There are many instances where a word, title, or term’s definition remains static. At some point in its evolution, it fulfilled its distinct dictionary entry and was laid in mortar. This is not the case for fresh produce and those committed to its success: growers, farmers, retailers, and the like. Their definitions are malleable, they defy stillness. I equate this constant evolution with the fact that fresh produce is filled with what many people call “eternal optimists.” With such a gamble on the future, how can they not be?
But such gambles also drive innovation, change, and progress.
Inside their space of dynamic movement and industriousness, I see the farmer, the retailer, and the supply-chain member reinventing themselves constantly. They evolve language and opportunity as they grapple with and resolve the issues of food production, a growing global population, and a changing definition of good food itself. These fresh produce members do not turn away from a fight. Backed by a desire for legacy, impact, and possibility, they roll the dice and thread together wins even when they carry the weight of loss.
In concert with each other, these groups of passionate advocates constantly gamble on the same approach while simultaneously striving to find a better one.
What a feat. What a journey.
My own experiences paled in comparison as these thoughts came to me one spring morning after speaking with a friend from the industry. I found myself standing over the kitchen sink, opening up a head of lettuce with my fingers, and being reminded of the perishability factor in what we do. I pulled out the brown leaves and then realized I had little influence over that small situation. While I may have once seen this head of lettuce as a simple salad or sandwich, I have learned to recognize it as a symbol of mortality, success, or defeat; an investment that can seem so far out of reach for mere mortals like me.
I distinctly remember the feeling of my chest muscles tightening. I thought I had, yet again, wasted a head of lettuce. While fresh produce has become my livelihood in many ways, I am not the boots in the dirt each morning contemplating a future that begins dying as soon as it’s harvested.
At that same moment, I realized the spark of innovation that is unique to our members. Standing in the face of their own mortality and their crop, they must strive time and time again to innovate, one day further, one acre more—thread-bare at times and with finite resources. They find ways to mitigate surprise and buffer against utter uncertainty. I honor you all.
Your wound is both your biggest challenge and biggest source of inspiration. It is both the rocky terrain and the fuel in your tanks.
Innovation. Risk.
And the magnitude of reward.
