The coronavirus pandemic has upended food supply chains, led to closures of meat producing plants and left Americans with the unsettling experience of seeing empty shelves at supermarkets.
Coupled with the run on toilet paper that led to severe shortages, recent events are leading Americans to wonder if the nation's food supply is secure.
Experts say that by and large, Americans don’t need to worry about food running out, but that does not mean all food will be readily available.
“I think we have a strong food supply system, and it’s diversified enough to provide the products to consumers,” said Olga Isengildina Massa, an associate professor of agriculture and applied economics at Virginia Tech.
“Obviously it has a lot of hiccups right now, but we’re working through the system,” she added.
Here are five of the major challenges facing food supply chains.
Virus outbreaks at food plants (...)
Agricultural reliance on guest workers (...)
Supply chain mismatches (...)
Increased food insecurity (...)
Crunch on delivery capacity (...)
[ed. Important. See also: Here's why you can't find frozen fries, while U.S. farmers are sitting on tons of potatoes (Reuters); and Severe coronavirus outbreaks stagger some meat-packing plants in Washington (Seattle Times):]
"So far, Corral has maintained his health, and has stayed on the job even as many co-workers opted to stay home. The facility, during normal operations, processes enough beef each day to feed 4 million people, according to the company. And Corral takes pride in his support of that effort."
“I don’t want to have a shortage of food later,” he said. “That’s my motivation. I feel like my job produces something that benefits the community.”
Coupled with the run on toilet paper that led to severe shortages, recent events are leading Americans to wonder if the nation's food supply is secure.
Experts say that by and large, Americans don’t need to worry about food running out, but that does not mean all food will be readily available.“I think we have a strong food supply system, and it’s diversified enough to provide the products to consumers,” said Olga Isengildina Massa, an associate professor of agriculture and applied economics at Virginia Tech.
“Obviously it has a lot of hiccups right now, but we’re working through the system,” she added.
Here are five of the major challenges facing food supply chains.
Virus outbreaks at food plants (...)
Agricultural reliance on guest workers (...)
Supply chain mismatches (...)
Increased food insecurity (...)
Crunch on delivery capacity (...)
by Niv Elis, The Hill | Read more:
Image: Dave Sanders for The New York Times[ed. Important. See also: Here's why you can't find frozen fries, while U.S. farmers are sitting on tons of potatoes (Reuters); and Severe coronavirus outbreaks stagger some meat-packing plants in Washington (Seattle Times):]
"So far, Corral has maintained his health, and has stayed on the job even as many co-workers opted to stay home. The facility, during normal operations, processes enough beef each day to feed 4 million people, according to the company. And Corral takes pride in his support of that effort."
“I don’t want to have a shortage of food later,” he said. “That’s my motivation. I feel like my job produces something that benefits the community.”
