As we approach Thanksgiving during the coronavirus pandemic, grocery stores are working to keep up with demand and keep shoppers and workers safe.
"It will be a very difficult year missing everyone, but I think we're doing the right thing," said Judith Harding of Weston, Massachusetts.
Many families are foregoing the large gatherings of the past.
"It's different, but times are tough, so we got to adjust," said Ara Margosian of Waltham.
No matter the size of the get-together, many are still getting ready for the holiday.
"Normally, everybody just comes inside, and the store's packed wall-to-wall with people," said Todd Heberlein, executive chef of Volante Farms in Needham. "You can barely move through."
But not this year. The market is limiting capacity to 28 shoppers at a time and is continuing with its safety precautions that have been in place since the beginning of the pandemic.
This season, they're finding that shoppers have been planning ahead with a large amount of pre-ordering.
More on Thanksgiving and the coronavirus pandemic
"I think because there's so much uncertainty on what to do, people don't want to get stuck at the last minute not having food, not being prepared," said Heberlein. "Plans are changing a lot."
That's exactly what Kendall Reynolds of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood was thinking. She's already wrapping up her Thanksgiving shopping list.
"We didn't know what to expect with the stores and COVID and how everybody's going to be doing their shopping, so we just wanted it out of the way as soon as possible," said Reynolds. "So we started maybe two and a half weeks ago."
