The New Normal in California #5: Fixing the Broken Food Supply Chain

California Groundbreakers

In this episode, we’re taking a look at California’s food supply chain – how it’s under stress, and even breaking, because of the coronavirus crisis. We’re talking with a couple of people who are literally “in the field” and seeing how pandemic-induced glitches in the food supply chain are playing out. First is Evan Wiig, communications director for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, which is helping California’s small farms get through the pandemic by matchmaking them with food banks, school districts and other food hubs that need supplies. In the second half, we talk with Dave Daley, chair of California Cattle Council, a fifth-generation cattle rancher, and a just-retired professor of animal sciences at Chico State, about the meatpacking-plants shutdown, why he supports President Trump ordering them to stay open, and how this will play out in the butcher shop and the supermarket. PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY Part One: Evan Wiig * 0 to 5:30 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and why we're doing this episode * 5:30 min - What's literally going on in the ag fields right now * 8:40 min - Why it's not so easy for farmers to pivot from their original clients to new ones * 13:55 min - Federal and state aid to farmers -- who gets it, and will it be enough? * 22:20 min - Community-supported Agriculture (CSA) is doing gangbusters right now -- will it last? * 28:15 min - Matchmaking farmers with food banks and other big hubs that need their food now * 32:45 min - The future of farming, for better and for worse * 37:30 min - How can Californians help farmers out in the New Normal Part Two: Dave Daley * 42:45 min - The steps in the supply chain of raising a cow from birth to grocery-store product * 48:50 min - What happens when there's too many cows, and few to no places to send them to? * 51:30 min - How will the current situation shake out the cattle industry -- and beef/dairy prices at the supermarket? * 54:20 min - Was President Trump right in using the Defense Production Act to keep meatpacking plants open? * 57:50 min - Dealing with the other New Normals: wildfire season and the rise of Impossible Burgers and other "fake meats" * 1 hr, 1:10 min - The best cut of meat to put on the BBQ for dinner