THE Cambridge Connection - Episode 36

It’s huge, right? Yes. Obviously, you don’t want to buy 52 gallons of milk because that probably won’t make it, right? Of course, it’s not, unless you have six teenage boys, which few people probably do. Probably.

So, soft grains like barley, rye, grits, quinoa, all of those, obviously, same thing, dry and can be stored for quite some time. Dried or freeze-dried meat, so jerky, beef jerky, freeze-dried beef that you can store, dried pasta, dried canned beans. These are all kind of common sense, but ones that might not be would be like dried milk. We’re going to take a quick break, and we’ll be right back with our special guest, Ashley Sears-Randall. This is The Cambridge Connection.

Spring is here, and it’s a great time to clean up your debts with a debt management plan from Cambridge Credit Counseling. Reduce your credit card interest rates and lower your monthly payments. Call Cambridge Credit Counseling today. 1-800-CAMBRIDGE. Welcome back, everyone.

Introducing agriculture department guest

This is The Cambridge Connection. I’m your host, Gordon Oliver, here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie, and we’re talking about the food shortages, and nothing better than to have special guest, Ashley Sears-Randall, Deputy Commissioner, Policy, and Legislative Director, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Ashley, welcome to The Cambridge Connection. Well, thank you so much, Gordon and Tina Marie, for having me today. Glad to have you.

This is obviously very important information. This is a show that podcasts nationally, and it’s really going to be great to kind of understand in one section of the country how we’re dealing with some of the things that are coming along, like our agricultural problems, and before we get into that, if you could just tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and a little bit about your position as well. Sure. So, as you mentioned, I serve as the Deputy Commissioner and our Director of Legislative and Policy Affairs at the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. I work with farmers in all capacities, as well as with legislators and our stakeholder groups around policies and legislation that impacts the farming community.

I actually grew up on a dairy farm in the western part of the state, and I’m a fourth-generation dairy farmer, so having the opportunity now to work with our farmers in this capacity has been really rewarding and fulfilling and challenging at times, as I know you were talking about food shortages and the challenges that are facing agriculture, but there’s also a lot of opportunities in Massachusetts for agriculture and for our farmers, so it’s also an exciting time to be involved. And that’s why, actually, we’re glad you’re here, because we don’t want to focus on the doom and gloom. We do want to look at the brighter things of what’s going on, so it’s really wonderful having you. Well, thank you very much again, and really looking forward to our conversation today. But equally as important, that we don’t want to rely on news headlines to just have people really understanding what’s going on.

Farmer mental health program initiatives

So let’s kind of get into it a little bit. In today, where we’re at, give us a little information about what’s going on with your department and what initiatives you have going on right now. Sure. So I would say that one of the main highlights right now is the post-pandemic recovery and just working with farmers to get back to somewhat normal sense of operations, whatever that may look like. At the department, the first part of our mission is to help keep the Massachusetts food supply safe and secure, and that’s not only the food supply itself in terms of food production, but also the people and the workers within the industry.

And one of the things that we’ve really been focusing on is the mental health and well-being of our farmers and ag stakeholders. And we’ve been fortunate to receive last fall a $500,000 grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network to be able to build a mental health and wellness resource kit for our farmers. Wow. Much needed, I’m sure. Of course.

And can you give just a little bit of a summary of the challenges that farmers were having during the pandemic that now that these resources are starting to help them get out of? Because this is Mental Health Awareness Month. We’ve been touching on various different categories of impacts of mental health, one being debt stress. So on the production side, can you talk a little bit about the results of coming out of the pandemic and what these farmers were dealing with? Absolutely.

So I would say early on in the pandemic, we certainly all of us were in crisis mode. And for our role at the department, it was working with farms and businesses just to ensure that they could stay open and operate safely their businesses to be able to continue food production. And we know that really one of the silver linings of the pandemic was that there was a heightened attention on the local food system. So more consumers maybe wanted to avoid the grocery store lines and go to their local farm stand or invest in mobile delivery from a local farm or purchase a community supported agriculture share. And so they looked to their communities and their neighborhoods to find where food was being sourced.

So at the same time, the farmers were feeling more pressure in terms of production, keeping their employees safe and implementing safety procedures and hygiene protocols so that they can continue to show up every day, whether at the farm stand or in the fields to produce food. And that certainly put a lot of pressure on our local food system with that increased demand. On top of the other challenges that farms are facing, including climate change, high costs of land in Massachusetts. We do have some of the largest pressures in terms of land development. So we work with farms on that front in terms of land access and then labor.

