For more than half a century Americans have taken our food supply for granted thanks to the phenomenal achievements and advances farmers, food makers, distributors and grocery retailers have made since the end of World War II. The success of our supply chain from the farm to the kitchen table is arguably the least of all the celebrated “American Miracles.” How successful is it? It’s so successful that Americans simply assume that nearly anything they want to buy will be available at the grocery store whenever they want to buy it.
Until now, that is.
The COVID-19 pandemic is questioning this assumption and shining a bright spotlight on just how critical food and farming and the supply chain are to our nation. Panic buying, hoarding and the shock and anger at not being able to get toilet paper — which many people don’t realize comes from trees that are grown and harvested — fresh, frozen and canned vegetables, meats and other foods at the grocery store are reminding American consumers on a daily basis that what they’ve assumed for decades — that if I want it, it will be there — is melting into thin air, at least in their perceptions.
Our food supply chain though, led by farmers and farm workers, on through to those workers stocking the shelves at grocery stores, is strong and robust, although it’s not unbreakable. There is no shortage of food in our country right now, albeit for those shortages being created by consumers who are panic buying and hoarding. We need to keep it this way. Therefore, consumers must play their part and stop panic buying and hoarding.
The federal Coronavirus Task-Force has specifically deemed that the food supply chain from the farm to the grocery store is a “critical infrastructure industry,” and that workers in the sector have a special responsibility to maintain their normal work schedules. Americans too have a special responsibility, which is to support these workers and to calm down at the grocery store.
These critical and essential workers are doing just what the government is asking them to do. Visit a farm and you’ll see farmers are farming. Visit a food processing plant, warehouse, truck terminal or grocery store and you’ll see workers doing what they do daily but doing it in overdrive. This is our supply chain responding, despite the challenges and difficulties. There’s no “shelter in place” for the people who grow our food and bring it to our tables. You can’t farm, ship food to the grocery store or stock shelves from your home office, bedroom or living room. They’re on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, just as our health care and emergency response workers are.
Essential. Critical. These two words need to be part of our everyday vocabulary when we talk about food and farming during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. Without these workers everything as we know it will cease to exist.
We’re in uncharted waters, at least in our time, when it comes to COVID-19. Uncertainty is the new normal. But rest assured that farmers will keep producing food and those of us working in the food industry will keep getting it to consumers, barring a turn of events that frankly none of us wants to consider at this point in time.
Beyond the present crisis though, going forward we need to rethink our societal priorities, particularly when it comes to food and agriculture. Our food supply chain is critical and essential, both now and once we get through the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, according to the University of California, Davis, about 60% of California’s 400,000-plus agriculture workers are undocumented. Without them our crops will not get planted, picked, processed or shipped to the grocery store. In other words, these undocumented workers are critical and essential to our nation’s food supply, now and in the future. It’s time for Congress and President Trump to fix the broken immigration and guest worker visa system and address this reality. Farmers need farm workers and America needs to eat.
Then there’s irrigation water, particularly in California’s Central Valley, the largest food producing region in the country. California feeds not only the state but also the nation and the world. However, its farmers struggle year after year to get a sufficient allocation of water to grow the food consumers are now frustrated they can’t get at the store when they go shopping. Looking at the decades long debate over whether or not farmers deserve more irrigation water from where we sit today frankly looks pretty silly. Of course they should get more water. What’s more critical and essential today and in the future in California, continuing to ensure a steady supply of water for ornamental watering purposes or to prioritize it for growing food? Priorities. New rules.
As I visit farms and grocery stores during the COVID-19 crisis — I’ve severely reduced my visits to both though since the state of California put it’s “shelter in place” order in effect in late March — I’ve been impressed by the dedication workers are showing when it comes to making sure they’re doing all they can do and then some to keep Americans fed. They are taking their role as critical and essential members of society seriously, working overtime, dealing with stress, and putting their own safety second to ours. Americans should be proud of the people who grow and get their food to them.
My hope is we come out of the current crisis with a renewed view of our food supply and supply chain. Food and farming are critical and essential to American society, not just today but also after we get through the COVID-19 crisis.Â
For example, let’s start with no longer taking for granted the abundance of food our farmers grow. We waste 40% of all the food farmers produce in America. The majority of that waste comes not from the supply chain but rather from consumers throwing it away at home. If this statistic wasn’t alarming two months ago, it should be now.
Americans, particularly those who live in urban areas, also need to make an effort to better understand what farmers do. In pre-COVID-19 America it was easy to criticize them for using too many pesticides or too much water. But in the post-COVID-19 world people need to be more thoughtful about the role farmers play in their lives and in society. Critical and essential.
The COVID-19 pandemic is temporarily rewriting the rules of life in America. It’s also putting a strain on our supply chain from the farm to the grocery store. But our system is strong, robust and resilient. What’s needed is for consumers to also show some strength and resilience. We need to support and take care of the people who grow, process, distribute and retail our food in this difficult time. We also need to rethink our priorities in terms of food and farming once the COVID-19 crisis is over. There are few things in our society that are more critical than our food supply and the people who grow our food and get it to our kitchen tables.
MJDOA Magazine’s Farm-To-Fork columnist Victor Martino is the founder and CEO of Third Wave Strategies, a California-based strategic marketing and business development firm specializing in the food, grocery and agribusiness industries. You can contact him at: victormartino415@gmail.com
