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| Economy | |
| No, we're not running out of food. It just looks that way. | |
| 2020-04-17 | |
“I think the entire American public is getting a lesson in the supply chain,” says Mike Troy, editorial director of Progressive Grocer. “I bet they wish they weren’t.” They might especially wish they weren’t if they knew, say food supply experts, that the lessons they’re getting are likely wrong. To reduce such uncertainty, says Mr. Mejia-Argueta, “we have to remember that the episodes we’re hearing about are local, and expected.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration insists there are no nationwide shortages of food, though inventories may run low in grocery stores before restocking. “Food production and manufacturing are widely dispersed throughout the U.S. and there are currently no widespread disruptions reported in the supply chain,” it reported last month. Before the pandemic, 54% of U.S. food dollars were spent on meals away from home. Now suppliers are scrambling to redirect food from restaurants and food service to retailers for at-home eating, a sudden and unprecedented shift in consumption. Take bacon, for example. Doug Baker, an executive at FMI, the food industry association, points out that “the 20 pounds of bacon intended for food service may be repackaged under a store brand in 1 pound consumer packages.” But that doesn’t happen overnight. Likewise, logistics resources are being diverted into food transport. “One of the hardest parts now is how to move cargo from its source to where people need it,” says Mr. Mejia-Argueta. “More truckers are needed, so truckers are being diverted into the food supply system from other sectors that are momentarily quiet.” Trucks that used to carry auto parts might now be hauling flour. | |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #3 I am kinda gettin tired of ramen and frozen pizza. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-04-17 16:55 |
| #2 Journalists treat context as a deep mystery incomprehensible to mortal minds, especially their own. The rush on TP in the US was because they failed to report that we make 95+% of our own, and now the closure of a slaughterhouse or two is being turned into the shutdown of the entire food sector. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-04-17 14:15 |
| #1 "simply see headlines about rotting vegetables and shuttered slaughterhouses." Oh, for halfway responsible and intelligent media. May be too much to hope for. |
| Posted by: Tom 2020-04-17 11:35 |