Double Whammy

This isn’t my first government shut down.  It’s my fifth since I began traveling to the DC Metro/MD area farmers markets and each time I get a front row seat to the impact these political impasses have on people, both customers and fellow vendors.  It follows the usual path of outrage and news cycles, negotiations, and worry before  concessions are made and it’s back to business as usual. It’s little more than a blip on our radar.

The one in 2019 when the government shut down for 35 days was four markets worth of playing both farmer and counselor as furloughed customers asked for advice on how to live without a paycheck. Farmers are reliable sources of information about such issues as going without income isn’t a matter of if, but when in our business. Inclement weather, vehicle trouble, illness, and injury can leave us with our own form of shutdown. No market equals no income. Even worse when there’s a crop failure that’s a form of shutdown for us. But like government shutdowns, once our impasse is over it’s back to market, back to farming the next crop.  

Unfortunately, this shut down is different. Not only because one side absolutely refuses to negotiate all while blaming the other side for the closure, but because the outcome has the capacity to significantly affect the cost of food. How, you might ask, does the extension of tax credits for health insurance affect the price of food?

Rising healthcare costs have a ripple effect that touches every aspect of the food supply chain. The food industry, encompassing everything from agriculture and food processing to grocery retail and restaurants, is one of the most labor-intensive sectors of the economy. Millions of people work in farming, transportation, plants, kitchens, and stores, and many of these jobs are physically demanding and come with higher risks of injury or illness. As a result, healthcare coverage is not just a benefit, but a necessity for attracting and retaining workers.

Most of the farmers you meet at markets are self-employed and struggle to provide basic coverage for their own workers. Premiums for employer-sponsored health plans will rise sharply. Farms already operate on thin margins thus making increases in these costs particularly burdensome. The Affordable Care Act put healthcare within reach to many farmers and small businesses for the first time.

But it’s not as simple as covering increased costs. The domino effect of an ill-functioning healthcare system hits rural areas first which, of course, is where most of America’s food is grown. Two hours may not seem like a great distance to many of us, especially those who travel it each week, but it’s a world of difference especially when it comes to healthcare.  I’m fortunate enough to be thirty minutes away from the nearest emergency room, but some of our farmers must travel well over an hour to reach a hospital. Considering our occupation is one of the most dangerous, those aren’t good odds.  

It’s not only the farmers, but their families, too. I’m watching as a fourth-generation dairy family considers closing and selling out if their disabled child gets kicked off Medicaid. Their doctors have already been warning them to be prepared. No one is going to step in to farm, but a developer sure wants to build houses there given the land’s proximity to Maryland and the highways.

Add on to the issue that America’s farmers are aging. The average age of farmers being 58 and a third of us over 65 makes farmers the oldest workforce in the country. Our insurance plans aren’t just getting expensive; they are being outright cancelled. It gives one pause to continue in an occupation that puts them at greater risk of an injury or increases the speed at which we begin to break down. Ask me how many farmers around my age I know who are now getting knee replacements.

There is only one way for producers to deal with increased healthcare costs and that’s to raise the price of their products, which is your food.