Monthly Archives: April 2020

By Farrah Lynn Ezzeddine I pulled on my surgical gloves, readjusted my face shield and took a deep breath. Waiting in a line facing me were unmasked seniors and young people. Their primary worry is not the coronavirus pandemic. Nor is it toilet paper. It’s food. Every Tuesday and Friday about 300 Bay Area families count on the Richmond Emergency Food …

By David Yaffe-Bellamy and Michael Corkery In Wisconsin and Ohio, farmers are dumping thousands of gallons of fresh milk into lagoons and manure pits. An Idaho farmer has dug huge ditches to bury 1 million pounds of onions. And in South Florida, a region that supplies much of the Eastern half of the United States with produce, tractors are crisscrossing bean and …

By Tom Karst The Packer’s Tom Karst visited April 6 with Scott Horsfall, CEO of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. Horsfall related how the staff of the LGMA has adapted to the shelter-at-home guidance in California related to the COVID-19. He also paid tribute to the grower community. “Growers are in the midst of this difficult time; they are …

By Adam Behsudi and Ryan McCrimmon The coronavirus pandemic is leading the food industry and regulators to change policies as they grapple with empty shelves, a glut of fresh produce and milk, and sudden shifts in consumer buying habits. The problem isn’t a shortage of food and commodities. If anything, food waste is becoming a bigger issue as traditionally big, …

By Liz Crampton Farmers who sell boxes of meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables directly to consumers are seeing a huge spike in orders as the coronavirus outbreak changes how people buy food. Food delivery businesses run by local farmers across the country are flourishing as people grow wary of making frequent trips to the grocery store and choosing to cook …