Zimmerman, B. 2022, Making Produce Work Smarter, Desert Farming Initiative - University of Nevada, Reno

Journal Entry 1: Making Produce Work Smarter

Hello, my name is Ben Zimmermann, and I am the Pack Partnership Food Security Intern at the Desert Farming Initiative this year. Last year I worked at DFI with a focus on food safety. I am from Las Vegas Nevada and I am currently studying wildlife ecology at the university. The reason I chose this major is because I am interested in the natural world, and so far my time at DFI has taught me a lot about it. It has been a great look into the perspective of growers, something that may be important for me in the future in areas where farming occurs. I enjoy the natural sciences because they are the window to the future; understanding our world is the only way that humanity will overcome challenges facing us and continue to thrive on this planet. Food security is one of these challenges; If we want to survive we must find ways to make food more efficient and accessible. I hope that in my time here I can make a few small steps towards this goal.

Food security is a topic not only on the mind of many growers, but also of great public interest. The most obvious part of food security is producing enough food for the region in question, but another important aspect to this issue is making food more efficient. What I mean by this is ensuring that food is not wasted once it leaves farms. In my time at DFI I have seen how much work goes into producing one item whether it is a huge melon, or a leaf of lettuce. All produce, especially organic produce, requires a significant amount of people power to produce. To grow a single tomato, someone has to seed it, graft it, do bed prep, plant it, weed it, harvest it, pack and deliver it - not to mention the water, soil nutrients and fuel required. This is why it is so important to ensure that each piece of produce is being utilized to its full potential. 

To delve into this issue here on campus, I visited the UNR food pantry, Pack Provisions. Pack Provisions is a food pantry that provides free food to any student or employee of the university. DFI has delivered about 3,000 lbs of fresh organic produce to the pantry in 2022 so far. Distributing produce from the DFI farm is only a small part of broader programs and the food they offer, so even if you are not into vegetables it is still worth checking them out. In my day there I saw how many challenges they face with food safety and storage that are completely out of their control; a large delivery of bread came in with condensed water or frost on all of the bags. This bread will mold quickly. Additionally, some of the food packaging was already ripped, so we had to throw it away. This begs the question: what could DFI do better in delivering to the pantry to at least ensure our local produce is put to good use? Do our deliveries also have similar problems?

When I asked Sophie Morton, Pack Provisions Director, these questions she gave me answers that surprised me and answers that I could have anticipated. One one of these was that a lot of people struggle with how to use our produce, especially kale. DFI and Pack Provisions do strategize ideal crops for students, but she explained that there is a lot of diversity in the Pantry users. Many people that use the pantry are from other countries or cultures and have never cooked or seen someone cook with kale, so they have no idea how to use it. Additionally, many college students don’t have a complete kitchen, and only have access to a microwave. This makes cooking with leafy greens intimidating. My best solution for this was one that our team has already taken a few stabs at; sharing easy healthy recipes that can be prepared fresh or in a microwave. Sophie informed me that our farm manager Garrett Menghini and our AmeriCorps service member Anna Miller had floated the idea of attaching a QR code to our produce boxes that would contain these recipes. With all the people who love vegetables on our team it will be very easy for me to ask around and gather a long list of recipes that will be delicious and easy to prepare. We will continue to strategize how we balance the type of demand at the Pantry with what can be grown sustainably in the high desert. 

Another idea is to include information on how to properly wash produce, because it is something that the general public is not knowledgeable about. After working at DFI I can’t even count how many friends or family members I have educated in produce safety. My mom loves vegetables and has been vegetarian for five years now, but she never knew that it is important to wash melons, not just leafy greens, with running cold water to prevent food borne illnesses. Other quality issues that Sophie shared were that produce often comes in wet or damp, just like the bread from elsewhere, and for that reason was spoiling. We could easily raise awareness to ensure that produce is not being packed too wet so that it won't spoil. Sophie also explained that Pack Provisions was unclear at what temperature to store the food we were delivering. This is information that we could easily add to a QR code. 

One thing that we have been curious about was whether our portions are suitable. When I take home our produce. I never take a full bunch size because I know I can’t use it all. Sophie said that they have thought about the issue, but they haven’t adjusted portions because they do not have needed packaging materials (ties, bags, or clamshells). DFI has provided additional packaging to Pack Provisions in the past, but it would be great for us to include materials on a regular basis with our food so that one half pound bunch of kale can feed 5 students with no waste instead of 1 student with waste. We could conduct some Pantry education about food waste, deliver produce in bulk, and allow Pantry patrons to fill their own bag. 

I am excited to start working on these ideas and sharing progress this year. I’m sure that this process will reduce food waste and make our produce accessible to more people. Even if growers don't have time to visit and coordinate so closely with their buyers, they can still build efficiency by asking themselves questions like: Is this the best way to pack this food for this buyer? Who is the ultimate customer? 

