After a stressful several months and a lot of time in our homes, many of us have cabin fever. At the same time, many are still cautious about nonessential travel right now, especially for those who may be at higher risk of complications related to Covid-19. However, if you are one of those people just itching to head out on summer vacation, you are not alone.
For those of you planning summer travel, we want to share how you can continue your partnership with Farmers To You and our small family farms and producers. This will help us all prevent an unintentional unraveling of our healthy food system.
We don’t mean to sound dramatic. A recent national survey report, conducted in May 2020 by ResourcED, reminded us there is a lot at stake. ResourcED is a project of Chef Dan Barber and his colleagues and their survey found that a third of small, independent farmers will go bankrupt this year. Mostly that is because they lost the demand and revenue from closed restaurants, schools and farmers markets. And while farmers markets and restaurants are reopening, people are still reluctant to go out.
Your partnership with Farmers To You and our small farmers and producers and your food decisions have made a tremendous difference to these family farms and food producers. Your increased desire for their food replaced the business farmers lost due to the pandemic and you received healthy, clean and safe food. What a win-win!
Now back to your summer vacation. Our concern is that if too many customers stop their orders this summer for vacation, our farmer partners won’t have a place to sell their food. Their significant investments that we specifically asked them to make to meet your demand, will put them at financial risk. Plus, the next time we need the food after summer vacations, it may not be there. In some cases, the farmers may not be there.
Right now, Farmers To You farmers and other small producers are feeding more than 1,200 families each week. It is wonderful and we are grateful to them and to you. We’d like to make sure we maintain our farmer partners’ capacity to feed us well into the future.
This is where you come in. Born out of our commitment to each other – as customer-families, Farmers To You, and farm families – we have a solution! Please consider the following as you make your summer plans:
- If you go on vacation, please stock up on Farmers To You food to take with you. When you return home, please get right back in touch with us with your regular, consistent ordering from our farm partners. A great way to manage your order while on vacation is to use our suspend option on the Manage My Order page.
- We are working hard to meet new demand but we still have far too many people on our waiting list. If you choose to change your long term purchasing plans, please let us know. We’d like to offer your spot to someone else who is eagerly awaiting the healthy, delicious food.
- If you are lucky enough to support your local farmers market, grow a garden or participate in a CSA, we are happy about that! Please consider how Farmers To You can supplement what you need and eat, rather than going to the supermarket.
- Consider making a donation if suspending your order. We offer the option to suspend your order at any time and for any length of time. When you donate you are helping our overall system to flourish!
- Oh, and please continue your efforts to cook and bake with your family. Vacations are a great time for this. This creates fun and healthy habits, builds family cohesion and supports a community.
Thank you again for being thoughtful about your food choices and for helping us build a healthier food system. If you have any ideas, solutions, or thoughts for us, please don’t hesitate to share them.
Wishing you a delicious, healthy and restful summer.
Gratefully,
Greg
