I would like to begin by thanking the chair and the committee for having this opportunity to speak.
My wife and I own a small mixed fruit and vegetable operation in Nova Scotia, which I have been farming for a little over three decades. We grow a mix of tree fruit and some berries, as well as many different types of vegetables. The bulk of our sales go to two separate public farmers' markets within the province. That has been the bulk of my business for my entire life.
When COVID hit a couple of months ago, both of the farmers' markets closed, and essentially I had to pivot and completely change my business model. What I did was I had a small community-supported agricultural online sales business, and I expanded that business substantially and moved the bulk of my business into online sales.
We noticed a massive increase in demand. It's been challenging, but we have been able to move all of our product. Although difficult, it has been, generally speaking, okay up until now at least. We have not yet entered the full season. It's only June. As we get into more production, we'll have to see what happens, but as it stands now, by pivoting the business and going to an online sales model, we essentially changed how we sell the products that we grow.