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4/18/20

Food supplies: Will Grocery Stores Start Running Out of Food? - by Dave Wedge

 As recently as last week, grocery stores were jammed with panicked customers filling their carts with meat, frozen foods, canned goods, pasta and other items to get them through what could be weeks of isolation. Now, though, many grocery stores are turning into ghost towns, as braving human contact feels more and more like—and perhaps is—putting your life at risk. Not unlike the real estate or stock markets, this kind of buying volatility is destined to cause disruptions in grocery store supply chains, and there are signs that food shortages could arise should the national lockdown linger into summer as many expect.

While it’s still early to predict the impacts that global lockdowns will have on food supplies, there is evidence out of China that the crisis is taking a toll on agriculture and livestock. Vos’ organization reported this week that 60 percent of agricultural businesses in the most impacted areas of China were reporting logistics disruptions. These disruptions include shortages in feed for animals, a lack of workers to care for livestock and tend to crops, and an inability to get other essential supplies. “As spring arrives, agricultural enterprises in many places face serious logistics problems,” the IFPRI report states. “Livestock farming also faces challenges similar to China’s—problems that may require government intervention to avert shortages or price spikes.”

Sam Rocco, owner of BC Produce Inc., a large distributor in Chelsea, agrees that workforce health could become an issue across the food distribution system, but tried to put a rosy spin on the increasingly nerve-wracking situation. “At the moment, the system is running smoothly,” he said. “We’re getting plenty of product. When there was the rush to the supermarkets, that caused a spike in demand at the farms and in the need for transportation, and that caused a little bit of disruption, but since then, that rush has subsided. It’s a very robust system. I think we’re going to survive it. Hopefully it won’t last too long and we’ll all be alright.”

Read more at: Will Grocery Stores Start Running Out of Food?

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