How COVID-19 is Changing our Farming Landscape with Gretchen Schmidt

The audio is spotty in this interview, so I apologize for that, but I hope you enjoy! Also, please show your support, so I can keep this podcast alive by heading to https://anchor.fm/maria-tripodis/support

MT: Today we’ll be hearing from South Florida local food expert Gretchen Schmidt. I know we're all feeling the weight of this challenging time, so I felt that it was important for me to shift the focus of Seasonal’s release episode to account for the changes in our community and provide a resource that outlines how we can access our delicious local food products safely. In this interview, Gretchen and I will be chatting about why it's so important to support our local farmers and food vendors at a time like this and how this crisis actually has the capacity to change the way our communities eat for the better. So let's catch up with Gretchen and discover the best ways to take advantage of what our communities have to offer.

MT: Gretchen, thank you so much for joining us today, I'm so excited to have you on.

GS: Well, thanks for having me.

MT: Of course! Gretchen is the editor of Edible South Florida which is a magazine that I just love, and she’s basically the community’s point person for how to eat locally and I just wanted to say congratulations on your 10-year anniversary.

GS: Oh thanks so much.

MT: I thought it was a great issue. As I was trying to compile information for this segment, and I was kind of going online and trying to find resources and ask people, I figured I should just go straight to the source and speak with you just because your article on Edible South Florida’s website is just all encompassing of what I wanted to cover for this segment which is how south Florida residents can access local produce, and not only product but meat, but other food sources like meat, fish, honey, and stuff like that so I thought you’d be the best person to speak with.

GS: You know in the past month, we’ve spent a lot of effort trying to corral everything because everything changes every day and it's been really interesting when we get a chance to step back and look at this how farmers markets, artisans, and farmers have completely changed the logistics in their operations to get food to different people. They suddenly lost the restaurants, the food service sector, the institutions, the schools, all these huge clients and they had to do something and this has all been a massive exercise in logistics.

MT: Yeah and I know there’s such a need for it out there and there's such a huge interest just from what I've been posting on my social media accounts. I've been trying to just get the word out there and post whenever I have local produce or local meat or eggs that I’ve been getting and I’ve been receiving so much feedback and questions regarding where they can get local produce themselves, so that's why I had this idea in the first place to put together this resource and then I realized that you have already been doing this and you have so many connections in the community, so I mean I'm sure a lot of people right now not only do they need the produce but I think people just really want to help and support our local vendors but they just don’t really know how. I just want you to highlight the impact that this is having on our farmers as a whole and why it’s so crucial to be supporting them right now.

GS: Our season for growing like our winter season is starting to wind down but I think we need to realize that in South Florida alone, from October through May, we supply like a hundred fifty million people on the east coast of the United States. We've always been known as like the winter breadbasket. We supply those tomatoes, and eggplants, and cucumbers to people all up and down the Northeastern United States. Now the season is slowing down and the farmers again are having to pivot quickly when they realized suddenly these food service distributors just stopped. So it turned out it had a huge impact on it, but they’ve really been able to change their models and get their produce out there and it's been in a lot of different ways. Much of the produce has been donated. We’ve seen stories of, you know and this continues, of crops being donated to healthcare workers or the schools or needy people. Now that's always gone on, but it's going on in a much bigger way so food distribution sites for people who need it and these are donations from a lot of the farmers.

MT: How do you think this crisis is impacting our South Florida farmers and our vendors and small business owners. Well I think now that some of the farmers have found new models to sell their produce to local folks, through CSA boxes, through ordering produce boxes, through online farmers markets that are now the replacement for the typical farmers market experience, our local consumers have plenty of ways now to order produce that they really didn't have before. Those who went to farmers markets did, but a lot of people just just never got in the habit of it. But now they have a demand for local produce, so many of the local farmers, the specialty farmers, have set up ways for them to order on a weekly basis and then there are also those those supermarkets the big supermarkets are becoming aware that they need to be stocking fresh from Florida produce and that's something that they didn't necessarily do. But on the state level our agricultural commissioner Nikki Fried is finding ways to make it easier for local farmers and folks in the agriculture business to get their produce to people here in Florida.

