The reliability of small farmers in a crisis

You may have seen the New York Times article “Dumped Milk, Smashed Eggs, Plowed Vegetables: Food Waste of the Pandemic”. I mean, how sad and confusing is this? 

One the one hand, we have supermarkets with empty shelves and people struggling to find food. On the other hand, we have farmers who are destroying perfectly good food. What a mess. What a waste.

The modern industrialized mega food industry is exposing its vulnerability to us. At the same time, small farmers are showing us their strength, resilience, and reliability. 

Small farm sales are increasing dramatically, and they are willfully rising to the challenge.

I have had a few conversations with farmer Aaron about this. My main question is, why is it that small farmers are reliable in a crisis? He came up with a few big reasons.

Small farms stock more inventory than supermarkets.

On our farm, there’s about six months worth of food for each customer. This is the business model. For example, small farmers typically process animals a few times per year, preparing for months of sales. 

If the crisis persists for months and months, you may not be able to have a consistent selection of products. But rest assured there will be quality food for you.

Supermarkets stock enough food for 3-7 days. That’s it. So, if any type of crisis hits that makes people stockpile or dismantles supply chains, the shelves will be empty.

Small farms can make changes and adapt quickly.

Our farm has a small staff. Farmer Aaron has a personal relationship with everyone. It’s fairly easy for him to have meetings, weigh everyone’s input, and make and implement necessary changes. 

He can easily and quickly hire new people. He can increase the efficiency of the way he processes orders. He can quickly implement new policies and oversee their effectiveness. Basically, whatever is needed NOW, Aaron makes happen ASAP.

This is not the case for mega food suppliers who source from many farms. Even with the best intentions, when working on this large of a scale, it can be challenging to gather input and make any changes… especially quick ones. It’s a complex system.

Small farms have fewer employees, making it much easier to contain disease.

With fewer employees, it’s much easier to keep the farm sanitized and maintain space between employees. There are less people sharing a bathroom and workspace. And, if someone does fall ill, it’s easier to properly sanitize and find a temporary replacement.

With the large scale food industry, if one person tests positive for COVID-19, well there goes the whole warehouse or the whole processing plant. Hundreds of employees disappear. Thousands of pounds of food gets backlogged or destroyed.

Small farms have simplified and reliable delivery chains.

This is especially true for farms doing direct sales to customers. They avoid warehouses and supermarkets. They ship food or have private drivers that bring food directly from the farm to the customer.

The same cannot be said for industrialized food. Who knows how and where the food is processed and travels to get to your home!

This is the most important one - small farms have dedicated and loyal employees. 

Our farm employs folks who are passionate and caring about the work they do. In this crisis, I know our employees feel a bit like heroes, providing healthful food in a time when people need it most. 

I mean, there are meaningful reasons our employees feel this way. We have a caring and respectful boss. We have excellent working conditions and mindset. And, we have a common mission.

There are some large warehouses or processors or delivery chains that are currently shut down. And some small businesses, too. Not because the government said so but because employees are refusing to or are afraid to work. To me, that shows a level of distrust and ambivalence toward their job.

Miller’s Biodiversity Farm is here for you.

Farmer Aaron and all of his staff are doing everything they can to respond to increased order volume while maintaining a gold standard for product quality, freshness, and customer service. Yes, it may get a little messy in a crisis, but we are here and we are reliable. 

Thanks so much for your support!