Struggling Farmers Turn Excess Milk Into Cheese And Yogurt For The Hungry

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, not only were the local communities devastated, but so were 80 percent of the country's crops. With the farmlands wiped cleaned, farmers seized the opportunity to start from scratch which not only resulted in increased crop production, but has helped create an economy less reliant on imports.

In Brazil, 45% of agriculturally viable land is owned by 1% of tenants. To combat this inequitable ratio, the Landless Workers’ Movement formed and took a stand for seizing lands that are "not fulfilling a productive or social use." The group successfully reclaimed an area known as Mario Lago and has since begun a reforestation process alongside agroforestry which has allowed for an increase in diversity of food produced. The farmers haven't stopped there, however. To sell their produce, they have implemented a system of turning the consumer into a co-producer thus ensuring economic stability.

Dubbed an agro-ecology center, Tahoe is embracing a different approach to food stability through teaching local residents how to grow food in alpine climates. By picking up food from local farmers and transporting their food to market in a fair and equitable way, the Tahoe Food Hub was born to create and grow a local food system.

Food hub projects are gaining momentum in Hawaii as a means to connect farmers with customers. The projects go against the narrative that produce should be sold to big-box supermarkets, and instead focuses on "allowing farmers to concentrate on farming and creating a seamless ordering system so consumers can order food online for delivery or availability at central pickup points."

By collaborating with other businesses, nonprofits, and institutions, food processing enterprises in Montana are expanding the local supply chain to keep food in the state. The Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center packages food for a local grower's co-op, which distribute Montana products to individuals, grocery stores, and restaurants. The Livingston Food Resource Center created its own partnerships by buying its food from Montana farmers to give to people experiencing economic hardship. These collaborations are reducing the costs for local food processing, which also cuts down on costs for customers.

Farmers in Bule, Ethiopia, are practicing agroforestry, a diverse cropping method that mimics natural ecosystems. A survey found a stunning average of 16 crop species, including 21 species of tree, on farms. The benefits of the practice are myriad: food security, improved soil health, carbon sequestration, diversified revenue streams, and new wildlife habitat, to name several. While the incentive to grow valuable monocultures can be high, many growers stick with agroforestry regardless.

Getting food from farm to table isn't as easy as one may think. This is especially true for smaller farms that have to transport their produce to larger distribution sites to see any sort of profit. One local farmer in the Catksills Mountains of upper New York, recognized this problem and ultimately built an "ad-hoc operation acting as both the marketing and distribution agent" for a multitude of farmers in the region. Despite the many challenges he's faced, he's even been able to charge the wholesale buyer the delivery and administrative costs versus the traditional method of charging the farmer.

In the U.S., a movement of Black farmers is trying to reclaim their legacy as agrarians. Only 1.7 percent of farms were run by Black farmers according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture. Black farmers are forming collectives, creating land trusts, creating conferences.

After restaurants closed due to COVID-19 and tariffs were implemented on exports to China, fishermen and women in the United States had to shift their business model to sell directly to consumers. For example, Get Hooked, a subscription-based community-supported fishery in California that delivers daily catches to customers, saw their business double after the pandemic hit. This new model allows home cooks to support local suppliers and explore new foods.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of the U.S. food supply chain, yet for indigenous led-operations there has been little interruption thanks to practices that rely on shorter supply chains that "work with local ecosystems, not against them." In Virginia, one farmer is using the lessons from this traditional knowledge to create a small-scale farming collective.