{"id":145074,"date":"2021-12-23T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=145074"},"modified":"2024-07-03T16:15:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T20:15:41","slug":"2021-year-in-food-and-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/2021-year-in-food-and-farming\/","title":{"rendered":"This Year in Food and Farming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a short while, 2021 seemed like it might bring about all kinds of fresh, new developments. A new president was sworn in; vaccines had just begun rolling out; maybe things would begin to improve. They did, in some ways. In others, they deteriorated and 2021 continued COVID-19\u2019s streak of domination. But plenty of other things happened too, especially in food, farming and agriculture. Here are five of the biggest milestones of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145075\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145075\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-145075\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_2065010915.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_2065010915.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_2065010915-519x346.jpg 519w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_2065010915-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145075\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chipotle store workers on strike in October 2021 for poor working conditions. <em>Photo by lev radin, Shutterstock.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><b>The Labor Revolution<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Labor movements exploded across the United States, with unions gaining traction across all kinds of industries. Unionization had been on a steady decline since the 1950s, but the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19 seemed to spark a desire for equitable collective bargaining.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The food world was a major part of this. Huge strikes took place at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2021\/12\/21\/democrats-kelloggs-strike\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kellogg\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courier-journal.com\/story\/news\/local\/2021\/10\/23\/heaven-hill-distillery-strike-update-union-votes-5-year-contract\/6155674001\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heaven Hill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (the distillery parent company of Evan Williams and others). More than <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/10\/john-deere-employees-on-strike\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10,000 John Deere workers went on strike<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, fighting for better wages and benefits. Even the restaurant industry, which previously had extremely low union membership rates, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketplace.org\/2021\/09\/28\/unions-are-gaining-momentum-at-restaurants-theyve-been-here-before\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">started to unionize<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014including in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thecounter.org\/coffeeshops-starbucks-union-buffalo-nlrb-minimum-wage\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> several Starbucks locations in Buffalo, New York<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. On the other hand, meatpacking plants, which actually had pretty significant union presence already, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/commodities\/us-meat-plants-relaxed-some-covid-19-safety-protocols-after-outbreaks-unions-2021-12-21\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">couldn\u2019t seem to do much<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to ensure the safety of workers there.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_144919\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-144919\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-144919 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1171056976.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1171056976.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1171056976-462x346.jpg 462w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1171056976-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-144919\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by 5m3photos, Shutterstock.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><b>The Supply Chain Goes Mainstream<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The supply chain, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/06\/from-farm-gate-to-restaurant-plate-how-a-team-of-researchers-is-tracking-the-cost-of-your-food\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the complex series<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of stops and obstacles between a producer and consumer, was perfectly well known to farmers long before the pandemic hit. But in 2021, the idea of supply chain interruptions went mainstream. Crumbling infrastructure, from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/05\/cracked-bridge-over-mississippi-river-could-have-major-effects-on-agriculture\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a cracked bridge<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over the Mississippi, to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/03\/coffee-supplies-are-down-could-prices-rise-in-response\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a ship blockage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Suez Canal, to power outages and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/02\/winter-storm-is-devastating-texas-farmers-and-ranchers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dumped products<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the supply chain, which had always been all around us, seemed obvious and omnipresent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Biden made infrastructure and supply chain improvements a major platform, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/04\/why-bidens-infrastructure-plan-could-be-a-big-fking-deal-for-american-farmers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pushing massive bills<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to fix the roads, lines of commerce, bridges and other pieces of the supply chain puzzle. It is, as of late December, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/manchin-rejects-biden-spending-bill-democrats-election-e7a0ca4c25c686e91cb21e166c44821b?utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">unclear<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whether the latest omnibus bill will pass through the Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145076\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145076\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-145076\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1928939465.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"701\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1928939465.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1928939465-494x346.jpg 494w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1928939465-768x538.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145076\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by photobyphotoboy, Shutterstock.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><b> The Vaccine Debate Heats Up<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Few things in 2021 became more politicized and fiery than the concept of vaccines and vaccine mandates. As of late December, slightly more than 61 percent of Americans were fully vaccinated for COVID-19, and a vocal minority made noisy political hay out of refusing. In agriculture, an industry that is highly centralized under just a few entities, vaccine mandates were more powerful than hardly anywhere else. The USDA, which employs around 100,000 people, made vaccines a requirement to work (barring rarely-given-out exemptions). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/11\/vaccine-requirements-usda-fsa-committees\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That included many<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who only occasionally work with the USDA; if you farm in the United States, you interact with the USDA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several huge corporations, with tens of thousands of employees, also mandated that employees be vaccinated. Those include <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/08\/tyson-foods-requires-all-employees-to-get-covid-19-vaccinations\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tyson Foods<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.franchisewire.com\/mcdonalds-prepares-for-federal-vaccine-mandate\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McDonald\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and many other companies that employ people both on the front lines and in the food and agriculture field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143269\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143269\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-143269 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/shutterstock_1984390583.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/shutterstock_1984390583.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/shutterstock_1984390583-520x346.jpg 520w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/shutterstock_1984390583-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-143269\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by Wirestock Creators\/Shutterstock.