Mountains of food wasted as coronavirus scrambles
supply chain
“As US food banks handle record demand and grocery
stores struggle to keep shelves stocked, farmers are dumping fresh milk and
plowing vegetables back into the dirt as the shutdown of the food service
industry has scrambled the supply chain. Roughly half the food grown in the US
was previously destined for restaurants, schools, stadiums, theme parks and
cruise ships.
Agriculture officials insist that the supply itself is
not in question, but matching that supply with demand and getting it to where
it’s needed most is a new and urgent problem….
The loss of food service business, particularly
schools systems that are large buyers of dairy products, has left producers
with a highly perishable glut that they can’t easily resolve. Preparing and packaging food for retail as opposed to
wholesale, and getting it packed and shipped on trucks, is an entirely new and
expensive problem”.
Related:
Farmers Dump Milk, Break Eggs as Coronavirus Restaurant
Closings Destroy Demand