Change For Change - New Co-op Farmer Fund
by Lisa Barclay, Board Secretary
One of the lessons we learned during the pandemic is just how fragile the global supply chain is. When you get your necessities—like food or toilet paper—from far away, you are helpless when the supply chain breaks down. We cannot do much about the toilet paper issue, except stockpile for the future, but we are extremely lucky to have many excellent local farmers who can provide us with fresh food in good times and bad, if we support them in return.
The pandemic has been hard on farmers, especially on the small family farmers who don’t have the clout and buying power of big agribusinesses. Material inputs have become much more expensive or not available at all. As just one example, finding the jars and lids in which to sell local goods like yogurt and jam now takes hours scouring the internet and then waiting to see if they will actually show up. Worker wages have been rising, which is a good thing, but it squeezes farmers in the middle, because they cannot raise their prices enough to cover the increased cost of wages. (Actually, the Co-op also feels these exact same kinds of pressures.) These rising costs mean that many of our farmers, even our most established farmers, are struggling.
One result is that we are going to have to pay higher prices for fresh local food (or any food, really). It seems unfair, because it could be argued that much of our current inflation is due to gouging by companies that amassed huge increases in their profits during the pandemic, while workers and farmers suffered. Still, if we want our farmers to be there when we need them, we have to pay the cost of the food they provide. We could, of course, just rely on big California growers who can produce more cheaply. But to be resilient and sustainable in an uncertain future, we cannot be dependent on food from two states away. (Not to mention that, in my experience at least, food traveling that far never tastes as good.)
Unfortunately, many people cannot afford to pay the cost of good food, or at least not all the time. The system is stacked against both the small farmer and the consumer. In a better world, we’d have a system that supported farms growing vegetables instead of subsidizing agribusinesses growing corn and soy for processed foods, damaging the environment and our health. In a better world, everyone would make enough money to buy good food whenever they chose.
In the meantime, what can we do, in addition to buying local whenever we can? One direct action we can take—that supports both our farmers and our neighbors—is to donate directly to local farms so they provide food to families with limited access to fresh food. Last year, several local organizations banded together to create the Olympic Peninsula Farmer Fund to pay farmers to supply food to the food banks and schools, but it was only temporary. Hopefully, they’ll start it up again, but in the meantime, you can always donate to the local farm of your choice (see below).
The Co-op, of course, will continue to do its best to thread this needle, to pay our farmers for their hard work and beautiful products, and at the same time do our best to make food affordable for those who need lower prices. As an example, our Co+op Basics program now has over 300 items in all sections of the store that are priced as low as we can make them. Look for the round, purple Co+Basics logos throughout the store.
We are a wonderful, resilient community. I know we’ll get through this latest crisis. Let’s make sure our farmers do too.
About the Program
Change for Change (previously RoundUP at the registers) is a program that allows our members the opportunity to round up the change of their purchase to the nearest dollar to support non-profits and co-ops that fit into our areas of community sharing.
Current Recipient - Co-op Farmer Fund
To support our local farms during these uncertain times, the Food Co-op is testing out a new program to collect donations for farms. You may round up or donate any dollar amount.
We’re starting with three vegetable farms—Midori, Finnriver, and Red Dog—and if it is successful, we hope to continue the program with new producers each quarter. You can donate any amount at the register over the next three months, and we’ll divide the total evenly between the three farms, which they will use to subsidize CSAs, donations to schools and the food bank, or similar programs.
NOTE: These donations are not tax deductible but investments in our community.
You can always write a check and mail it directly to a farm, and some farms are also set up to take PayPal or Venmo. Email them to ask for details or see them at the Farmers Market.