MT: Yeah, I’ve been eating local peaches that I got from the supermarket and I was super excited about it because I’ve never seen that before.

GS: Did you like them?

MT: I love them. I'm still eating them, they’re my favorite food and I can only eat them in the summer. Ok so now I want to kind of break it down into the specifics of where our residents can get these food products. I want to kind of break it down into the categories of foods and of course there are pickup locations from down in Homestead all the way up into Broward so it doesn't matter where you live, there's places close by for everyone and of course Gretchen’s article on Edible South Florida’s website called “Farmers Markets Closed? Buy Fresh Local Produce Here”. That article is updated daily and it’s an amazing resource just listing all the farmers and vendors in the area, what they’re offering, their phone numbers, how they can pick it up and what days, it’s very thorough so I encourage everyone to check it out but today we’re just going to highlight some of them, so let’s start with our green leafy veggies, where can we find those?

GS: Well we're winding down our season for a lot of vegetables now is because the hot weather is coming here and been here for the last couple weeks here so things like tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce (that is not grown hydroponically), is going away for us now, but you can get greens year-round when they grow it hydroponically or in those container farms. So Box Greens as an example and Urban Oasis carries greens from Box Greens. Hammock Greens is another one where they sell lettuce and again they can produce this all year round so that's easy to find. You can also find things that are tropical spinach. Callaloo is a tropical spinach, these are summer crops and you might find those through some of the online farmers markets, the produce ordering places. Bee Heaven farm is selling online, Urban Oasis is sourcing from a lot of local farms and they typically carry that. For that you just look online and they've set up shopping carts to look for what you want. You select it, order it and then it's, depending on the company, has either pick-up or delivery.

MT: Yeah I just want to mention that the Box Greens box is amazing. Their greens stay good for two weeks without getting wilted or going bad, it's amazing. And they're super crispy and fresh, I got it through Urban Oasis.

GS: Right, and that’s the reason to buy fresh local produce, because when you buy not local produce, that is meant to have a really really long shelf life, so will you take it home, it could have already been sitting around for two weeks, but when you can buy from our local produce folks, it was just harvested, so it’s fresh from the get-go so that's why it lasts longer in your fridge.

MT: Yeah it's amazing. Another exciting thing that you also mentioned earlier is that this might change people’s habits in the long term, not just during this time because they’ll realize how much better their produce is tasting, and how much fresher it stays and it's also more nutrient-dense. There's so many benefits. Anyway, so you mentioned other vegetables. This season is kind of ending down here because it's going to become too hot, but what are some of the sources that people can find other veggies?

GS: Well, many of the produce vendors, I’m gonna mention Urban Oasis because they’re not a farm, they source from a lot of different farms, and here's the deal, when you reach a point where we, other than Little Everglades tomatoes, which are tiny and delicious but that's not something that you can grow in your backyard, if you want tomatoes coming up soon, they will not be local, they can't be local. However, sometimes places like Urban Oasis, since they source form different farms they will find farms outside of the state, because people are still going to want their tomatoes, only a hardcore locavore is gonna say “nope, no tomatoes for me until next year” So they're going to source from other farms, sometimes organic farms, sometimes not. You know other farms that have the same sensibility, in other words they're not imports from Mexico. So that’s something to keep in mind as well, if you look to local farmers they understand that folks want what they want, so they're going to try to source it responsibly.

MT: That’s something to note, that I notice at farmer’s markets, other people asking the farmer, “oh is this from your farm” and they say “no it’s from our partner farm in Atlanta” and then they end up not wanting it because it’s not local but that doesn't mean it’s not handled with the same care, it’s just not in season all the time. 

