Federal checks await some but not all local farmers [Bakersfield Californian]
Local farmers will get a chance starting Tuesday to apply for some of the $16 billion set aside by Congress to help agriculture operations hurt by the COVID-19 crisis. But growers of certain specialty crops produced locally won’t qualify unless federal rules change. … The head of the California Farm Bureau Federation trade group said Thursday he was told growers whose crops are ineligible under the new program will be allowed to apply for government assistance at a later stage. Bureau President Jamie Johansson described the USDA program as complicated and generally insufficient for compensating farmers for their losses.
Farmers eligible for federal coronavirus relief as markets prices fall [Chico Enterprise-Record]
As farmers across California struggle to make ends meet during the pandemic, federal aid is coming — but it may not help many break even this harvest season. … “It could potentially benefit most all of our farmers in the Sacramento Valley,” Butte County Farm Bureau Executive Director Colleen Cecil said. The question is whether they will be taking advantage of it and applying for those funds, she said. In addition, distribution of relief is different for every specialty crop and commodity.
During coronavirus, migrant workers must choose between paycheck or health [Los Angeles Times]
… As the coronavirus pandemic grows, Americans are increasingly relying on low-wage workers to harvest crops, provide medical care, deliver food and perform other essential jobs. Many of these workers are in the country illegally … Immigrant rights advocates and other critics say that the Trump administration has refused to help these workers directly in any significant way during the pandemic, leaving many without a financial safety net afforded to most Americans. … Currently, immigrants in the country illegally who live in California can apply for state disability insurance, paid family leave and workers compensation if they lose their job because they are sick or quarantined.
The pandemic could cause long-term damage to how we get our food [CNN]
… As states start letting restaurants and some other food-service businesses reopen, with varying restrictions, many in the industry fear the disruptions will continue. They worry that patchwork policies on reopening, new waves of coronavirus deaths, and renewed shutdowns will cause further, long-term damage at every link in that chain — from farmers who won’t put seeds in the ground to restaurants, cruise ships and other institutions that won’t serve that produce because they won’t reopen their doors.
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/05/business/coronavirus-food-supply-invs-cnnphotos/
Food banks get the love, but SNAP does more to fight hunger [NPR]
Food banks actually have two separate functions. They provide food to people who need it, but they also find new homes for food that might go to waste … This second job can be unwieldy and labor-intensive. Take, for example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new food bank donation program. … It means setting up a new and mostly unfamiliar supply chain. … The logistics of getting food to the right place at the right time is a challenge even in normal times. Throw in social distancing, volunteers worried about their safety, and a wave to potential donations from USDA-funded companies, and it gets downright daunting.
FDA says cows may have caused E. coli lettuce contamination [Associated Press]
Outbreaks of E. coli illness that sickened 188 people who ate romaine lettuce grown in California probably came from cattle grazing near the farms, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a report released Thursday. Feces from the cows, which contain the bacteria, is considered “the most likely contributing factor” to three outbreaks of food-borne illness traced to fields in the Salinas Valley, the report said. … Investigators concluded that the illness was centered on ranches and fields owned by the same grower and that were located downslope from public land where cattle grazed.
