u2019s general manager.<\/p>\n

Farmers Fresh is one of the only full-service grocery stores in the area, drawing customers from all around eastern La Plata County. In more normal times, it has a community feel, sourcing food as locally as possible, providing free water to community members and carrying the state\u2019s food assistance program, Double Up Food Bucks. The store also provides masks for people who want to wear them.<\/p>\n

But Farmers Fresh continues to violate a public health order intended to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. It received a warning letter for \u201cfailure to wear required face coverings about the mouth and nose, either by management, staff or the public during indoor operations\u201d in July.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s after multiple notices from county, law enforcement and public health authorities, and 14 complaints from the public.<\/p>\n

The warning letter listed five possible consequences for failure to comply, including possibly closing the store, misdemeanor charges or suspending its license.<\/p>\n

\"Community
Community members rally Saturday in front of Farmers Fresh market in Ignacio to show support for the store&#x2019;s decision not to require customers to wear face masks, in defiance of public health orders.<\/span>Courtesy of Elaine Nobriga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

More than 40 people joined the rally Saturday, carrying signs and cheering when passing drivers honked or gave a sign of support. They plan to hold another rally this coming Saturday, Lee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople feel like freedoms are being infringed upon. It\u2019s not something that is optional or suggested. It\u2019s top-down mandated,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

But the store\u2019s compliance issues have been a source of tension in the community \u2013 while many support Farmers Fresh, not everyone feels comfortable about its policies.<\/p>\n

The rally came after a Board of Trustees meeting Aug. 17 in which the majority of speakers supported the store. Of the first 15 speakers during a public comment period, 13 supported Farmers Fresh, one supported the requirement and one asked a general question. Town staff members said the trend held true for most speakers during the hourlong public comment session.<\/p>\n

Most people said a mask requirement is an infringement on rights, and people should have a choice and questioned the constitutionality of the governor\u2019s order.<\/p>\n

\"Community
Community members rally Saturday in front of Farmers Fresh market in Ignacio to show support for the store&#x2019;s decision not to require customers to wear face masks, in defiance of public health orders.<\/span>Courtesy of Elaine Nobriga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Julie Eisenmann, who lives near town, supported the mask requirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that they have chosen to do this, but it\u2019s the store\u2019s choice,\u201d Eisenmann said. \u201cYou guys (town trustees) should be applauded for standing up for what\u2019s right and what you have sworn to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Durango Herald<\/em>, Ron Schermacher, who works in Ignacio, said he is a loyal customer and a supporter of the store, but he does not agree with its mask policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone got along before they decided to willfully defy this order,\u201d Schermacher said. \u201cIf they (rally attendees) want to support the store, they should wear a mask to make sure the authorities don\u2019t close it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: An earlier version of this story erred in saying Ron Schermacher stopped shopping at Farmers Fresh.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farmers Fresh has been threatened with legal action<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,685,1235,52,107,29,4259,668,686],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-51919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-ignacio","tag-law-enforcement","tag-laws","tag-newsletter","tag-newsletter-sign-up","tag-public-health","tag-san-juan-basin-health-department"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51919"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=51919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}