One of the challenges from the pandemic we saw as well as labor. And that continues to be a challenge for our farms in having a reliable and stable workforce. So there are certainly some challenges that are facing the industry. If you’re just joining us, this is The Cambridge Connection. We’re here with Ashley Sears-Randall from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

And with all of that being said now, turning the page to other problems, right? Economically, inflation-wise, the cost of goods, the cost of fuel, the cost of energy, all of that is going up and people are very aware of it now. It was slowly but surely creeping in and being discussed that it may or may not be, but obviously we’re there now. And in the pandemic, it was interesting what was an essential service versus what isn’t. And obviously no more essential service than food.

So the energy and attention that your department put towards that, obviously nothing more important than being able to feed we the people. So now that we’re at this point in our economy with inflation, what’s the plan now and what’s the biggest challenge you’re dealing with? And with a grant like this, what are the initiatives that you’re going after? Well, certainly, as you said, inflation, that’s impacting the cost of production for our farmers. Fertilizer costs are at an all-time high.

Labor, as I mentioned, shortage of labor and how that impacts the cost of goods sold. And then the Ukraine-Russia crisis, that’s impacting all of our farms across the country, not only in Massachusetts, increasing cost of goods, especially fertilizer, cost of seed. Those are major challenges right now for our farmers. And so as we’re looking to go into post-pandemic recovery and normalize businesses, our farmers have to face new challenges now that weren’t anticipated. And so with our mental health program, it’s really looking to help farms with their mental health and well-being.

When I say developing a toolkit for farms, it’s really going to be tailored to each individual farm and farmer’s needs. No two farms in the Commonwealth are the same, and we recognize that each farm has their own needs and their own challenges that they’re facing. And so when we’re developing a mental health toolkit for them, we need to first hear from the farmers and what’s on their mind, what are the biggest things that are keeping them up at night. Just like we say at the department, there’s a different issue every day, and something that keeps up at night, what is keeping the farmers up at night? Of course.

And I think what we’re going to do is we’re going to take a quick break, because I’d love for you to break down the toolkit and the steps, just so you can explain to people what that toolkit entails. Because again, mental health, it’s mental health month, and we really would love to hear about that, helping the production of food. Because without the employees and the farmers being in a good place mentally, that could cause just a whole series of different problems. So we’re going to take a quick break. This is Gordon Oliver with The Cambridge Connection.

Small talk during show break

We’ll be right back. Well, Tina Marie, here we are, already in our mid-30s. Have you checked your license lately? You’re a far cry from being in your mid-30s. No, no.

Not me. Our show, The Cambridge Connection. We’re already more than halfway through our first year of great guests and need-to-know topics. Oh, I thought you were talking about your age. Well, that would take a lot longer than we have in this message, but what only takes a moment to share is that if you miss any of our shows on Saturdays on WHMP, don’t worry.

com, click on podcasts, and all of our shows are listed there. Listeners can find us on all the podcast sites where they listen to their favorite podcast. Well, when I get home, I’m going to listen to my favorite episode. And what’s that? You know, the one with me in it.

Mental health toolkit details continued

Ha! Welcome back, everyone. This is The Cambridge Connection. I’m your host, Gordon Oliver, here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie, and our special guest, Ashley Sears-Randall from the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources, talking about a very important topic, which is the production of food and the future and safety of agriculture. So Ashley, can you break down the mental health and wellness toolkit collaborative approach that the department is offering?

Sure. So in terms of our mental health program that we’re working to develop at the department, really the first phase is, as I mentioned earlier, working with the farming community and our ag stakeholders to understand what the challenges are. So as part of the first phase of this three-phase program, we’ll be surveying the ag community as well as doing one-on-one interviews to understand what some of the challenges are they’re facing, where their stress and anxiety may be coming from at this point in time, and then from there, working with outside contractors to develop this mental health training package. So we plan to host trainings across the state to ensure that all of our stakeholders are served, and it won’t only be farmers that’ll be able to participate in the trainings. It will be our staff at the department who have either day-to-day or frequent interactions with farmers in the field through their work, and also our service providers, because we recognize that a lot of our service providers are having contact with farmers on a daily basis, whether it’s extension services or the milk truck driver who comes to the farm every week.