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><b>Water, Water, Nowhere<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the West, water vanished. The American West has been in what is literally called a \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/04\/megadrought-in-american-west-may-trigger-first-ever-water-shortage-declaration\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">megadrought<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d for decades, and relies on massive amounts of water for agriculture, especially in California\u2014the country\u2019s biggest agricultural state. Early this summer, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/06\/western-drought-forces-farmers-to-make-tough-decisions\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">drought forced farmers to make difficult decisions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including culling herds, stripping trees of fruit and forgoing planting crops this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A particularly dry winter led to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/08\/first-ever-declaration-of-colorado-river-water-shortage-will-affect-agriculture-first\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first-ever declaration of a water shortage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Colorado River. The river supplies much of the Southwest and parts of Mexico with their water needs. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, two of the largest reservoirs in the country, both experienced their lowest levels since they were constructed. Both also are fed by the Colorado River, and agriculture takes about 70 percent of that river\u2019s relocated water. In California, the state <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/08\/california-to-institute-extreme-water-reductions-for-thousands-of-farmers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">also instituted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> large curtailments of water from the San Joaquin Delta, which supplies a lot of the Central Valley. The states created emergency water rationing systems, but there\u2019s no real end in sight. This is because the western states <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/california-water-problem-agriculture\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">simply use much more water<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, especially for agriculture, than what is coming in to replenish the aquifers, rivers and reservoirs. Drastic action is needed; what form that will take remains unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_144729\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-144729\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-144729 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1018169170.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1018169170.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1018169170-515x346.jpg 515w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1018169170-768x516.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-144729\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by W. Scott McGill, Shutterstock.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><b> Long-Awaited Programs Finally Arrive<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the only real benefits of the COVID-19 pandemic has been, the currently stalled <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/11\/build-back-better-act-agriculture\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build Back Better Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> notwithstanding, a new flow of money from the government. Because times have been so hard, the government has been forced to pass aid bills and expansions of existing programs. Many of those seem like they\u2019ll simply stick around, as they were sorely needed before the pandemic and will be afterwards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among those: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/03\/usda-to-bump-snap-benefits-for-41-million-americans\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a huge expansion of SNAP<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which includes beefing up infrastructure like online ordering and customer service. The Biden administration attempted to pass billions of dollars in debt relief to disadvantaged, primarily Black, farmers. Black farmers have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/03\/democrats-say-they-arent-done-helping-black-farmers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">historically been marginalized by the USDA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, sometimes criminally so. (This one, alas, was delayed by a \u201creverse racism\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/04\/trump-associated-legal-firm-sues-usda-for-anti-white-racism\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lawsuit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and remains <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/us\/biden-farm-debt-relief-plan-exclude-thousands-minority-farmers-data-shows-2021-12-17\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">held up<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by conservatives in Congress.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conditions in meatpacking plants, long one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, were suddenly in the public eye, leading to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.booker.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/pamwa_bill_text.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bill proposals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and action taken to improve them. There will be <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/09\/biden-administration-heat-related-workplace-protections\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">heat-related<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> labor protections. There may be a ruling on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/07\/white-house-says-executive-order-on-right-to-repair-is-coming\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">right to repair<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There may be new <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/02\/new-immigration-bill-would-give-undocumented-farmworkers-path-to-citizenship\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">paths to citizenship<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for immigrant farmworkers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These improvements have not, to be absolutely clear, done anything like end hunger in America, stop or prevent racism in the food and agriculture industries or seriously address climate change in impactful ways. But the efforts are not nothing. Because of the devastation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be improvements in access to food, in the supply chain, in social equity and in environmental sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recap of 2021, a year filled with equal parts hope and disappointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":145080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":[],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33293],"tags":[33071,33097,33079,33289],"article-theme":[],"class_list":["post-145074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumption","tag-animals","tag-labor","tag-plants-crops","tag-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>This Year in Food and Farming - Modern Farmer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recap of 2021 in food and farming, a year filled with equal parts hope and disappointment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/2021-year-in-food-and-farming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Year in Food and Farming - Modern Farmer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recap of 2021 in food and farming, a year filled with equal parts hope and disappointment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/2021-year-in-food-and-farming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Farmer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ModernFarmerMedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-23T13:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-03T20:15:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1864706854.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Nosowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ModFarm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ModFarm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Nosowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/2021-year-in-food-and-farming\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/2021-year-in-food-and-farming\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dan Nosowitz\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/806c47c42d2cad144c75fb3dba9cf595\"},\"headline\":\"This Year in Food and Farming\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-23T13:00:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-03T20:15:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/2021-year-in-food-and-farming\/\"},\"wordCount\":1033,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2021\/12\/2021-year-in-food-and-farming\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1864706854.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Animals\",\"Labor\",\"Plants &amp; 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