Pandemic producing lasting impacts on how, what local residents eat?

They have dozens of boxes to fill before the boxes are ready to go to nearby stores or other drop-off sites in other cities. For months, they have spent their days filling the boxes with whatever vegetables or fruits are in season, with hopes that the demand for fresh produce continues.

“I think it is the most satisfying job that we have done,” said Lapp, of Rainbow Acres Farm.

Earlier this year, Lapp, who is part of the Amish community in Fennimore, began working with Rick Schwendinger, who grows berries on 13 acres in Lancaster. The two casually discussed the idea of teaming up to offer a Community Supported Agriculture program in the area, but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic began that they realized the timing was right.

“Last year, we were talking about it, but we didn’t really get into it until this spring with this virus,” Lapp said. “We felt that’s what people want, and it took off.”

In March, Schwendinger posted about the CSA program on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested and was shocked to see an immediate response from people hoping to sign up.

“I think it was March 25 that I asked,” he said. “But with this COVID-19 thing, it was probably perfect timing because people want something local.”

When the pandemic first swept through the nation earlier this year, it left many grocery stores with empty shelves, and people sought alternatives to shopping for food. During that time, Schwendinger said he noticed the frenzy at local stores and watched people stock up on anything they could.

Local farmers such as Schwendinger decided to form their own CSAs, which allow people to pay a few hundred dollars a season to receive weekly or bi-weekly boxes of produce they know will not only be available but fresh, local and sustainable.

Lapp and Schwendinger now have finished up their summer CSA program and have moved into the fall program, which offers vegetables and fruits particular to the season. During the summer, they had more than 60 customers. A full share, which customers receive every week for 15 weeks, is $525, and a half-share is $262 for 15 weeks.

In May, Jan Prew was browsing Facebook when she saw Schwendinger’s post. She was looking for ways to eat healthier and buy organic but hadn’t quite yet taken the leap.

She decided to sign up.

“I eat so much healthier now, it’s just crazy,” she said. “It’s just perfect amounts for me, and if there is something there that I don’t eat, then I share with my neighbor. He lives alone, too. It’s wonderful.”

Prew signed up for the weekly half-share and also enrolled to continue through the fall. Like her, many others have shifted the way they eat and what they eat as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and plan to continue their new habits even after the virus subsides.

“I think more people are more aware, and a lot of people have to support local businesses even if they wouldn’t have before,” she said. “It is important.”

A shift in demand

Earlier this year, the price of meats surged as a result of closures at meatpacking plants due to coronavirus outbreaks.

By the end of the summer, more than 10 million hogs will have been euthanized as a result of COVID-19-related impacts, according to the National Pork Producers Council.

As people read about the impacts on the meatpacking and other food industries, new Facebook groups composed of individuals looking to find local, fresh produce began forming, said Amy O’Connell, of O’Connell Organic Acres in the Bankston, Iowa, area.

“(The groups were) even for things like honey and eggs,” she said. “It was really nice. Thousands of people joined those groups. People are definitely becoming more conscious about where things are coming from.”

From March to April, O’Connell Organic Acres’ online sales doubled, and the business began door-to-door deliveries to keep up with the demand for meat. Since the Dubuque Farmers Market opened in May, online sales have dropped because people now stop by the market to pick up meat, but overall meat sales are still higher than they have been in past years, O’Connell said.

“I feel like (the popularity) has definitely stayed,” she said. “I feel like the Dubuque area has tried to support people. I know that we are sold out for bulk orders. For quarters and halves of pork and beef we are sold out in 2021. We have gained a lot of new customers in the Dubuque area, and of course, there was a meat shortage and people were concerned about knowing where their food came from,” she said.

At Edgewood (Iowa) Locker, Luke Kerns was preparing for his business to take a financial hit like many others around him when just the opposite happened.

“We had more customers than we knew what to do with,” said Kerns, co-owner of the meat locker.

After farmers were turned away from meatpacking plants, they began calling local meat lockers such as Edgewood, hoping to bring in their hogs or cattle.

Kerns said more people also started coming in and browsing his store for fresh offerings such as hamburger, roasts and pork chops. After the market leveled out, his retail sales returned to normal.

But what he thinks is here to stay is the interest in buying bigger cuts of meat straight from local producers.

“There are definitely some consumers out there that would prefer to not have meatpacking plants and would prefer to go straight to the farmer,” Kerns said. “I think custom processing is really where the demand will be for years.”

When Mike Whittman needed to find somewhere to finish his hogs, he called Edgewood Locker.

Whittman said over the past few months, he has gained many customers who discovered they prefer having the ability to buy half a hog, freeze it and know it is there in case a meat shortage again occurs.

