It’s an unprecedented time in our nation’s modern history as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. All parts of industry and business have been impacted, including farming, agriculture and food production.

We’ve all seen empty shelves at grocery stores. The food supply chain strained to keep up with the shift from eating at restaurants to eating more meals at home. For a closer look at this topic, we toured Birmingham’s Wood Fruitticher, stopped in at Chappy’s Deli and put in a call with Douglas Food Valu.

Farmers markets were deemed “essential businesses” early on. That led to a major increase in folks visiting U-Picks, farm stands and markets, as they provided a solution to the problem of cabin fever in a safe, socially distanced environment. Melissa Bowman snags a few fresh strawberries from Penton Farms and Sugar Hill U-Pick in Verbena before stoping in at Sweet Creek Farm Market in Pike Road.

While their city neighbors were juggling the demands of working from home, Alabama’s farmers have simply kept on farming. But concerns about low prices for cattle and crops loom heavy. Kevin Worthington talks to Washington County’s Walt Richardson and Lamar County’s Jay Buckley to find out more about how farmers fared through COVID-19.

Finally, we took the show on the road to Union Springs for a visit with Sidney Phelps of Bonnie Plants. Lots of folks have turned to gardening as a new hobby during the pandemic, which means Bonnie Plants is busier than ever before. That leads to the sad news – this show is Sidney’s last with Simply Southern as he focuses more on growing the e-commerce section of Bonnie Plants.

Sidney – thanks for sharing your expertise over these last five-and-a-half seasons. We’ll miss you!

We’d love to read your comments wishing Sidney well!