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channel,which is very complex, hadhada pretty significant breakdown and that, on topofmarkets closing, created a logistical challenge for getting our products from farmto table,” Sutton said. “Thenpeople’s buyinghabits changed; people limited the amount of times they went to the store, andthat change inbuyingbehaviorhadan impact onhowour produce flows through the system.” Adjustments were made throughout the distribution channel, and supplying retail markets is now working much bet- ter, Sutton said, adding that POVE had to shift produce originally intended for food service to go to retail outlets. California Grocers Association spokes- man Nate Rose said before the pandem- ic, grocery stores had been running very efficiently and keeping less inventory on hand—so when the pandemic hit and people started to stock up on items, bot-
tlenecks in the supply chain caused some delays.Ultimately, he said, theoverbuying slowed and shipments caught up. “AtThanksgiving,wewerea littlebit con- cernedaboutwhatwemight see, but there weren’ta lotofhiccups, andpartof thatwas due to the fact that the retailers sawit com- ingandweremorestrategicwithextrasup- plies at stores andwarehouses,” Rose said. In response to the pandemic, he saidhe anticipates grocery stores will refine the number of items they carry, limiting the variety of products available and keeping only inventory of higher-selling products. Restaurants have suffered during the pandemic, and Ross said she believes the impact “will be long felt.” She notedmany restaurants have increased take-out and delivery,whichhelped tomaintainsupply infrastructure. Ross said shebelieves peo- ple will continue to order more take-out anddelivery in the future—and said some restaurants incorporated service to food banks as anothermarketing channel. CaliforniaAssociationof FoodBanksdi- rector of communications Lauren Lathan Reidsaid foodbanks’ demandhas jumped since last year. “Our food banks to date are serving about double the amount of households that theywereprior to thepandemic,”Reid said. “We had about 5 million before the
pandemic andnowwe have about 10mil- lion food-insecure Californians.” During 2020, the association estimat- ed it distributed several hundredmillion pounds of food to people in need, includ- ing through its Farm to Family program, which obtains fresh produce from farm- ers to supplymore than40California food banks and pantries. “Our Farm to Family programhas been incredibly successful in working with California’s agricultural community to get farm products, particularly excess farm products, to food banks throughout the state,” Reid said. Related to vaccination distribution for farmemployees, Ross saidmore locations will open as vaccines become available, adding that the number of vaccines is in- creasing eachweek. Sutton said the SanLuisObispoCounty Farm Bureau, in partnership with the county, expects to vaccinate 500 agricul- tural employees at a clinic on Friday. “Being able to take that step releases a huge amount of pressure mentally, and I see that same thing inourworkers; there’s a little bit of relief in the air,” he said. “This isasignificant step in thepath torecovery.” (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
beenable tomaneuver,”hesaid, “but at the very early onset of this, we were just deal- ingwithanincredible factorofunknowns.” Sutton recalled visiting local grocery stores last year and seeing empty shelves: “I remember thinking, ‘I’vegot all thispro- duce ready to be harvested and sold, and the grocery store shelves are empty.’” Growers of winter vegetable crops were among those who experienced imme- diate losses when restaurants and other food-service outlets abruptly had to close. A report last June by Davis-based ERA Economics, commissioned by a coali- tion led by the California Farm Bureau, estimated pandemic-related losses to California farms, ranches and agricultur- al businesses would range between $5.9 billion and $8.6 billion. “We discovered that our distribution
Pandemic relief includes farm aid The $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief package known as the American Rescue Plan, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed last week by President Joe Biden, includes $22.7 billion in agriculture and nutrition provisions, with $10.4 billion specific to agriculture: • Food supply chain resiliency: $3.6 billion in funds for commodity purchases, grants and loans to processors, farmers markets, producers and organizations to implement measures to improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency and help support employee protection costs. • $300 million in animal monitoring and surveillance. • $100 million in overtime fee relief for small and very small federally inspected meat processors. • $5 billion in assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers. • $800 million for the Food for Peace program. • $500 million in rural development grants for rural health care. The law also extends a 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. It authorizes state and local governments to use funds received from the package for some infrastructure purposes, including broadband. The American Farm Bureau has produced a comprehensive update about the bill on its Market Intel blog at www.fb.org/market-intel. The entry is titled “What’s in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2020 for Agriculture?”
Prune study shows bone benefits A diet high in prunes completely pre- ventsbone lossassociatedwithspinal cord injurywhile also restoring a fractionof the bone lost after the injury, according to a new, peer-reviewed animal study. FranciscoVeteransAffairsMedicalCenter, Department of Veterans Affairs and the DepartmentofOrthopedicSurgery—show prunesmay be able to help.
Leslie Bonci, registered dietitian and consultant for the California Prune Board, said prunes are “particularly rich in bone-buildingmaterials.” “Not only does the fruit provide boron andmanganese but also Vitamin K—an- othernutrient that is fundamental forbone mineralization,” Bonci said. The study, published in the Journal of the Orthopedic Research Society , found prunes mitigate spinal cord injury-in- duced bone loss inmice. Researchers conducted two separate experiments. In a prevention experiment, they looked at dietary supplementation withprunes formitigating the loss of bone induced by spinal cord injury. Then, in a recovery experiment, they examined whether a prune diet could restore bone lost after spinal cord injury. “We are seeing an exciting ‘prune ef- fect’ on bones,” said Bernard Halloran, professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco. “In a variety of unique research scenarios, prunes are consistently associated with a favorable bone response.” The Prune Board said the new study builds on a growing body of research that shows a linkbetweenpositivebonehealth response andprunes inpost-menopausal women, along with research that shows a similar, favorable bone response among those exposed to radiation, such as astro- nauts in space.
Individuals who suffer spinal cord in- jury are prone to extremely rapid bone loss, which leads to a significant increase in the risk of fractures, osteoporosis and overall mortality. Results of the new animal study—conducted by the San
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14 Ag Alert March 17, 2021
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