Both the fortnightly Saturday Bellingen Growers Market and the weekly Wednesday Bellingen Farmers and Producers Market went ahead last week with social distancing measures in place.

However, the Wednesday market, held in a highly visible new location on Hyde St at the old Carl Foster garage site, drew negative comments on social media, with sightings reported of people standing too close to each other as they stopped for a chat.

However, this is not the main reason that Louise Hensby has decided to suspend the Bellingen Farmers and Producers Market.

The local supply of fresh produce is not as robust as it would normally be at this time of year due to the combined impact of drought, fire and flood, she explained.

And the option of moving the market itself online, as a collective entity, is economically impractical, as many of the local farmers are already selling online and having trouble keeping up with the surge in demand.

"We have decided to postpone the market for the next four weeks at this stage," Louise said. "For now, we are not able to go online as most of our fresh food producers have online retail outlets and a few other retail outlets to sell to."

She continues to encourage people to buy local at every possible opportunity.

"When we do come back from this, our farmers and all small businesses will need us as much as we'll need them," Louise said.

She urges people support the following producers:

Homegrown Organics - Masters of Fresh - https://mastersoffresh.com.au

Paradise Mushrooms "They are doing home deliveries of mushrooms https://paradise-mushrooms.square.site but get in quickly as they are selling fast!"

Eungai Creek Buffalo Farm "Go for a drive and support them. They can do take away meals from their fabulous farm cafe, buy their buffalo meat and dairy products too, and tubs of buffalo gelato!" http://eungaicreekbuffalo.com.au

Bellingen Smokehouse - www.bellingensmokehouse.com.au "Fabulous locally made smoked trout and salmon."

Bellingen Pasta "Fresh, locally made and handcrafted pasta made from quality local ingredients - www.bellingenpasta.org they are now doing home deliveries."

Hux's seafood "Store located in Coffs Harbour, also going to the service station in Bellingen weekly Friday afternoons between 2-5pm or call 6652 9294."

Gracemere Farmstead - www.gracemerefarmstead.com.au

Good Life Beef - https://goodlifebeef.com.au

Missing Field Organics "Local organically grown seedlings by Maxime (found outside Kombu Wholefoods)"

Kombu Wholefoods - www.kombuwholefoods.com.au and Bello Food Box - www.bellofoodbox.com.au

The Bellingen Growers Market held fortnightly at the showground is also considering its options given the current supply conditions and the ever-tightening restrictions.

It ran on Saturday March 28, and was a much quieter affair than usual, with organic produce in pre-packaged bags for $25 and $50.

The committee is due to meet on Thursday to vote on whether to continue operating.