U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.
So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan.
Nearly half of the nation’s approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.
This is complicated and it’s hard to summarize, but here’s what I think we all should do:
- Support small farms by shopping at farmer’s markets and/or buying direct. I know it’s not always easy to pay the (sometimes) higher cost but know that your money is going to families and fair wages, not corporations. Small farms often do depend on illegal workers but the more you buy from them the better the chance they’ll be able to cover their absence or even get them on visas. And - pro tip - there are ways to reduce the costs**
- Wherever possible, plant your own gardens. Do this collectively to maximize yield for any one individual’s effort. Take over unused urban spaces and or find or found community gardens if you don’t have space.
- Let the leopards feast
** 1. Buying direct means a shorter supply chain and thus much fresher produce which is nutritionally denser and lasts longer 2. Buy only what’s in season and what farms have more of - they will usually discount 3. Make friends with farms and/or volunteer some time and you will be blessed with free veggies 4. Go right at the end of market and ask for anything vendors want to get rid of - there are almost always things that won’t keep and which they’ll sell for much less or even give away.
Buy only what’s in season
That gets a lot easier the further south you happen to be.
Not a lot of locally grown fruit and veggies in season for the next 6 months up here in the snowing latitudes.
Not a lot of locally grown fruit and veggies in season for the next 6 months up here in the snowing latitudes.
Oh how we’ve lost touch with our food :(
Root vegetables and winter squash are available all winter. Carrots will store for a year. Butternut and similar squashes almost as long. Beets, onions, cabbage… Potatoes less so but still 6-9 months or longer. Right at this moment I’m eating some very fresh blackberries that freeze perfectly along with some pears that I picked over a month ago and which will last probably until January. Later today I’m going to make a nice stew using some canned tomatoes, frozen garlic scapes and a bunch of other random things none of which were harvested recently.
Cole crops will grow pretty well even in weather well below freezing - e.g. kale, turnips, cabbage, etc. A good frost cover (remay/agribon/old blanket) will help greatly.
Carrots will store for a year. Butternut and similar squashes almost as long. Beets, onions, cabbage… Potatoes less so but still 6-9 months or longer
Obviously, but that’s not fresh, in-season fruit and vegatables, which is what I was specifically addressing.
