State programs connecting farmers to food banks are mutually beneficial

Pew Charitable Trusts’ Stateline reports on innovative strategies farmers have used in order to stay in business during the pandemic. Farmers who usually supply food to restaurants saw sudden drops in sales as the pandemic prompted shutdowns in the spring. At the same time that farmers were left with an excess of unsold food, food banks were seeing massive increases in demand. About a dozen states, including California, were poised to address both of these challenges through state programs that pay farmers to give surplus produce to food banks. Many farmers would have gone out of business if not for these state programs. #covid-19 #foodsecurity