Rapid Innovation Is One Side Effect Of Covid-19
A photo of a kale plant that is just starting to pop up after a couple of weeks of cold spring weather. Planting my garden from seed this spring has also made me think a lot about the resiliency that seeds need to withstand the crazy weather in the midwest of the U.S.
One of the topics that has taken over a lot of my mind-share these days is resiliency. If you do a quick search for the definition it pops up “as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.” I agree with a nuanced version of this definition where “recover” becomes “adapt.” Right now none of us are recovering from the shock that a global pandemic has placed on our system, but we are all adapting. This is true for individuals, communities and our global agri-food system.
Everyday there is a new headline about restaurants trying new ways to stay in business or policies temporarily changing to allow innovative ideas to flourish. The old adage, “necessity is the mother of invention” is unfolding before our eyes. New ideas and out of the box thinking is what is needed right now, and people are stepping up to the plate. The following are just a handful of examples of news articles, initiatives or policies that I have celebrated these past couple of days. It is amazing what a resilient mindset can come up with rather than just accepting defeat. I acknowledge that it is extremely difficult to pivot so fast and that the outcome of this time will likely mean a spike in world hunger alongside a lot of financial hardship for many, but there are also some promising changes happening.
SNAP Goes Online: Before the Covid-19 outbreak there were already a small number of states that were on a pilot program for purchasing online groceries through SNAP. SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally known as food stamps. This was initially a small pilot that only included a handful of states and was scheduled for a slow roll-out. With Covid-19 cases spreading and the need to provide an online grocery option to the at-risk population, this small pilot has grown in size. There is still a lot more to do to help make this pilot more widespread but even over the past couple of days more states have joined the online SNAP program. A small pilot that has turned heads and is rapidly scaling is a win.
Restaurants Turn Retailers: One of the ways that restaurants are trying to stay afloat is by selling products other than just prepared meals. In addition to selling takeout meals, some restaurants are turning to selling produce or other food that they had in stock and acting as supermarkets. With normal FDA food labeling laws this wouldn’t be allowed, but a recent temporary flexibility in nutrition labeling has allowed these restaurants to adapt and serve customers in a different way. In addition to these changes some restaurants are also serving the community through feeding healthcare workers on the frontlines.
Some Small Scale Producers are Booming: There are a number of small-scale vegetable farms that have had booming sales of CSA shares and online orders over the past couple of weeks. Farms that were already doing online sales, or had the ability to quickly adapt are flourishing right now. It’s believed that more people are buying into the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model because they are realizing the potential fragility of the large scale commodity food system, as well as wanting ways to get their produce without going to the grocery store. This has meant a huge uptick in CSA signups! While this is great news, there are still a lot of small farms that are struggling if they were primarily supplying high end goods to restaurants or farm to school programs. Even though it has been a mixed bag of impact for small farms, it is exciting to see more individuals signing up for CSA shares and investing in our local food system.
I am encouraged to see new ideas and quick adoption of certain programs in our agri-food system in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Many of the stories that I have been reading point to the resiliency of humanity and the amazing ability for people to pivot when times are tough.
Photo of produce from a farmers market last season. Due to Covid-19 there has been an increased number of individuals and families supporting their local food system by buying into the CSA model of farming.