b'AGRICULTURESouth Georgia Farmers Had to Think Inside the BoxF armers live with the never-ending question, Whats next? For the past three years, South Georgia farmers have endured multiple setbacks, from Hurricane Michael in 2018 ($2.5 billion in devastation to Southwest Georgias agricultural industry) to the continued saturation of unfairly-priced Mexican produce flooding the U.S. market. This year, with great anticipation for a profitable spring harvest, South Georgia fruit and vegetable farmers were cautiously optimistic. However, by March, the states produce market was uncertain.When the dominos began to fall in late February, the U.S. found itself in a national public health crisis due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). As the weeks passed, states began issuing shelter-at-home orders The food service industry is about half our business. With schools and restaurants closed, we had to have some place for the food to go. - SAM WATSONthat brought the closing of schools, restaurants, bars, theme parks, and non-essential businesses.When the pandemic escalated, there was an immediate disruption of the U.S. food supply chain. The U.S. food industry has two primary supply chains: commercial and household consumption. In 2018, Americans spent $1.7 trillion on food, with 54 percent at restaurants, bars, sports venues, and other food service establishments.For most U.S. produce growers, seasonal crops are distributed equally between supermarket chains and big-box retail stores. The other half is sold to food service distributors that supply fresh fruits and vegetables to schools, restaurants, and other institutional GEORGIA GROWNcustomers, all of which either closed entirely or moved to limited service due to the COVID-19 pandemic.In South Florida, the sudden decrease in the food service market left produce growers with nowhere to sell their crops. Given the highly perishable nature of most fresh fruits and vegetables, many growers were unable to switch to other marketing channels. BUSINESS + CULTURE 33'