Journal Entry 2: Produce Portions, Storage and Access

Over the last few months at DFI we have started working with pantries to pack produce in sizes that best fit their needs in order to reduce food waste (see discussion above). We have made significant progress writing produce use guides (a guide containing recipes and information to make using our produce less intimidating) and storage guidance (to help pantries properly store produce and prevent spoilage). Stay tuned for these publications later this spring!

The main thing that has been on my mind during the winter in terms of food security is how weather patterns affect farming and food distribution. This winter we have experienced some intense weather patterns that have affected DFI’s ability to produce food. We have had multiple days where commuting to work has been dangerous as a result of icy roads leading to understaffing and difficulty producing and delivering food. We had to cancel two deliveries to pantries as a result of this weather. This means that pantry users had less access to fresh produce for those weeks. Clearly the weather has an impact on food security.

This has me thinking about how farmers will respond to more extreme weather patterns as a result of climate change. What will we do in the event of a winter that is more extreme than this one? What will we do when summers get hotter and drier and wildfires become more intense (and air quality declines and affects working conditions)? I think that these are questions that growers need to address as they look to the future. Read more about this on DFI's climate smart farming web page.

Journal Entry 3: Support for Food Security

People and organizations donate to grant funded positions like the one I am currently in for two reasons I can think of; they want to help develop the community, and/or they want to develop people. I have already covered what this internship offers the community in previous postings, so I thought I would talk about how this internship has helped me grow as a professional and a person. 
 
The first thing I would like to illustrate is how this internship is different from other opportunities that are available to college students. Most college jobs are part time positions with minimal meaning and responsibility. When I worked a job like that, I never felt the pressure of personal responsibility in the workplace as most of that fell on the full time workers. In my current position, I know DFI is relying on me and I have had to become more responsible for the quality of my work. I have independence to decide what projects to focus on and what to write for these blog postings. At my other jobs, I didn’t ever choose my work, nor were my ideas ever taken seriously. All these differences have helped me think more critically about the utility of my ideas. Although some of my schoolwork has helped me think about this, for me the added pressure of knowing my actions affect a larger community rather than just my college transcript has helped elevate my effort and focus.
 
This job has also taught me to be a better communicator. I can influence my hours, projects, and workspace, so I have had to learn how to effectively communicate what I want to my supervisors. I’m not a good communicator over text and email in my daily life, and most of my family and friends know that if they need something they should call. So when I first started this job I was terrible at answering emails in a timely manner, and I am by no means good at it yet, but I can say that I have gotten much better at it.
 
I have also learned to be a better coworker. When we are given tasks at DFI we are generally given a voice in how we want to complete the task. This semester I am never working alone. With every task I have to find out how my coworkers want to approach it, and then if I have a different idea I have to find a positive way to present it. DFI is also such a small group of people that I feel that part of my job is to have connections with all my coworkers. My best work happens when I feel safe to express myself, and I know other people feel safe to express themselves. I have had to figure out how to make others feel comfortable around me which has been a challenge as I am not an outgoing person. Being open and honest with new people is scary for me. I can say with confidence that this job has made me much better at being myself around people I don’t know that well yet, and I can only hope that through this I make the workplace a more comfortable place to be.
 
I am thankful for the funding that allows me to work at DFI as I feel my work has changed me as a person and a professional. Because of these changes, I feel more confident in what I can bring to the table at any future workplace.
 
Update on previous posting:
This March the challenges we have to deal with are similar to those in February; snow and cold temperatures persist and continue to make farming more difficult. Our vehicles get stuck in the mud and snow, water freezes inside hoses and tools, and snow makes deliveries and commuting more difficult. However, this past month the weather never caused us to cancel deliveries. This means we adapted successfully to the challenges I described in last month's posting!
 

Journal Entry 4: Campus Farm Stand

 

The theme of April was our on campus farmstand. The main goal of it was outreach. Many students do not know about the DFI, what we do, and what opportunities are available for them here. At our farmstand, I talked to students about these things and some of them became interested enough to sign up for our volunteer mailing list. Another thing that many students did not know about was that our produce is routinely distributed at the on campus food pantry, Pack Provisions. For this reason, we coordinated with Pack Provisions to join us for the last farmstand of the semester. They came out and offered items that were complementary to our produce, which students found helpful, but I think the main success of the event was outreach. In the last week of the farmstand, students kept asking when we would be back, to which I would say that our farmstand doesn't return till fall, but Pack Provisions offers our produce year round. Hopefully this whole event has made it so that our produce reaches more people, and more people that need our produce know about how to get it.

For me, the farmstand was very exciting as it was the first time that I was able to see our produce in the hands of our customers. It was especially exciting to see the same students come back week after week to get produce!

DFI is grateful for support from the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation that makes this important work possible. A 2022/2023 Pack Partnership Grant includes funding for this internship and other Innovative Student Employment at the Desert Farming Initiative.

Learn more about the author(s)

 

Also of Interest: