ALFRED — Todd's Quality Tomatoes & Wholesale Produce in Sanford, FL, has lost its restaurant, school district and food service clients to covid19.
Rich Hoffman, a retired Professor of Agronomy at Alfred State, reads news stories about produce farmers plowing under their crops while food pantries struggle to meet increased demand and thinks, “How can we put them together?”
Hoffman thought he found the answer: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $19 billion coronavirus relief program, which sets aside $3 billion for the purchase and distribution of produce, dairy and meat. He contacted the office of Tom Reed, who represents New York’s 23rd Congressional District, to find out how to apply for those funds.
That was three weeks ago.
“Tom is supposed to be a problem solver,” Hoffman says, “but I haven’t gotten too far with his office.”
With former students working in food production, processing and distribution throughout Western New York, Hoffman has a built-in network for connecting dots. He found truckers willing to pick up orders in Florida and deliver them to food banks all over Western and Central New York.
He contacted Todd’s owner Dirk Miller after seeing a TV news story about a retail operation he opened in one of his warehouses. Miller is willing to package produce for shipping north. The USDA relief program seems tailor-made to pay for the food and trucking. But time is running out.
“Produce has short shelf life,” Hoffman says. “Food banks have the infrastructure to store it. If there’s money that can be used to supplement food pantries, that may be the way to go.” And if a refrigerated truck is going to Florida, why not send it down with products like yogurt and cottage cheese and help New York State dairy farmers, too?
Hoffman shared his story with Tracy Mitrano, a Democrat who is challenging Reed in this fall’s elections.
“Rich’s frustration is understandable. The lack of response from his representative in Congress is not,” says Mitrano. “But it’s typical of Reed, who seems less interested in his own district every year. It’s also sadly typical of the Trump Administration’s response to COVID-19, which has been plagued by delays, mixed messages and uneven distribution of federal resources.
“When large corporations applied for coronavirus relief funds last month, they got the money immediately,” Mitrano adds. “Meanwhile, many families have yet to receive their stimulus checks—and people are standing in mile-long lines for food while an abundant supply of milk is dumped, and fruit and vegetables rot in the sun.”