GS: Right and it's on our website and in our last fall issue we did a local harvest calendar that’s year round, because understand that many people didn't grow up in Florida or came here from someplace else and don't understand why they can't find strawberries in July when they could back home, and the answer is because it’s too hot. So this calendar that we put together says, these are things that grow here, so if you see strawberries in your farmers market in August, they’re not local, and you should know that. So if you want your strawberries, get your strawberries, just realize they won’t be local. These are things that are in season. And of course there are things that will never be on the calendar. Apples will never be on our calendar, we just plain don’t grow them here.  So that just helps because our rules are different here, and we have people form so many different places who don't get that. They want to eat local, they just don't know. We’re the subtropics here and some food will not grow.

MT: Yeah and that's why I think just education is so important on local and seasonal foods just because it's important just to support the farmers and let people know that farmers have partner farms that they can try to make it happen and have things be provided all year round but it's still just as good it's just the farmers are trying to accommodate to everyone.

GS: And there’s another thing that you can also try new things that many people don't know about. So as our winter growing season comes to an end in spring when we get into summer we get into great tropical fruit. Mango season is coming up, lychee season is very quick but oh boy is terrific. But there are many of these smaller farmers turn to fruits like jackfruit, like dragon fruit, mamey sapote we know that, passion fruit, sapodilla or nispero, canistel is another tropical fruit, these are the things that we see in the market from these farmers and they’re all worth trying, some of them are wonderful.

MT: Yeah and that's kind of the message I'm trying to get out there, is that we live in an area that has such a unique climate and we have access to all these rare, exotic fruits and most people that I know here I've never tried them and we need to take advantage of those things that we have available here because not only they taste amazing and it's different vitamins and minerals other produce but, you know, it's something that we should support our farmers and just take advantage of what we have.

GS: The more that they get a demand, the more they'll be growing. It's in everybody's interest to try them. Jackfruit might not be for you, but you may love passion fruit. The more we hear from consumers, they have a lot of power in this and they can tell their markets that we want to see more of this, so we encourage our consumers to be adventurous, try something, keep buying it, and that will make people grow in more.

MT: Definitely yeah, I think that’s so important. So what do you think are some really good farms that people can try these exotic fruits in the area?

GS: Well one of the best, LNB Groves, who typically is at the Pinecrest Farmers Market, they do a rainbow smoothie that’s really popular. They have lots of different tropical fruits and they harvest them when they are ripe, freeze them, then they turn them into smoothies year round and it’s a multi-layered delicious, nutritious wonderfully popular. But LNB also sells jackfruit in season, and they’re doing a pop-up every weekend at their facility close to Tamiami Airport and people are driving out there just to get rainbow smoothies and they do a really good job of showcasing some of the wonderful tropical fruits we have down here. Bee Heaven Farm also gathers different tropical fruits that are in season and make that some of their offerings. They’ve been doing a pop-up on Fridays at the farm, and you can also check with them online and they have CSA boxes and they may be changing their CSA, I can’t speak for what they’re doing, but this whole model of CSAs is sort of changing to adapt to people’s needs now, so that’s something important to look at too.

MT: Yeah I think the rainbow smoothies, first of all they’re delicious, and I think it’s such a genius thing that they did, because they're beautiful first of all, there gorgeous, all the bright natural pigments in those fruits that also has antioxidants, and they have a sign that they tell you what’s in each color and it's all these fruits that a lot of people have never heard of.

GS: Yeah I think kale is the green layer and you know who would’ve thought to put kale in a smoothie you be something that you’d want, and it’s wonderful in it.

MT: Yeah, it is. Ok let's transition a little over to animal products starting with eggs. I know eggs are something that most households are used to having on hand all the time and now they're not, and it's a big deal, so where can people find eggs?

