From https://reader.chathamhouse.org/chokepoints-vulnerabilities-global-food-trade. Reprinted with permission.

Resiliency is the buzz word of the 2020’s. The Food and Agriculture Organization defines resilience as “the ability to prevent disasters and crises as well as to anticipate, absorb, accommodate or recover from them in a timely, efficient and sustainable manner.” Is our food supply resilient?  

COVID-19 is affecting our food supply chain and that may spell trouble in the short and long term.  Although you might experience food shortages at your local grocer, food suppliers do have enough food for those who can afford and access it.  This pandemic, however, could change life as we know it.  We don’t know for sure how well we will fair in the future.  How long will the pandemic last?  How will people act when they sense there are food shortages – even when it’s not real?  Population growth, unemployment, urban poverty, political marginalization and climate change are expected to put more stress on our ability to produce food leading to food insecurity and riots.  Check out this YouTube video, Feeding Nine Billion. Hint: it’s got a lot to do with moral outrage rather than actual food shortages.  The slow US response to COVID-19, empty grocery store shelves, the probable bailout of businesses owned by billionaires, and mass layoffs due to forced (and necessary) isolation are ingredients for moral outrage especially among those most vulnerable. 

Much of our food supply comes from China internationally and California nationally.    According to Goker Aydin and Tinglong Dai, experts in supply chain management, the effect of COVID-19 in China will have serious implications since China is a major producer and user of goods and services in the US.  China has slowed down or suspended production for items such as seafood. More than 80% of our seafood is imported with China being the top producer.   What happens when we have inevitable labor shortages from workers getting sick or injured – everyone along the food supply chain such as farmers, truck drivers, or retail workers.  A bottleneck that few consider are USDA/FDA food inspectors who help to ensure the safety of our food supply. FDA has recently announced it is suspending both its domestic and foreign food inspections through April, 2020 in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Though unrelated to our current epidemic, Chatham House think tank identified 14 chokepoints which can threaten the global food supply. Chokepoints are land and water vulnerabilities where large amount of food trade pass through. The biggest threat is climate-related stress, but certainly COVID-19 is a new and potentially devastating type of chokepoint.

A Rockefeller Foundation report, The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, recommends the development of resilient urban food systems to ensure the food supply chain returns to pre-disaster levels, “…as quickly and equitably as possible.”  God bless my neighbors and food policy colleagues who have put together, on their own, food resources for people to utilize locally due to being laid off such as waiters, bus drivers, hotel housekeepers, etc. Should we rely on the kindness of strangers as the defacto backup system in times of natural emergencies?  It makes me feel good inside but doesn’t create national or local food resiliency or promote food security. 

We must diversity our food security strategy.  The majority of Americans now live in urban areas so promoting urban farming both commercially and individually are two strategies we are recommending.

Supporting your local farmer improves and ensures a robust local economy.  It is estimated that twice the amount of money stays in a community when it goes to a local farmer than a multinational enterprise. Locally grown food is heathier and tastes better.  Produce that comes from afar must be harvested before its peak ripeness and overtime the nutritional value declines. Locally grown food helps reduce greenhouse gases by absorbing and storing CO2 from the atmosphere AND decrease the need for transporting tons of produce from around the world. Transportation is THE major cause of greenhouse gas emission.  Food grown locally can be free of commercial pesticides which are major causes of soil degradation and the decline in the nutritional value of food. Overuse of some pesticides is harmful to health and the environment.

What happens when society has to shut down due to a virus like COVID-19 and farmer’s markets are prohibited? Growing your own food can be a small but vital contribution to resilience. Many people in urban areas live in an environment with few options for fresh food and those options are too expensive. Creating a garden, small or large, can help decrease your food costs.  Most people on a limited income know about the high cost of vegetables, fruits, and herbs.  Over 60% of the US population has one or more chronic diseases like diabetes or hypertension which makes an infection of the COVID-19 virus much worse.  Gardening increases the consumption of plants providing essential vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals leading to improved health. Gardening increases physical activity which contributes to fitness. Most important is gardening teaches people the fundamentals of growing their own food. We haven’t faced a food shortage yet, but that doesn’t mean we won’t. 

We are not suggesting you grow all of your own food.  In fact, diversity and resilience mean we continue to utilize our current food system but not rely completely upon it.  Our current food system has been consolidated over the last century so only a few companies control what gets produced, the wages of workers, and the use of limited environmental resources.  Consolidation is the opposite of diversity or resiliency.  We can and should take back some of the control over the food we eat. 

Some resources to help you take action:

Che Axum is an agronomist and Director of Urban Agriculture for the University of the District of Columbia
Allison Miner is a clinical dietitian and teaches a course in food systems in the Master of Public Health in Public Health Nutrition at George Washington University