About this episode
Most food grown in Washington needs to be kept cool before it ends up on our plates, so refrigeration systems are critical for food and farming production across the state.
While almost all farmers and others years ago changed storage refrigeration equipment to technology that protects the Earth’s ozone layer, regulators now fear the chemicals in these newer systems are a global warming risk.
Because of this, lawmakers have clamped down on cold storage facilities and pushed them to convert to different refrigeration technology–yet again.
Emily Merk, the storage manager for an Othello, Washington-area onion warehouse, and the communications coordinator for the North American Potato Storage Organization (NAPSO), tells Dillon not only are the new rules strict, but they’ve been rolled out on a short timeline, posing huge challenges–and costs in the millions–for food and farming facilities, at a time when many farms are already barely surviving.
