Farm406

farm406 28 researchers at Northwestern University, food insecurity more than doubled as a result of the economic crisis brought on by the outbreak, hiing around 18% of Montana households in April and May of this year. As reported by Montana Public Radio, as many as 165,000 people in the state could go hungry this year. at's an estimated 56,000 more people than before the crisis. Montana Food Bank Network pantries are reporting a 20 - 30% increase in visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gayle Carlson, CEO of the Montana Food Bank Network said the supply chain for meat products became unreliable adding to the already existing problem of food insecurity. "We had real challenges geing meat into our food bank and a lot of that is even though the meat is cultivated here they have to ship it out of state for processing," said Gayle. Before the pandemic, the number of families experiencing food insecurity had been decreasing in Montana. But now, as economic instability and a health crisis takes over, many Montanans are looking into our not so distant past for ways to create a more resilient system that is able to handle future disruptions. Food security in Montana Food security, defined as having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food, is being tackled through a new initiative organized by the Montana Farmers Union (MFU) called Food Security for Us. e initiative has four main components: grow local, process local, buy local, eat local. Fiy years ago, Montana raised and processed 70 percent of the food Montanans ate. Today it raises and processes less than 10 percent of its food and most of the state's agricultural products are shipped 1,000 miles to large processing plants to be processed, packaged and then shipped back to be put on our local grocery shelves. MFU argues that American farm policy has encouraged large corporate farms and centralized processing facilities leading to a more rigid food supply system, unable to deal with shocks such as the ongoing pandemic. "It does not make sense that our local grocery stores were rationing dairy and meat products while family farms were being forced to dump milk and euthanize livestock," said Walter Schweitzer, President of MFU. "e farmer, consumer, grocer and restaurant owner are all feeling the effects of a broken food system." MFU members, Pam Gerwe and Mike Jopek own Purple Frog Gardens in Whitefish, Montana. Since 1991, they have been growing vegetables for a local market. Pam and Mike became aware of the possibilities of a pandemic in early 2020 and pivoted quickly knowing that there was going to be more demand for what they were growing. Stock Photo

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