Your pantry may be bare at home, and your grocery store shelves may be empty, but Florida farms are having the opposite problem. There are many Florida farms with too much produce and no place to sell it. But now, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is offering to solve both problems at once.
Florida Farm To You
The FDACS has set up a web page with options for growers, consumers (both businesses and individuals), and transportation services. Growers and transporters can submit their services, which are then listed and denoted on the map. Then, anyone wishing to buy can filter by types of produce and by county.
The Florida Farm Bureau has a similar set of lists, one for farms and one for farm stands. The lists have the names of the farms and stands, the addresses, the city, the county, and their social media handles. The Florida Farm Bureau’s website says, “consumers should also check Facebook pages for food availability at local farms and hours of retail operation. Please ensure FDA food safety and CDC social distancing guidelines are being followed when visiting.” (1, 2)
Pandemic Effects Push Farms Online
Honeyside Farms was ready to sell its produce starting in March as it usually did during its 10 years in operation. Then, Governor DeSantis shut down bars and restaurants. It was take-out only. The sales Honeyside usually made to these places–which comprised 80% of their overall take–dried up. “It was an immediate impact; there wasn’t much warning,” says Tiffany Bailey, the owner of Honeyside Farms. She’s managed to pivot the business to online sales and delivery, but it wasn’t easy. “That wasn’t really on our horizon several weeks ago,” Bailey explains. But it’s not all bad: “We’ve been able to quickly get sales online and funnel about half of our produce through these online sales, and they’ve been growing ever since.” Despite this growth, the farm will only make about 20% of their normal revenue. (3)
These Trucks Won’t Run
Long and Scott Farms has 400 acres, which mostly produce pickled cucumbers. Now, there’s nowhere for it to go. “You are looking at 3 to 4 million pounds of pickled cucumbers that we would normally be trucking to the East Coast and Midwest,” says Hank Scott, who runs the farm. The companies that would normally send these goods across the country have all halted service. Now, small family-owned farms are hoping that the $19 billion President Trump promised to farmers can help them. “We are going to see how the program works,” Scott says. “There are a lot of family businesses like us that need to be in business to survive.” (4)
“Agriculture is Struggling”
State agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, paints a grim culture. “Agriculture is struggling,” she says. “Everybody has seen those pictures in Florida, and across the country, of gallons of milk poured out, fruit and vegetables being plowed under because there are no workers and no places to deliver food.” We can only hope that the efforts of the Florida Farm Bureau and FDACS can help turn the tide. (5)