We understand that there’s a need for them as well to be able to participate in these trainings, to be able to recognize the signs of stress and signs of need in the community. So that’s really the first phase in terms of our program, is to be able to offer the trainings for not only the farmers to be able to recognize ways that they can seek assistance, but also for the service providers and our staff as well. And then I was going to just add that from these trainings, there may be more conversations that come about from the trainings where there was an unrecognized need that we hadn’t thought about, and we’ll be able to adapt those and potentially hold field events or conferences with the community or Lunch and Learns. We know that in ag, time is precious. That’s one of the most precious commodities beyond the people in ag, and so we want to make sure that we’re using the time appropriately and being mindful of the farmers’ time.

I would imagine it’s a learning experience for everyone. As you interact with everyone on a daily basis, you’re going to come across people with different needs, and I think that’s fabulous that you’re willing to address that and take that all into consideration as you go. And I think, too, thank you for that, Tina-Marie, because I will say, as I mentioned, the mass agriculture is so diverse, and the farmers’ needs are very different from a new and beginning farmer to a seasoned farmer that may be a fifth, sixth, or seventh-generation farmer. We even have some 12-generation farmers in the state, so understanding what the challenges might be for a new farmer coming in are very different from a farmer who’s looking to either pass the farm on to the next generation or to sell the farm. So we want to be mindful of that when we’re developing the toolkit so that we’re really serving everyone’s needs, and it’s a focused toolkit for each individual based on what those needs are.

That’s awesome. You know, the focus during Mental Health Awareness Month, we’ve been talking a little bit on the show about how all of the indicators coming out of the pandemic for consumers, when they were shut down, not spending, and then they came out, we were opened up again. There was overspending, there was overindulging on new lines of credit, and all of these things are circling towards the perfect storm of really making it difficult to keep your mind straight and positive because there’s so much negativity, it seems, dealing with all of these challenges. So the fact that your department has put all these resources together in one of the most important processes of our economy is providing food, really, really glad to hear all the great work that you’re doing. S.

population is involved in food and agriculture. So there’s this weight and also a sense of pride on our farmers and our farming community to be able to produce food. It’s a very worthy occupation, but there’s a lot of stress that comes with that weight as well, and I think being mindful of that and just knowing how sensitive a topic mental health is, we want to be mindful of that as we’re working to develop these programs so that they really are beneficial and we’re hearing the needs of the community and developing resources that will actually be helpful to them, and at the same time, removing the stigma of addressing help or even calling another farmer to say that you need help. Because if our farmers don’t have their mental health there or in a good place, then it really doesn’t matter what their physical health is. And so it’s a complete system, and we want to make sure that we’re helping our farmers and the ag community on all of those fronts.

Pandemic recovery programs and closing

Well, that’s an awesome, awesome system, Ashley, helping each other. That’s simply great. Quick question. What other notable highlights or programs came out of the pandemic? Is there anything else you’d like to touch base on?

Sure. So I will say that early on in the pandemic, we were involved in helping to launch a food security task force, and the Baker-Polito administration was very supportive of this. And in April of 2020, we launched the food security task force to be able to address these needs of how do we get food to consumers? How do we support our farmers to make sure that their businesses stay open? And from that, the administration launched a $36 million food security infrastructure grant program.

And the first round of that program helped to put into place infrastructure improvements, whether it was mobile delivery services or the ability to build new greenhouses or farm stands. And just in the two years since that program was launched, we’ve seen those firsthand impacts and how we’ve been able to increase production for consumers in the Commonwealth and support our farmers with aging infrastructure needs that they really needed. So there’s definitely been some silver linings, and we’re looking forward to being able to continue to help farmers in different ways as they continue to adapt their businesses. Focusing on the positive. Sounds good.

I try to. I say in agriculture, you have to have your glass half full to be in farming because there’s definitely challenges, but a lot of opportunities as well. Not a more important conversation and just amazing kudos to you and your department for the great work that you’re doing because, again, nothing more important than food production and keeping people obviously in a good frame of mind as they’re working through the challenges that they deal with. And those, you know, when you’re at the dinner table tonight, think about how you got that food. Yeah, indeed.

I know I’m going to be thinking differently. So Ashley, before we let you go, and thank you so much for joining us, can you tell listeners where they can kind of keep an eye on these things and how they can contact with questions? Yes. So if anyone would like to learn more about any of our programs, and I should say we’ll be launching a separate mental health program page. So that’s currently not on our website.

gov backslash Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and be able to learn about our programs. And thank you again for this opportunity to join you today, Gordon and Tina Marie. Thanks so much for joining us. This is the Cambridge Connection. We’ll be right back.

