Amidst the daily deluge of COVID-19 news, I came across a disturbing image. A photo of rotting fruit, with the title reading, “Farmers destroy crops grown for restaurants, hotels.” The United Press International ran this story last week, citing that farmers across the U.S. are compelled to destroy their crops because of the diminished demand from commercial venues. 

Simultaneously, I’m being inundated with stories of people tightening their purses in the face of coronavirus-induced job loss. The juxtaposition of people going hungry while food is being destroyed suggests a serious problem with the national food system: that food is being produced not to feed as many people as possible, but rather to serve commercial interests.

The solution is quite complicated. Often, farmers rely on high-volume buyers to make ends meet. Without these sales, farmers face severe financial struggles. Local food banks become overwhelmed with produce that will go bad before it can be distributed, and farmers themselves can’t afford to ship the produce to needy areas. This is where the federal government can step in. By funding supply chain networks between overabundant farms and areas in need, resources can become allocated more appropriately and this strain can be alleviated.

Moving food from one place to another is not a panacea for all of the food system’s problems, however. The pandemic has only brought to light the tip of the iceberg of its shortcomings. As systems theory posits, the function of a system must be derived from what it does, not what it is intended to do, and it has become increasingly clear that the modern day food system is structured to profit off of the distribution of food around not only the U.S., but the world, instead of maximizing our capacity to feed as many people as possible. 

From UPI website > Photo courtesy of Tony DiMare/DiMare Fresh