Local Food Markets, Labor + Metrics Panelists Answer Audience Questions

About 280 registered for C-FARE’s latest webinar, Local Food Markets, Farm Labor and Metrics in a Time of Covid-19, which is reviewed here with a link to the full broadcast on the council’s YouTube channel.

Audience members posed more than two dozen questions and comments during the broadcast, only a few of which could be raised and addressed during the 50-minute program.

Here is a collection of unanswered questions that panelists responded to following the broadcast.

Q —I am wondering, could farmers’ markets help solve the food desert problem? Or are farmers’ markets more like for people with more income?

BEN — There is absolutely work that farmers markets can do to address food access and food deserts. Because of their relatively low costs, farmers markets can be an effective tool to provide fresh food in areas that may lack other sources. To be successful though, there needs to be community engagement, experienced market operators with the support/backing from municipalities and states. You might be interested in a recent article that was published in the UN Nutrition Journal, Food Environments: Where people meet the food system.

Q — Given current unemployment benefits, what would be the motivations for unemployed Americans to look for employment in the agricultural sector?

CESAR — Today’s farm wage conditions are different from the time when the farm sector was employing many undocumented workers who were paid low rates.  With increasing dependence on H2A that imposes adverse effect on wage rates (among other factors), farm wages have grown faster than non-farm wages in recent years. 

The gap between farm and non-farm wages is now narrower.  The H2A program’s emphasis on providing the necessary fringe benefits may now compel farm employers to offer the same to non-H2A workers. In the past, the farm sector seriously lagged in providing fringe benefits.

I co-wrote an article in Agricultural Finance Review on employer-provided health benefits that can help expound on this point.  Whether the improved farm compensation structure will be a better option than receiving unemployment benefits, this I have not really looked into, but I’m hoping farm employment is a better option.

Q — Where could I find a report showing the full list of the metrics that Lilian Brislen is referring to?

LILIAN — https://ftimetrics.localfoodeconomics.com.

Q — The shortage of foreign labour doesn't impact the agriculture industry across states evenly. Which states are influenced most and which state are influence least?

CESAR — This is correct.  States with more specialty crop production (fruits, vegetables, horticultural products) have such problems because these are the farm enterprises that are still heavily dependent on labor.  Looking at the states that are top users of the H2A program reinforces this. States such as Florida, California, Georgia, Washington, and North Carolina usually place in the top five for H2A users.

The states with more mechanized farm operations are less dependent on foreign labor.  Mechanization and farm size seem to be correlated as small farms cannot afford expensive farm mechanization.

[Audience suggestion] — If mapping Covid-19 projects alongside food system projects can help, this is a resource: https://kumu.io/DigLife/team-earth-pandemic-response. [From the site: “Team Earth hosts this map as an open resource for teams working across sectors on prevention, treatment, and mitigation of the current pandemic. Projects are invited to add their profile to the map. Team Earth supports projects and coherent strategic initiatives aimed at human and planetary health and resilience.”] #shortsupplychains #foodtopeople

Q — What is the ratio of H2A visa holders to estimated undocumented laborers in the agricultural sector?

CESAR — I do not have any recent estimate on the share of undocumented workers to total employment in the ag sector. The latest figure I gathered is the 2016 estimate given by the ERS in their Farm Labor fact sheet (48% of farm workers in 2016 had no work authorization).  If that ERS figure was based on the NASS estimate of total hired farm workers that I used for the plot I had in my presentation, H2A visas that year accounted for 18.70%.

Q — Ben, what congressional action are you suggesting? (Another audience member asked, Do we have examples of policy proposals at state or federal level to address these challenges?)

BEN — We would like to see 3 things:

• Grants for farmers and farmers market operators to cover increased costs associated with protecting farmers, farmers market staff and shoppers from COVID-19.

• Expand eligibility for the Paycheck Protection Program to all non-profit types under Internal Revenue Code 501(c). To date, only 501(c)3s have been eligible, but many market operators are other types.

• Improvement to CFAP to better account for the needs of direct-market farmers

Q — Lilian, do you plan to collect data from customers (e.g. using SNAP, WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program )?

LILIAN — Our metrics are designed for use by institutions or those involved in procurement for institutional dining (e.g. dining service providers), and are aimed at capturing the local ingredients purchased for meals. In short, no, we do not collect any customer data.

Q — I am wondering, could farmers’ markets help solve the food desert problem? Or are farmers’ markets more like for people with more income?

BEN — There is absolutely work that farmers markets can do to address food access and food deserts. Because of their relatively low costs, farmers markets can be an effective tool to provide fresh food in areas that may lack other sources. To be successful though, there needs to be community engagement, experienced market operators with the support/backing from municipalities and states. You might be interested in a recent article that was published in the UN Nutrition Journal, Food Environments: Where people meet the food system.

Q — For farmworkers are there provisions for better physical distancing both during the work day and in housing? Also what health care coverage do foreign and domestic farmworkers get?

CESAR — Yes, such provisions are being made.  In farm production, measures being implemented include entering temporary contracts with hotels to provide housing to H2A workers in an effort to promote social distancing. Food manufacturers implement risk assessment, contact tracing, plastic barriers between workers at close range, slower production speeds to enable social distancing on conveyor lines, access to face masks, education programs, and temperature checks.  Also, there is the cohort system where workers are organized in groups.  A worker reports for work and mingles only with a set group of co-workers for easy tracing of contacts if an outbreak arises. 

Many agribusinesses now offer medical care and paid sick leave for farmworkers who are infected with the virus. 

Q — Cesar, we look forward to your paper on COVID and farm labor. Have you seen Brad Barham's paper on farm labor? Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy (2020) volume 00, number 00, pp. 1–28.

CESAR — Thank you so much for your suggestion.  I definitely will look at Brad’s paper.  I am preparing an article for Choices on their special theme around farm labor during the pandemic period.