Massive supply of potatoes are being distributed on first come first serve basis at a farm in Idaho due to lack of demand amid coronavirus pandemic. Cranney farms announced it on Tuesday through a Facebook post with the address located around 160 miles southeast of Boise.
Farm's owner Ryan Cranney decided to give potatoes for free instead of dumping them as the supply chain is badly affected and could not sell a bounty of potatoes. Many people showed up with their trucks and cars after seeing the advertisement on Facebook. One person even came from a town 450 miles away which was quite amusing to the owner.
Cranney informed KTVB that foodservice and restaurant business are down by 85 percent in some places. "There's been times where there were 20 or 30 cars there at a time it looks like. I think in the next several hours, most of that will be all gone," he told.
COVID-19 crises impacted all farms in US
As there has been no demand from schools, restaurants and other food services, some of the farms reported to throw away a major portion of their supply. Coronavirus crises have impacted all type of farmers in the US. Cranney decided to give it away to those in need as lots of residents in Idaho are filing unemployment claims. According to the Idaho Department of Labor, so many people have not filed claims in 2019 as they filed in the last few weeks.
"I just felt like it could be something to maybe give back to the community. I know people are struggling financially with the shutdown of the economy," Cranney stated to Fox News. A lot of people who came to grab the potatoes didn't just come for themselves. They grabbed for their friends, families and neighbours who are impacted by the virus, he added.
According to the New York Times, dairy farmers in America are estimated to dump around 3.7 million gallons of milk every day. There has been a sharp shift in the demands of dairy products like butter and cheese from the wholesale foodservice market to retail grocery stores due to the closure of schools and restaurants.