Massachusetts farmers pride themselves on their ability to produce healthy, high quality crops and livestock, but they often overlook their mental health and wellness. To effectively meet the mental health and wellness needs of the local Massachusetts farmers, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has launched the Strengthening and Enhancing the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network in Massachusetts project. The project’s goal is to provide language, context, and resources to enhance mental health conversations with a focus on furthering the efforts of ending the stigma associated with discussion and treatment for the Commonwealth’s farm and agricultural community stakeholders. Planning and outreach are underway, including a series of training seminars focused on helping Commonwealth farmers and producers and those who work with and support Massachusetts farms. gov and search M-D-A-R.

Gardening and home improvement small talk

Welcome back, everyone. This is the Cambridge Connection. I’m your host, Gordon Oliver, here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie, and, Tina, again, another amazing show with such important information about how we’re going to sustain food production. It’s ironic that we’re having this show at this time, Gordon, so I’m in the process of doing a lot of home improvements, interior and exterior, and I bought a power drill. Oh.

Yeah. I took it out of the package and I put it right back in. Ironically, what I ended up doing is going out in my backyard with my potting soil and my seeds, and my granddaughter and I planted our garden instead, so I’m sticking to what I know. Not that I don’t have a green thumb or anything like that. I was going to ask.

No, no, no. I can take seeds and I can grow them, and now I’m going to have to really pay more attention and just be a little bit more proud of myself for even doing something like that. Couldn’t use the power drill. Power drill’s gone. Do you know how to use a power drill?

I do. Oh, well, all right. Good to know. I do. The thing that’s important, if you are using a power drill, is really paying attention to how to maintain the battery properly, right?

So that’s a big deal. What’s a keyless chuck? You don’t need a key to open up the teeth to put the drill in. Okay. It’s basically you reverse it and hold the drill and then put the bit in and then turn it forward and hold it.

Okay. I’m going to stick with my garden tools. Thank you. I know there’s these things that are new to some people. There’s like do-it-yourself videos online.

I did Google it. Okay. So you still don’t know what a keyless chuck is then? It was like a hole somewhere. Gordon, I’m going to stick to the garden gloves and the seeds and the hose and yes, thank you.

You’re still in La La Bieber land obviously, so we’ll just kind of move on. Well, I’m glad you know how to use a power drill. I want to tell you, I’ve been in some areas where there’s been a lot of diversity of cultures and one of the things that places around the world do individually that we do not is use their land and landscape to solve some of these problems, grow your own, have livestock and we’re in a place in this country in a lot of areas where landscaping is more about trees and- Flowers. Wood chips and all kinds of things, but it may be time. You mean like the stones that I bought today?

Well, you’re doing all kinds of projects, but you put gardening as one of them. I did. But in food crises, it may be time in this time of year with weather being what it is for people to start taking a look at a piece of their property if they can and maybe start with growing a couple of vegetables and maybe grow them out year to year. Tomatoes. Lettuce.

They’re very easy. Lettuce, tomatoes, absolutely. And they’re nutritional. Especially if you’re growing it with good soil, which is another thing. You can look online, do it yourself on how to make actually nutritious soil.

Did you know that, Tina? No. Now you lost me. Okay. Do it yourself.

I bought it in a bag. I bought it in a bag. Okay. And it worked. But you have dirt, right?

Soil. Is that the same? No, but you have dirt, right? Yes. So you can turn that dirt into really nutritious soil.

I suggest you look it up online. Oh, good to know. Takes a little time. And I’ll save even more money, I’m sure. That’s right.

Closing quote and show credits

It takes a little time, but you can develop it. All right, Gordon. Thank you. All right. As we do with the show every week, we’re going to end with a quote because obviously we are in challenging times.

Recently, we didn’t discuss this yet, but there was a blood moon, right? I heard about that, yeah, yes, yes. Some people are feeling that there is impact if the moon impacts water on the earth, that if we’re 70% water, it has some impact on us as well. I 100% agree with that. So for all the listeners, I wanna help you clear your energy.

Today is a great day to clear your energy. Make a simple list of things you want to let go of. Now tear up that list, throw it away as a sign that you are finished with those things. Take a deep cleansing breath and welcome a fresh new future. Wanna give special thanks to our producers, Lisa and Leah, for helping us every single week to put this show together and produce it with nothing but immaculate, tactical excellence.

On a side note, the show, every week, we’re bringing great experts. org. com, click on podcasts, or you can go where you listen to your favorite podcast shows, type in The Cambridge Connection, and we’ll come up and you can listen. Once again, be part of the conversation, email us, and if you are looking for help with your credit card and unsecured debt, feel free to call.