These farmers of color caught a pandemic boom. Now, many fear a bust

For any Washington farmer, 2020 was a desperate year. That spring, with a COVID-19 vaccine still distant, disruptions to the economy and supply chains sent unemployment, poverty and food insecurity rates soaring, magnifying inequities. Food systems broke and farmers' key customers — restaurants, hotels and schools — shut down. Farmworkers became scarce. But that first devastating pandemic year also brought a windfall as federal food assistance funding surged to keep Americans from going hungry. And, unusually for the subsidy-soaked agricultural sector, that federal aid cleared a path for farme...