Working together matters
The recent opinion piece (Where your money goes matters, May 7) fails to address the most pressing issue currently facing Island farmers.
When they planted their potato crops in 2019, they expected their entire harvest would go to well-established markets. Unfortunately, the unthinkable happened, and P.E.I., along with the rest of the world, was blindsided by the Coronavirus (COVID19).
In response to physical distancing and quarantines, many restaurants closed while others reduced services to takeout or drive-thru.
The majority of North Americans have changed their eating patterns, and with that, there is a significant amount of perishable food sitting on farms with no place to go.
As we were seeing our markets change quickly, Cavendish Farms continued regular communications with our Island growing partners, to ensure they were aware of potential decreases leading into the 2020 planting season. We also encouraged them to look for alternate markets if they were able to find them. We wanted to work together to minimize the impact.
The P.E.I. Potato Board indicated there is a surplus of 40 million kilograms (88 million pounds) of potatoes in storage and this is not unique to P.E.I. Last week the Los Angeles Times reported Washington State has a billion pounds of potatoes that does not have a market and Belgium has 750,000 tonnes of potatoes that will not be sold for food. Sadly, this global problem means there is a mountain of food that either gets used or must be destroyed.
What is important, now more than ever, is that industry, government and growers work together in a collaborative way to find solutions. We are all in this together.
The P.E.I. government understands this and they established a relief fund to be able to use potatoes that are coming to the end of their shelf life. Otherwise, the potatoes would need to be destroyed.
The government realizes there is an opportunity to preserve these potatoes as food while helping sustain Island farmers and the many other jobs connected to the food processing sector.
A study commissioned by the P.E.I. Potato Board found the potato industry is worth about $1 billion each year to Prince Edward Island.
Local growers, the P.E.I. government and Cavendish Farms realize what is at stake.
We are doing our part to protect this important industry.
We encourage the National Farmers Union (NFU) to consider what is best for the industry as a whole.
We believe working together matters ... now more than ever. Robert K. Irving is president of Cavendish Farms.