By Rick Zimmerman, Executive Director
My daughter wants to get married this fall, and big plans have been made for the dream wedding. Then COVID-19 hit, throwing everything into turmoil and forcing tough decisions. The new rules for gatherings are not making things much easier, particularly when you have folks traveling interstate and internationally. But the wedding will go on and we are working hard to find the common ground amidst the confusion.
Common ground is defined by Webster as “a basis of interest or agreement” and when you think about it, there is not much common ground to be found these days. COVID-19 is not facilitating common ground. In fact, it seems that we are doing our darnedest to demonstrate how our country will survive this pandemic on uncommon ground. There is virtually no common ground in our national political scene these days, and there’s little common ground on the international trade scene. And there’s virtually no common ground between science-based evidence and federal public policy decisions. Yet our democracy was built around the need for and the ability to find common ground.
In agriculture, the challenge for common ground manifests itself on several fronts. The farmer/consumer interface has become quite complex, and common ground is proving to be elusive when it comes to agricultural practices. Further, the complexity of science in our industry complicates the farmer/consumer connection, particularly when a large percentage of the public does not understand the principles of science and its role in our society. Animal welfare, itself a complex topic, is intentionally conflicted by extreme animal rights organizations that don’t want common ground established until all human consumption of animals is eliminated. Then there is the growing challenge of farmers in close proximity to non-farm consumers. Their issues and priorities, within the same community, are increasingly divergent. In a region like the Northeast, farm profitability is often juxtaposed to finding common ground. Yet I think there is common ground within the wreckage of COVID-19; that being the common ground of food.
We continually tout proximity to markets as a competitive strength for our region. However, this fact hasn’t made much difference to our customers because the food supply chain has provided quality products from around the globe throughout the year. That is until the pandemic hit. Suddenly our urban neighbors were reminded how important it is to have a local food supply, and how nimble that local food supply chain can be in an emergency. The food give-away programs, which continue to this day, have been a godsend to the thousands of out of work that are unable to afford groceries. Programs like Nourish New York have made the connection between upstate and downstate, and have amplified the importance of this relationship. Our common ground of feeding people is an important platform on which we can talk about programs and policies that support and sustain a viable agricultural industry in the Northeast. Last fall, a delegation of leaders from the NYS Vegetable Growers Association, NY Farm Bureau, and the Northeast Dairy Producers Association blanketed four boroughs of New York City for a day of meetings with urban lawmakers in their district offices. Once the surprise of seeing farmers in Queens and the Bronx wore off, these state lawmakers were generous with their time discussing the issues of their districts and the common ground that they shared with upstate farmers.
We have the attention of law makers who know how important the local food connection is. Senator Jessica Ramos of Queens has been hosting a weekly food distribution program out of her district office since early April, and the lines have not slowed. She is particularly interested in having upstate farmers continue to supply her constituents with fresh, wholesome food, and that the district’s food supply chain, including food banks, keep a strong and engaged local food connection. Senator Ramos and the other lawmakers who helped fortify the upstate food connection during this pandemic will be very interested in policy issues impacting New York’s agriculture community moving forward.
My daughter’s wedding will be a beautiful event regardless of the rules and restrictions that are in place, because there is common ground between love, and the number of people that can attend a social gathering. Inevitably our democracy must find common ground to address the many issues plaguing our society. The food connection for Northeast farmers and urban lawmakers has been strengthened by COVID-19, fortifying ground that I hope remains common and valued for some time to come.