"The hiccups in the commercial supply chain are concerning, but manageable–we can live without eating out. The true concern resides with the consumer supply chain, the food that we pick up in the grocery store. As factories trim back production due to either COVID-19 related closures or trailing demand, will we have enough food to keep the shelves stocked and our bellies full? Conversely, shortages of fresh produce could mark America’s final progression into the sort of country that relies solely on processed food for nutrition and survival.
Our ability to get food hinges on delivery to stores. Right now, though, truckers don’t want to deliver to places like NYC and other COVID-19 hotspots. Stores are forced to wait to stock their shelves, which quickly causes panic among consumers who are unable to stock up quickly enough to comfortably wait out the pandemic.
Stocking up for COVID-19 isn’t like stocking up for a hurricane. We could be in this for a long time. That means this kind of shortage is more like a sustained attack on our functional ability to stay fed and alive. There are no easy fixes, but there is good news.
There’s a window of opportunity right now to stock up before the supply chain partially (or totally) collapses and the only thing on the store shelves are Hot Pockets, Doritos and Zebra Cakes. Stores are still restocking right now, since most states that house meat packing plants and farms haven’t yet reached their apex of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic does peak in those rural states, new research indicates that it could hit them a lot harder than urban areas. Rural residents are older and more prone to complications like heart disease and obesity that dramatically increase the risk of death from COVID-19.
If–and when–a wave of deaths hit those farm states, our food supply chains could start to collapse and grocery store shelves around the country could be bare of many essential items.
How to prepare
There are a few things you can (and should) do to prepare for serious, sustained food shortages and to help prevent them from happening.
The first and most important action you can take is to keep your pandemic food supplies topped up. You know the old tip about never letting your car’s gas tank drop below half, in case you need to run out in a sudden emergency? Treat your food stores like that, and do not let them get too low before you refill.
Rob McNealy has been on top of the food supply issue and contributed to this report. In our collective imagination, it seems that re-opening the economy after a pandemic might be as simple as operating a light switch. With a flick of the finger, the economy will turn back on and be as it was."
https://theprepared.com/blog/as-worries-mount-over-us-food-supply-chain-nows-the-time-to-prepare-for-possible-shortages/
Our ability to get food hinges on delivery to stores. Right now, though, truckers don’t want to deliver to places like NYC and other COVID-19 hotspots. Stores are forced to wait to stock their shelves, which quickly causes panic among consumers who are unable to stock up quickly enough to comfortably wait out the pandemic.
Stocking up for COVID-19 isn’t like stocking up for a hurricane. We could be in this for a long time. That means this kind of shortage is more like a sustained attack on our functional ability to stay fed and alive. There are no easy fixes, but there is good news.
There’s a window of opportunity right now to stock up before the supply chain partially (or totally) collapses and the only thing on the store shelves are Hot Pockets, Doritos and Zebra Cakes. Stores are still restocking right now, since most states that house meat packing plants and farms haven’t yet reached their apex of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic does peak in those rural states, new research indicates that it could hit them a lot harder than urban areas. Rural residents are older and more prone to complications like heart disease and obesity that dramatically increase the risk of death from COVID-19.
If–and when–a wave of deaths hit those farm states, our food supply chains could start to collapse and grocery store shelves around the country could be bare of many essential items.
How to prepare
There are a few things you can (and should) do to prepare for serious, sustained food shortages and to help prevent them from happening.
The first and most important action you can take is to keep your pandemic food supplies topped up. You know the old tip about never letting your car’s gas tank drop below half, in case you need to run out in a sudden emergency? Treat your food stores like that, and do not let them get too low before you refill.
Rob McNealy has been on top of the food supply issue and contributed to this report. In our collective imagination, it seems that re-opening the economy after a pandemic might be as simple as operating a light switch. With a flick of the finger, the economy will turn back on and be as it was."
https://theprepared.com/blog/as-worries-mount-over-us-food-supply-chain-nows-the-time-to-prepare-for-possible-shortages/