There is no doubt that the hardships surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have been reaching every corner of our country. For Jordyn Harrison of the women's lacrosse team that extends into her hometown of Waterloo, Ontario north of the border. Her stepfather has the responsibility of maintaining Green Acre Farm which is a family-run business in the dairy and poultry expertise for 64 years. It is a large farm with around 320 cows ranging in age. On average each cow produces 40 liters of milk a day which equates to about 160 glasses of milk. The farm also gets 50,000 chickens every 16 weeks. Half of them are pullet chicks which are egg layers and the other are broiler chicks which are raised for their meat. The farm contains 1,200 acres of land and these crops are used to feed the cows and whatever is not used is then sold to consumers.

This is a vital business which provides nutrition and nourishment to numerous households across the Ontario province. The closure of restaurants, schools, and other businesses had a negative impact on the dairy industry in a number of ways. The packaging facilities that are set up to distribute milk in bulk to restaurants, creamers for coffee shops, and individual cartons to schools were shut down. Because there was severely reduced demand and excess supply of milk meant all dairy farms in Ontario had to dump 10,000 liters of milk for a period of time on a rotating basis. COVID-19 also affected the poultry side of the business. One of the main chicken processing plants had to shut down because several employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Jordyn feels very fortunate to have lived on a farm and all the life lessons that comes with working hard to achieve success. The dairy farm business is one of the most challenging and strenuous that many people take for granted when they sit down to have breakfast every morning. Jordyn was back home during the lockdown from March until June and she tried to help out in any way she could. The time spent at home allowed her to connect with family and spend time with a younger sister that also is very involved in athletics. Jordyn's story is just one of many that shows the resolve of families and the hope and prayer is that they can survive and later thrive to continue the decade's long tradition of helping feed others.


written by Ryan Thompson