Video conferencing can provide a social salve. Streaming content and distance learning have been pretty great for families. Delivery services have enabled us to stay home and still get what we need. But when we’re talking about essential businesses, we have to move closer to the base of Maslow’s pyramid. It’s the food, dude. And the food starts in the dirt. Now is as good a moment as any for Americans to pull their heads out of that dirt and show a little appreciation—or at least a little less bigoted contempt—for those who toil in the soil. NYT: Farmworkers, Mostly Undocumented, Become ‘Essential’ During Pandemic. “Ms. Silva, who has spent much of her life in the United States evading law enforcement, now carries a letter from her employer in her wallet, declaring that the Department of Homeland Security considers her ‘critical to the food supply chain.'” (Here’s a bulletin: Ms. Silva was essential before the pandemic too. So when we stick a fork in the fruits of her labor, let’s also stick a fork in the political myth that she’s some kind of threat to America.)