GS: It seemed that in the supermarket eggs, when the whole epidemic started, eggs with one of those products that suddenly was hard to come by. I haven't noticed that recently, but most of the local farms do keep chickens, and they sell eggs at the farmers markets. Again it's sometimes sporadic because it's supply and demand, and there was a real strong demand and then you couldn’t find any eggs and now it’s sort of evened off. But I would say to look at the online ordering capabilities like the CSA, Urban Oasis, eggs are listed there, and if they have them they’ll be listed, if they don't they don't. It's just one of those things, like all other times of year that sometimes they have eggs and other times they just don’t have any, so I think if you see them, you buy them.

MT: Yeah and I think Urban Oasis’ supermarket has eggs from different farms, so that’s a really easy way to get them. Ok, so what about meat?

GS: Well, meat, you know technically speaking, in south Florida we don’t have much beef because it’s too hot for the cows here, same with dairy elsewhere in the state, but you can find Florida raised grass-fed beef and poultry to order online from some of the places like Urban Oasis. I think Farmers-Market-To-Go which is the new site that was created by Lorie of Laurie's Pantry Granola and since she works at a lot of markets she set up a real handy site for a lot of the artisans who are also suffering because when farmers markets closed many of them, that was the only place they were selling their goods, so she created this online marketplace that organized really well. So if you were used to going to say the Pinecrest Farmers Market you can see their vendors there. So I believe she may have had meat, but there are some local places like Babe Froman, Babe’s Meat Counter in Palmetto Bay and Proper Sausages in Miami Shores, they make their own sausage and and they're actually butcher shops that do their own stuff, and they're also really good sources for heritage pork, most of which doesn't come from Florida, but they source if really well, they’re sustainably sourced. I've got to tell you about called Gaucho Ranch they're up in the Little River section there. They bring grass-fed beef from Uruguay, so the quality of that is something different, but they also have a lot of Florida sourced meats and poultry and they deliver, they ship it out, the quality’s terrific, they’re real nice, and they’ve been doing this for years. Fish is another area, where, ya know, commercial fishermen have been affected by all this as well, and that's another case where the best thing to do is go to your traditional fishmonger, or wherever you might be buying seafood. That's one area where it's been harder for me to compile a list because the smaller fish vendors, it’s always subject to availability. So if they’re not catching as much, or sometimes you just plain can't get it because they didn't get it, you know, so that one is a little bit less predictable, but again, commercial fisherman, stone crab season, we’ve got a couple more weeks of that there, so it's useful to look to people where you normally would get your seafood, see if they're still selling it to be aware as the availability is always subject to change.

MT: I miss fish. I'm used to eating it and I haven’t been able to have it in a while.

GS: Right, and again, the commercial fisherman, they’re hurting too.

MT: Ok, and what about honey?

GS: Honey, so you can get honey through some of the farmers market sites because pretty much every farmers market has honey, you know, at least one vendor. I know Urban Oasis has honey. The markets up in Broward, it’s called Lip-Smacking Good Honey, and they've been doing this for many years, you can order directly from them online and they also opened up their production facility. They’re very efficient because they've been selling honey online for a long time and it's local and there’s lots of varieties there so they’re really good. 

MT: Looking at your article, I saw that Keys Bees has some mamey honey right now and so I ordered some online and it got here super quickly like within a few days.

GS: Oh that’s good, yeah they’re a good source.

MT: Yeah it's really easy if you just go to their website order online, also I just really wanted to try mamey honey because I thought it sounded interesting.

GS: How was it?

MT: Oh, I love it, I’ve been eating way too much of it. And lastly I just kind of wanted to touch on this one, it's not like it’s a necessity for most people, but for me it is. Kombucha. Because we have a lot of locally brewed kombucha that’s available and I just wanted people to know where they could find it.

GS: Right, lots of good kombucha and remember local makers use local produce too, to power a lot of their flavors so they're supporting our local farmers too. Counter Culture Kombucha is a great local brand and they pop up a Bee Heaven pop-up on Fridays. They've got a lot of good outlets and you can order through some of the online farmers market places. Angry Booch is another one, and Christina over there also does ferments using local stuff so Angry Booch is another one that I believe if you go online, it’ll show you how to get a hold of that right now. Pretty busy, I think. People love their Buch, you know.

