Global Food Supply Chains Beginning To Erode, Crisis Looms?

The Gold Telegram ^ | 4-16-2020 | Tom Lewis

[blam]

As the coronavirus continues to infect more and more people, food supply chains have started to become more strained in recent days. It was announced yesterday; the world’s biggest pork producer is closing a primary U.S plant indefinitely after a coronavirus outbreak amongst employees.

Smithfield Foods Inc. will halt its pork-processing facility in South Dakota, which accounts for 4% to 5% of U.S pork production. The company also warned that closures across the country are taking American meat supplies “perilously close to the edge” of shortfalls. This is just one of the latest examples of the coronavirus beginning to disrupt food chains at a more significant scale rapidly.

We anticipated this, as we reported on April 1 that food supply chains were in the early stages of being strained. Many countries were preparing many weeks ago by cutting back on exports to begin stockpiling. Surprisingly, dairy farmers in the United States are starting to dump milk because there was no place for them to go as the marketplace for dairy products has been affected by the closures of restaurants, schools, hotels, and food service businesses.

One would begin to believe history might not be repeating itself, but it is undoubtedly starting to rhyme. During the great depression of the 1930s, the hardest-hit industry was farming. Farm incomes dropped by nearly two-thirds at the beginning of the 1930s. Dairy farmers dumped countless gallons of milk into the street instead of accepting a penny a quart.

During World War 1, farmers had produced record crops and livestock to keep everyone fed. However, when prices started to fell, they tried to harvest even more to pay their debts and living expenses. In the early 30s, prices dropped so low that many farmers went bankrupt and lost their farms.

(snip)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yep. Subsidize something and you get more of it! Nothing annoys me more than learned helplessness!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

#WeAreAllVegansNow

[Amberdawn]

Isn’t Smithfield owned by the Chinese?

[DuncanWaring]

Yes.

[Cold Heart]

2200 watt Honda generator and 5-10 gallons of gas could keep your freezer frozen for a month or more if that is all you used it for.

I figure a gallon a day (8hr run time) to selectively run a couple of refrigerators, a freezer, lights, portable space heater, electronics, including battery charge for my microwave communications transmitter. (mine is the older 2000 watt Honda generator)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thank you! We will be getting another, BIGGER generator as soon as it’s practical. :)

[blam]

"Thank you! We will be getting another, BIGGER generator as soon as it’s practical. :)"

Get one with natural gas or propane. You won't have to worry about the gas going bad. Propane in tanks will last for years.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks, Blam! :)

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Pollster1 :" How can they tolerate it so often, when home cooking is (or would be with practice) so much better? "

I think that you kinda answered your own question.
Many Millennials never had that much opportunity to learn how to cook at their momma's knee;
in my own instance, although not a millennial, I was specifically told to NOT come into the kitchen.
During holiday's when the extended family came together, there was the outdated division of labor : all the men in the living room with TV sports, and with all the women running the kitchen.
I think one of the best 'newly wed' presents for young couples is "The Joy of Cooking", although it is usually not found on the 'gift registry'.
There are instructions of how to economize by making various meals from cheap meat cuts, and offers variety and hacks in vegetable preparation and presentation.
With a good cook book, lacking instructions and recipes from the family cook, meals will never be boring; a good cook is a gem to behold, and greatly valued.

[JDoutrider]

4L8r

[Glad2bnuts]

You betcha they would. Someone is taking up our production of toilet paper too. I don’t know how paper towels, napkins, kleenex and sanitary wipes can be in such short supply either. Somebody is buying them up, and it can hardly be blamed on normal shopping or hoarding. It has been a month now, you would think the supply would now be meeting demand. In a free market system you would think this would be a chance to make a huge profit. That doesn’t seem to be happening.

[VideoDoctor]

Stores throughout Nashville and middle Tennessee are well stocked and have been for at least 2 weeks.