Panel: Pandemic has tested the food system
ByChing Lee Despitepressures fromapandemic that tested the nation’s ability to feed people, the U.S. food-supply chain has shown it can be flexible and is resilient: That was a keymessage shared by three panel mem- bers who work in the food business and who spoke during a breakout session at the 2020 California FarmBureau Annual Meeting, held virtually this year due to COVID-19. Thepanelists,whorepresentedfoodpro- cessing, distribution and retail, discussed how the pandemic has affected their busi- nessesand the foodchainasawhole. They also shared tools they found tobe success- ful and that could help inform future ac- tions, including how farmers can bemore competitive ina post-COVID-19 era. Chelsea Minor, corporate director of public affairs for the supermarket chain Raley’s, which operates in Northern California and Nevada, acknowledged the retailer was caught “flat-footed” at the beginning of the pandemic, because it did not anticipate customers’ stockpil- ing. What “saved the day,” she said, was its relationships with local producers of meat and freshproduce, whowere able to “make significant shifts” inhowtheydeliv- ered products. “Our food system is so resilient—and I Farm Bureau delegates meet in virtual session ByKevinHecteman The uniqueness of the House of Delegates session at the 102nd California Farm Bureau Annual Meet ing can be summed up in President Jamie Johansson’s voting instructions. “All those in favor,” he said, “please un- mute yourself and say, ‘Aye.’” For the first time in Farm Bureau history, delegates representing county Farm Bureaus assembled via videocon- ference, a move made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. FarmBureau’s three statewide elected officers—Johansson, First Vice President Shannon Douglass and Second Vice President Shaun Crook—and several staff members took part fromthe FarmBureau building in Sacramento, with delegates at theirhomesorcountyFarmBureauoffices. Given the pandemic’s effects on travel and gathering, the FarmBureau Board of Directors had recommended that dele- gates tablepolicydiscussionsuntil 2021— and delegates subsequently passed amo- tion not to take up any recommendations this year. Policy recommendations with holdswill goback through thepolicymak-
don’t even think we knew how resilient it was until we got here,” she said. As the CEO of Gold Star Foods, which provides school meals nationally, Sean Leer said his “primary focus” was adapt- ing his business for emergency feeding programs. The company provides meals toabout 18%of theU.S. school-lunchpop-
ulation, or about 6.5 millionmeals a day, with two of its distribution centers in San Bernardino and Solano counties. He not- edhowthe company’s entire supply chain had to pivot immediately from serving in lunchrooms to curbside distribution. As schoolsmoved away fromsaladbars and bulk foods, Leer noted how produce
suppliers were able to “unitize individ- ually wrapped items, whether it be car- rots, cucumber coins—all sourced from California.” School districts were able to put together grocery boxes and provide families multiplemeals at a time through
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December 16, 2020 Ag Alert 3
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