MT: I mean once you have it, it’s hard to stop.

GS: Right, and they’re always coming out with really good new flavors, that’s one of the best local kombucha people, so if they get, I don't know, dragon fruit or somebody has mango, well then that's their chance to create some new flavors.

MT: Yeah and that’s also a great way to enjoy our crazy, exotic produce that we have.

GS: The other thing and this is something that changes day to day that your listeners should be aware of, is you do need to pay attention every day. One of the interesting things that came out of this was there's a farmer, a big farmer, in South Dade called Sam Accursio & Sons. They have thousands of acres they grow, and it’s a 3rd generation family farm, and among other things, they grow cucumbers for pickling, you know, but they’re wholesalers, they sell to distributors, but they decided to sell directly to consumers, now they never did that before, but they had all this produce so they had big boxes and they did this starting a few weeks ago, and you could drive up and you can get a big crate of green beans for $10, tomatoes, $10, squash, zucchini, and they had lines of cars at daybreak waiting for this. It's just interesting, so people were going there and, you know, you spend 50 bucks and you buy five cases of things and then you divvy it up with your family and your neighbors do you know because that's a lot of green beans to go through. So I would urge your listeners, we may see this happening more and more. It's a great model but there's not a conventional model for you to get your local produce, so we're trying to stay on top of that on our website, but pay attention because there may be more opportunities like this that are good for everybody. It's fresh, you're helping the farmer out, you're helping your neighbors out, you’re getting produce that was just picked yesterday, and you're getting a great price.

MT: Yeah and I’ve been getting everything mostly from Urban Oasis, but it was just amazing to see them changing and evolving just from a weekly basis because they’re having to accommodate to the demand and make it easier on their end and on our end. Just within like a couple weeks, at first it was just showing up and pointing to what you want, and now is this advanced system where they have this whole online supermarket that you pay through the site and they're doing an awesome job, so I think a lot of farms are having to kind of scramble together and figure out how to make this work. That's why it's so important to be checking every day for daily updates because they're trying to figure this out just like we're trying to figure this out. It's a huge change for everyone.

GS: Right, so pay attention to what’s happening day by day, I mean even in a couple of weeks, we've seen how they've kind of, everybody has sort of struggled through and having to change a business model and they think ok we're becoming a take out and delivery, and then we’re becoming a bodega because we can be selling. And I should mention that too, restaurants are also selling some produce because they want you to keep buying from them. So after a point, understand that the restaurants need to do this for survival to keep their employees working.  But what’s going to keep you coming back, well, if you can get stuff that they have easy access to, which could be 5 lb of flour or also produce. I know Chug’s in Coconut Grove, they’re selling Bee Heaven produce, because why not, you know, it makes perfect sense. Now, these are models that you’ll have to pay attention, these are not grocery stores, but if you know some of these restaurants or unconventional places that are also home to produce, well you'll go back there and shop there, and you'll be supporting them and the farmer, so it’s good to know that.  But yeah, stay on top of this. It’s a much more efficient process than it was 2 weeks ago, and they're finding ways to streamline things. Be patient, this is new to everybody, but I think that in the big scheme of things, if this fosters a genuine love and a need for local produce then that's great that's really great. It took a pandemic to get everybody interested and appreciating local food, but oh well, here we are.

MT: Yeah that’s what I’ve been thinking too, that even though these times are scary and difficult for so many people, you know, there is light at the end of the tunnel and we might be seeing this new wave of local sourcing for our meals and there are so many benefits to that environmentally, nutritionally, economically, so I'm really really hoping that we can push this change hopefully that we’ll be seeing.

GS: We hope so. We'd love to see everybody appreciating our local foods and our local farmers, they’ll be happier and healthier for it.

MT: Yes, ok well thank you so much. I'm really excited to share this with everyone.

GS: Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.