How to sustain a produce industry lifeline

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new normal to every sector of business and cannot be ignored. 

That’s especially true when it comes to our nation’s critical food supply chain. You only have to look at empty grocery shelves around the country to realize that the coronavirus crisis is putting a new twist on our shopping habits. 

The produce industry found itself navigating uncharted waters as restaurants, bars, hotels and schools shuttered across the country. With each additional closure, it was clear that all segments of the produce supply chain would face disruption; especially local and regional growers and shippers. 

Even though many restaurants continue to operate via dine-out and curbside options, the volume that had been sustaining the food supply chain only weeks earlier has all but vanished. Within days, food service distributors lost 50 to 90 percent of their business — a loss they did not see coming when a robust 2020 began.

Challenging times, however, generate out-of-the box and rapid-fire planning. Quickly creating an inventive strategy amid a pandemic has been essential. Clearly, it is just as vital today to keep supply lines open and distributors and growers working in order to keep industry functional and ensure these businesses can pay their bills and feed their families.

One important factor that saved revenue numbers from absolute free fall was a rapid pivot from business-to-business to business-to-consumer. Customers who once enjoyed produce in restaurants, have had to satisfy this demand in their homes. Nationally, many food service suppliers have implemented curbside deliveries, drive-thru markets and pick-ups at warehouses or central locations. E-commerce sites have been created to make online ordering and payment easy. 

Even as grocers remain steadily busy, some segments of the industry still have to cut hours or make layoffs. These employees haven’t gotten their unemployment benefits yet, and so far, many small businesses are still waiting for the new heavily in demand emergency loans from the Small Business Administration.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on March 27, created a $9.5 billion disaster relief program. This will be a lifeline for many food producers impacted by the coronavirus, but funding needs to happen quickly in order to prevent serious long-lasting impact to this country’s agricultural supply chain, especially for smaller growers and producers.

For Americans to feel more secure during this challenging time, Congress needs to nourish the health and strength of every segment of the agricultural supply chain from specialty crop growers to distributors, management companies, restaurants and other food outlets across the country. 

As Congress begins to develop new legislation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to ensure it touches on the need for agricultural workers to have personal protective equipment (PPE), that it is prepared to meet regional food supply needs with more financial assistance, and that it provides economic security for those in agriculture to feed and support themselves, their children and their families.

Weeks ago, as they do every spring, farmers began planting food for schools, hotels and businesses. These usual outlets for their products are currently shuttered, causing farmers to dump and destroy millions of pounds of produce. All customers — including those abroad — are struggling, making exports complicated. While avenues to prevent massive food waste have been somewhat successful, the costs of harvesting, processing and transporting produce to food banks puts even more financial burden on farms. Yet, farmers keep planting, hoping by the time the current crop grows, the pandemic will ease. If not, more food will be destroyed. 

We don’t want that to happen, and neither do Americans who are eager to have their lives as back to normal as possible and worry less about their food supply. An agricultural roadmap to maneuver the future is desperately needed. 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) just announced a plan to spend nearly $2 billion to purchase agricultural commodities to help get surpluses to food banks. That could provide swift stability to impacted fresh produce growers and many distributors during the entirety of this unprecedented health emergency and beyond. If this is rolled out quickly enough, it will prevent many farmers from having to go out of business.  

The entire industry is collaborating to establish short-term solutions to stem the massive bleeding that is the result of the shutdown of ordinary course market activity during our current health crisis.

All efforts are meaningful and can have long-term positive results if we have innovative, solid strategies and swift legislation leading us to longer term solutions, led by Congress. What we develop during this complex time for our country’s food supply can guide us into a brighter and more secure future.

Melissa Ackerman is the president of Produce Alliance, LLC of Chicago, a family-owned produce company. Along with their charity arm, The Produce Alliance Foundation and their 70 plus distributors have delivered thousands of produce boxes over the past three weeks to frontline responders as part of Produce Box Project: Nourish Our Frontlines keeping the supply chains moving during this crisis.