“I think people are scared and more aware of what they have in their freezer,” Whittman said. “I know in our neighborhood here, more people are trying to be self-sufficient. I think it was the scare of going to the grocery store and having nothing there.”

Lee Schulz, an associate professor of economics at Iowa State University, said it is too early to make any definitive conclusions about how the meat industry will change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said it showed many consumers that other ways of sourcing meat exist.

“Consumers find different ways to purchase their meat,” he said. “We did see cases where farmers were purchasing more locally. I think we need to understand that price is a major driver, and there are some efficiencies of purchasing from meat lockers.”

A new style of dining

Not only have people turned to smaller, organic farms and local producers, but their methods of dining out also have shifted. Many people have opted to stay home and cook during the pandemic.

The Food Industry Association released a report this year looking at how cooking at home has changed since the pandemic began. The study found that as of May, 40% of American adults say they are cooking at home more than they did before the pandemic began, 35% said they have become more successful at reducing food waste and 19% said they have learned a new cooking skill. The study also found 39% of consumers said they expect to eat out less when the pandemic is over.

The COVID-19 virus has changed the way consumers view dining out. Rather than something people do as a quick and easy meal, dining out has become something people do as a treat either for themselves or their family, according to the report.

The shift in people choosing to stay home and cook has forced staff at Brazen Open Kitchen + Bar in Dubuque to do more than think outside of the box. They needed to reinvent the restaurant’s overall dining experience.

“Our No. 1 goal is to make sure we are thinking of everything,” said Kevin Scharpf, the restaurant’s head chef. “If we keep our regular menu, how can we venture that into a takeout experience? It’s trial and error.”

Scharpf said the restaurant needed to look at new ways of keeping to-go food hot, as well as what people wanted from their in-person dining experience.

“We looked at business models for what we considered dining out and what the demand is,” he said. “Is it more fast (and) casual? Is it more to-go friendly? It better travel well. It better stay hot for them to take it home. Outside dining is huge. It has single-handedly saved us through this pandemic.”

Scharpf said the pandemic exposed the lack of outdoor dining in the Dubuque area. Brazen went from having about 15 available outdoor seats to 40.

“We had a small outdoor eating area, and we are now in the courtyard,” he said. “I think that was something we already knew was lacking, and the pandemic really shined a light on it.”

Funding a new way of eating

As a result of the pandemic, Iowa Rep. Chuck Isenhart, D-Dubuque, said he helped introduce a bill that looks to assist public schools with funding to buy local, farm-fresh produce for meals. During the last legislative session, he also brought a resolution forward that encouraged state and local governments to increase direct purchases of produce from local producers.

“In general, I think there are a lot of reasons why we need to think about food policy,” he said. “What we eat and how we eat have many ramifications for the environment. We will be seeing a lot more discussion of these things going forward.”

The bill would incentivize school districts purchasing farm-fresh produce by matching $1 for every $3 a district spends on produce, up to $5,000 per school year.

The resolution encourages state and local governments to purchase food from local farmers for facilities such as county-run nursing facilities and jails. Isenhart said the resolution is currently just “aspirational language” that he would like to see become a bill.

Isenhart said when the Iowa Legislature returns this winter, it will continue discussions on how the government can support entities by providing incentives to buy local produce.

“These are some of the systemic things that, over time, we have to address and think about how we can start securing food production and supply and treat it equally with some of the other commodities,” he said. “That will require us to make connections with our federally elected officials.”

A lasting impact on a local operation

Dubuque resident Danika Zivojnovich said she signed up for Stone Hollow Gardens and Shroomery’s bi-weekly CSA program almost immediately after it launched this summer.

“This is a perfect opportunity to support local,” she said. “I haven’t gone to the farmers market. I have been purchasing outside of the grocery store since March.”

This year, Emily and Christopher Appleman, of Stone Hollow, planted a big crop, but when local restaurants and the farmers markets closed in the spring, they were left with an abundance of produce and nowhere to sell.

So, they decided to give another business idea a shot and started their own CSA program to sell their surplus veggies.

During the summer, Stone Hollow offered a June-to-October farm share for $489, which sold out immediately, Emily said. But the interest did not stop, so the business began its “box of abundance” program, through which people can pay a fee and receive a box filled with veggies, fruits and mushrooms.

Another new CSA customer is Megan Palen, who said she purchased the box of abundance about a month ago.

“It was great,” she said. “We got a lot of tomatoes and mushrooms, and we got sumac, and it was something completely out of the norm for me.”

Christopher said he doesn’t see the CSA program ending any time soon.

“Once people change and start getting healthy, they won’t want to go back,” he said. “It’s a good paradigm shift.”