U.S. food pantries have faced unprecedented demand while billions of dollars in produce has gone to waste due to supply chain disruptions from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Farmers, without their usual foodservice markets, are being forced to dump milk, eggs, and produce—even while there is an urgent, unprecedented need at food banks. And while there are efforts underway to address the gap between production and distribution, in between are many questions about how our food supply and distribution systems are set up—or not—to respond to disruption.
About $5 billion of fresh fruits and vegetables have already gone to waste, The Hill reported, citing the industry trade group Produce Marketing Association.
The group's CEO Cathy Burns said that "there's product literally wasting on the ground and then you have a whole population of people that are in dire need of nutritious foods. We have hundreds of thousands of farmers sitting on product," said Burns. "Because they don't have the financial means to ship and distribute it throughout the country, there is good, nutritious food going to waste while there are thousands of people going hungry."
Coronavirus-related lockdowns and business closures this year have led to "staggering" levels of job loss, roughly 22 million people have applied for unemployment insurance since mid-March. Those job and income losses have driven up demand for assistance from U.S. food banks and soup kitchens. In recent days, social media have been filled with images of people seeking help from food banks.
Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the United States, has a national network of 200 food banks. A recent survey of those food banks found that through April 1, 98% saw an increase in demand, 59% had less inventory, 67% needed more volunteers, 95% had higher operational expenses, and 37% faced "an immediate critical funding shortfall."
"The only thing we can do is ration and give families less," Eric Cooper, president of a food bank in San Antonio said of the rising demand for food aid. "I would challenge our federal government to put systems in place that allow for wasted food to go to families we are feeding. It's unconscionable."
Food distribution is falling apart, as is the medical equipment supply chain. It is time to do things differently. These developments should push people towards a fundamental rethink of how things are done. Tragically, working people remain blind to other possibilities. The combination of both tradional and innovative farming techniques can feed the world, the internet enables global cooperation, robots will free people from the drudgery of physical and mental effort to benefit all.
About $5 billion of fresh fruits and vegetables have already gone to waste, The Hill reported, citing the industry trade group Produce Marketing Association.
The group's CEO Cathy Burns said that "there's product literally wasting on the ground and then you have a whole population of people that are in dire need of nutritious foods. We have hundreds of thousands of farmers sitting on product," said Burns. "Because they don't have the financial means to ship and distribute it throughout the country, there is good, nutritious food going to waste while there are thousands of people going hungry."
Coronavirus-related lockdowns and business closures this year have led to "staggering" levels of job loss, roughly 22 million people have applied for unemployment insurance since mid-March. Those job and income losses have driven up demand for assistance from U.S. food banks and soup kitchens. In recent days, social media have been filled with images of people seeking help from food banks.
"This year, the COVID-19 crisis is driving more of our neighbors into food insecurity and putting a strain on food banks to provide more meals," Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said. "Never has the charitable food system faced such tremendous challenge, and we need all the resources we can get to help our neighbors during this terrible time."
Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the United States, has a national network of 200 food banks. A recent survey of those food banks found that through April 1, 98% saw an increase in demand, 59% had less inventory, 67% needed more volunteers, 95% had higher operational expenses, and 37% faced "an immediate critical funding shortfall."
"The only thing we can do is ration and give families less," Eric Cooper, president of a food bank in San Antonio said of the rising demand for food aid. "I would challenge our federal government to put systems in place that allow for wasted food to go to families we are feeding. It's unconscionable."
Food distribution is falling apart, as is the medical equipment supply chain. It is time to do things differently. These developments should push people towards a fundamental rethink of how things are done. Tragically, working people remain blind to other possibilities. The combination of both tradional and innovative farming techniques can feed the world, the internet enables global cooperation, robots will free people from the drudgery of physical and mental effort to benefit all.
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