Janelle Irwin Taylor
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried took to Facebook Live Friday to tout her office’s efforts to address food insecurity, agriculture setbacks and price gouging during the coronavirus epidemic.
Hosted by Rep. Adam Hattersley, Fried outlined efforts, including beefing up the state’s Summer Break Spot program to feed kids out of school due to the pandemic.
Her office, she said, is working with federal officials to allocate money as quickly as possible to groups facilitating meal drops for kids throughout the state. Within the first 24-48 hours of announcing the department was launching the Break Spot program, which is typically only available during summer vacation, Fried said approximately 1,000 sites were approved to begin distributing meals.
But with unemployment at record highs because of the virus, some locations are running out of food and struggling to keep up with demand. She said anyone having trouble accessing food should reach out to her office for help.
Families can also call 211 for information about where food is available.
The food deficits in the program are ironic considering farmers have been wasting tons of produce and dumping gallons and gallons of unused milk.
That too, is something her department is working on. Fried’s office successfully requested grocery stores eliminate quantity maximums on some agriculture products like eggs and milk to help farmers stay financially afloat.
She also praised the farming industry for stepping up for the community, donated tons of fresh produce to local food pantries for families in need.
But with storage capacity limited at many of those locations, the good deeds are often moot, leaving farmers to set up drive-thru produce box pickups in some local communities.
Fried also said foreign produce is having a negative affect on farmers trying to get their products to market. She’s called on President Donald Trump to overturn its recent decision to allow citrus imports from China.
“Citrus greening came in from China,” Fried argued.
The disease reduced Florida’s citrus output by 75%, she said.
Farmers are also having a hard time keeping up with Mexican produce, which is sold often far cheaper than Florida produce. She’s working with federal officials to prioritize American-grown produce.
On price gouging and other consumer complaints, Fried said her office has received more than 200,000 complaints as hoarders scoop up in-demand products like toilet paper and hand sanitizer and try to sell it off at significantly increased prices.
That problem overlaps with Attorney General Ashely Moody’s office, which is aggressively targeting and fining gougers. But Fried’s office is also working to address the issue.
“These are hard working individuals in our state being defrauded and I won’t stand it,” Fried said.
Absent from the conversation was Fried’s exclusion from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Re-open Florida Task Force. Fried is the only Democrat on DeSantis’ elected cabinet and the only one not tapped or his task force.
Fried avoided her frequent criticism of what she argues is a partisan hit and instead mentioned a letter she sent DeSantis this week outlining goals and priorities for the agriculture industry.
DeSantis has argued the agriculture industry is represented on the task force by Sen. Wilton Simpson, a Trilby egg farmer and the incoming Senate President.
