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  • From: Bill Bradshaw <billbradshaw AT direcway.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Philadelphia Inquirer: The Most Pressing Problem with PA Farms: PA Farmers
  • Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 17:01:03 -0600

Dorene, this problem is not local to Pa. farmers. The same problem exist in some Texas areas. I have been trying to get our local farmers to make changes but no luck. They still want to do things like Grandpa did and it isn't working. Today is a different world. Change or go broke. TexasBill



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http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local2/10382947.htm

The most pressing problem with Pa. farms: Pa. farmers
State's growers are suspicious of change and mired in outmoded traditions.
By Mike Genuardi

In their Nov. 30 commentary, "Family farms, healthy foods," Dennis Wolff and Maria Magnelli van Hekken say that Pennsylvania needs to improve the infrastructure that connects its farmers with its consumers. They add that transportation and distribution problems "are significant hurdles that need to be addressed."

While I heartily agree with both statements, I approach the issue with a different point of view that I hope would offer some insight into the problem.

I was the director of produce operations for Genuardi Family Markets for four years (1994 through 1997), during which I dealt first-hand with the issue of locally grown produce. The real problem I saw was not the retailers' lack of support for locally grown produce, nor was it the consumers' lack of support in purchasing the product. Rather, the problem began at the farm level.

I had the opportunity to visit farms all over the country and found that the vast majority were modern, efficient, labor-sensitive and quality-driven operations. I further found them open to new technology and ideas to improve their profitability.

Sadly, I can not say the same about the farms I visited in Pennsylvania. Here, I mostly found farmers who were suspicious of change and steeped in traditions that led them to make the same mistakes year after year.

Most frustrating to me was their inability to get their product to market. It's one thing to grow a great crop of tomatoes, cauliflower or strawberries, but it's an entirely different matter to get them to the retailer/wholesaler. It was not my job to go out and find this product. I needed it to be brought to me. And not on a store-by-store basis, which would have been too much trouble.

As the authors suggested, Pennsylvania retailers who want to sell Pennsylvania produce need an effective distribution system of consistently high-quality produce - not hits and misses, which has been the track record for many Pennsylvania farmers.

If I was planning an ad and needed 2,000 cases of corn, I didn't have the time to contact numerous farmers to set up deals and make sure that they would deliver a quality product on time. It was a lot less difficult to buy the product from out of state, where distribution systems were set up that allowed the product to be delivered fresh and on time.

You don't have to look too far (New Jersey and the Delmarva peninsula) to see how farmers and their respective states have worked together to get their product to market. Forget throwing money at store-level point-of-sale signs, or retailers' ad budgets. What's important is to break down the barriers that prevent the product from getting from the farmer to the retailer/wholesaler.

This can be done, but not overnight. It will require farmers to change the way they farm, harvest, pack and ship. They will need to upgrade their equipment and infrastructure. The Pennsylvania Agriculture Department also must do a better job of bringing farmers together and helping them get their products to the retailer/wholesaler. Unfortunately, all this requires a lot of money, both from farmers who are probably up to their necks in debt and a state that is facing its own financial problems.

Retailers and wholesalers will buy fresh produce from Pennsylvania farmers, but it needs to be graded, processed, packaged and priced properly. The vast majority of the state's apple growers do this very well, and when I was produce director for Genuardi's, we supported them every year. But when a farmer tries to do things on the cheap, such as in packaging and grading, everyone loses. The retailer is turned off by the hassle, the consumer by the poor quality of the product, and ultimately the farmer by not getting a reorder on the product.

In Pennsylvania, about 700 family farms go under each year, which means that tens of thousands do not. Instead of focusing on failed farms, we should direct our attention to the survivors, analyze what they do best and see if their successes can be taught to other farmers.

Are they lucky or are they good? I suspect a little of both, but they're still standing and should be held up as examples to others.

Mike Genuardi is a vice president of the Genuardi Family Foundation and lives in Gwynedd Valley.


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