I don’t believe I specifically said grain, as grain would be the least efficient agricultural product to store. That is, we have a vast amount *available* to us if we want it; it takes up a huge amount of space; and it is of low relative value.
Yes, I’ll admit that this government storage system has likely been depleted as such, but that doesn’t mean the storage is either lost, nor in the hands of ruthless capitalists who will sell out America in an instant for even a tiny increase in their filthy profits.
That is, for example, Americold, which provides a vast amount of refrigerated storage all over the US, both to private corporations, and by government contract. So, technically, the government isn’t storing the surplus in government warehouses, but it makes little difference.
Agribusiness as a whole is oriented to a “push” system by which farmers sell to commodities brokers, who in turn sell to retailers, very carefully calculating market demand ahead of time, so that farmers do not over or under produce. And while this can be fouled somewhat that the broker level by speculators or weather, or in retail transport, the end result is reasonable stability in prices.
So how much reserve is prudent? Good question.
The original assertion was a potential breakdown in the EBT system leading to food riots. Unlikely.