As several other posts on this blog have mentioned, the COVID-19 pandemic could have drastic consequences for the food supply chain given social distancing restrictions? But what about the workers this leaves in the lurch?

There are more than 2.4 million farmworkers across the United States and most of them are undocumented. Considered essential workers, but not given the same protections as others and without health insurance, agricultural laborers are at a high risk of catching the virus and have been having trouble obtaining personal protective equipment. 

A farmworker in Immokalee, Florida, waits aboard a crowded field bus for the pre-dawn drive to work on a local farm. Photo by Scott Robertson.

With over half a dozen cases in America’s “tomato capital,” and more on farms across the country, this will significantly limit some region’s ability to cultivate crops as workers will have a harder time recovering without health insurance and will likely be ostracized from work if they catch it.

It’s yet another example of how America, both politically and socially, is once again kicking migrants to the curb and turning a blind eye to foreseeable problems in favor of hoping things work out by continuing to exploit vulnerable populations. 

While dollars from the stimulus package are going to many affected workers, undocumented laborers are getting none of it and who knows how much will be spent on occupational safety, according to the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

Obviously the world food system is just that: a system. And when one step in that system is forced to sputter, things can go off the rails. So they’ll probably regret this decision of inaction when the supply of fruits and vegetables from these farms suddenly aren’t as plentiful as the fields are under-staffed and overworked. 

It’s good to see activists working on behalf of these silenced workers because otherwise this important story would once again not be told.

Urban farms such as the Red Hook Farms in Brooklyn, New York, have been organized in a way where it is cramped in order for its many farmers to be able to produce as much as possible. However, because of the coronavirus outbreak, many adjustments needed to be made in the farming industry.

Farms needed to adapt to these new changes, they began this shift by creating more distance between people and changing the types of crops they must grow. Prioritizing to grow only essential crops, which are not as labor intensive, and to shift away from restaurant crops, like microgreens and edible flowers. Instead, they are adjusting to producing calorie dense crops that are more for retail accounts such as grocery stores.

In order to be able to produce enough crops in time due to people struggling to find affordable produce amid the coronavirus, the farm had to move up their planting schedule to be able to harvest sooner. The farm also limited contact during pickup of food boxes because before the outbreak, they allowed people to pick out their produce from open boxes, so instead they have the boxes closed and delivered them to low traffic areas such as building lobbies or residents’ floors.

This article demonstrates the change of how the perception of farmers and what they do was undermined because now midst the coronavirus outbreak, the interest of what farmers do and what they truly contribute has grown dramatically. COVID-19 has changed our world substantially, and is effecting the workplace and the system of places like Red Hook Farms. Farms like this are doing everything they can to still provide for others while suffering with having few employees and a higher work load. Detroit’s grocery stores do not have a lot of affordable organic food/produce. The people should not just rely on grocery stores and government resources, but support local farms as well.

Original article: https://thefern.org/ag_insider/virus-is-changing-how-urban-farms-operate-and-even-what-they-grow/

With the increasing spread of COVID-19 necessitating widespread shutdowns to locations such as restaurants, schools, and theme parks. These closures have left produce growers scrambling to find new areas of demand for their products as the food supply chain comes under substantial disruption. 

The problem within the food supply chain it seems is that there is a growing need in food banks that is not being addressed for numerous reasons. These reasons include grocery stores being unable to donate any produce due to their shelves becoming bare in the wake of panic shopping in the wake of COVID-19. In a Guardian article talking about the disruption in the global food supply chain, produce growers expressed concern financially take the huge losses that come from harvesting, packaging, and shipping to food banks when they are already facing losses from being unable to sell their produce, leading these farmers to ask for the US Department of Agriculture to step in and buy up the produce to donate to food banks to avoid hurting the finances of farms. 

However, in that same article food suppliers like Brent Erenwart, CEO of Houston Cold Storage, a food supplier have mentioned that food banks are full noting that “the supply chain is the grocery stores seem to be pretty heavy on product, farmers are throwing away stuff, and food banks are full. We don’t know where the demand lies”. 

These contradictory situations highlight how broken down the food distribution system is within the United States as food banks that desperately need the products are unable to find donations due to people purchasing large quantities of foodstuffs with only themselves in mind and economic realities making it tough for farmers to help alleviate the financial burden that comes from planting, packaging and shipping new produce. Finally, even if those problems can be solved, it fails to answer how food banks suffering from shortages can get produce sent to them consistently and reliably.  

These problems likely require some government intervention whether that be buying produce from the farmers to give to food banks which could help alleviate the financial burden of these farmers or helping direct food distribution that allows for produce to go into the hands of food banks that are suffering from food shortages, it remains to be seen if the government will take these steps. Still, it is vital that problems with the food distribution system must be addressed. 

Boxes of food are set up for a drive-through food distribution run by Food Bank for the Heartland on March 16 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Photo Credit: Food Bank for the Heartland.

While sifting through headlines a few mornings ago I stumbled across an article entitled, “Wisconsin farmers forced to dump milk as coronavirus slams a fragile dairy economy” from USA Today. Prior to this, I had been hearing about food shortages and had failed to consider that there may be food going to waste. When discussing the effects of coronavirus, a farmer in Wisconsin said, “Everybody’s rushing to the grocery store to get food, and we have food that’s literally being dumped down the drain.” This is an issue that is seen across the board in our food industry as it struggles to adapt to changing demands. 

Consumer behavior has shifted and left our food system scrambling to meet demand in grocery stores while food meant for restaurants is going to waste. This is creating food shortages and driving up costs for consumers. I see many people focusing on short term fixes as we wait for things to go back to normal. In my opinion, now that we have witnessed this issue, we have no choice but to find the means to solve it. It is unclear how long this pandemic will last and we now know that our food system is not as resilient as we would like to think.

For now, I see solutions in restaurants that are offering produce boxes and selling their food deliveries in order to keep up demand for farms. Long term, it is my opinion that we need to see the government step in and help manage our food supply. If we want our system to come out of this intact, we should be donating food to low-income people, finding ways to distribute food that would otherwise go to waste and make sure that food remains affordable and accessible for all.

In a recent UN article, it was reported that so far the food supply and markets have been stable during the pandemic, and disruptions due to COVID-19 were minimal, but this could change for the worse very fast if anxiety-driven panic causes major food importers and bulk-buyers to begin ordering more products due to the fear of having a shortage.

This would lead to a disastrous situation where there would only be food available in areas these foods have been imported to, and not enough elsewhere, accelerating the issue of food insecurity globally during this pandemic. There is already a disproportionate impact on food security, as lower-income families are affected more, as more of their paychecks go into buying food. If panic-buying by major food importers ensue, this would drive up the prices of key foods such as wheat and grain products, and this would affect those that are already food insecure the most. The UN has reported that many developing countries, due to the fact that they are the most dependent on imports would be affected the most.

It is key that everyone has access to a healthy diet and food throughout the global fight against COVID-19, and one of the ways to mitigate that would be to no not panic-buy, starting at the importer level, but as individual consumers as well. We must all be mindful of each other and only buy what you need, so other people have the ability to have access to valuable resources as well. Maintaining a steady global food chain is a key focus during this pandemic, as a loss in this could prove to be catastrophic. We could all achieve this by not ensuing in panic buying or hoarding behavior!

Original Article: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1061032