by will verboven
consumers in the well-fed western world are being jolted with the sight of some empty shelves in grocery stores.
few folks realize how fortunate we are. we expect our stores to be overflowing with food products of every kind every day from everywhere. our idea of a food shortage is when we have only three varieties of apples available.
perhaps covid-19 will cause spoiled consumers to realize that our food supply can become precarious rather quickly.
the real situation is that unless the u.s. cuts off food shipments or our processing plants shut down, there is no food shortage in canada.
what we have is an outbreak of hoarding, which is upsetting the fragile food distribution and retailing system. the system is fragile because due to economics and consumer demands, it has developed into a last-minute supply structure.
for perishable foods, that means the process operates on a 30-day or less schedule. that’s mainly due to consumer demand for fresh, perfect produce. it’s not much longer for other food products as retailers, due to narrow profit margins, want to sell a particular food item many times per year.
to compete and survive, growers, processors, distributors and retailers have developed the most sophisticated food delivery system ever seen in human civilization. that’s a good thing, as we have the safest, finest quality, and least expensive supply of food on the planet. but there is a downside and covid-19 hoarding shows that the system can show cracks quickly.