With the increasing spread of COVID-19 necessitating widespread shutdowns to locations such as restaurants, schools, and theme parks. These closures have left produce growers scrambling to find new areas of demand for their products as the food supply chain comes under substantial disruption. 

The problem within the food supply chain it seems is that there is a growing need in food banks that is not being addressed for numerous reasons. These reasons include grocery stores being unable to donate any produce due to their shelves becoming bare in the wake of panic shopping in the wake of COVID-19. In a Guardian article talking about the disruption in the global food supply chain, produce growers expressed concern financially take the huge losses that come from harvesting, packaging, and shipping to food banks when they are already facing losses from being unable to sell their produce, leading these farmers to ask for the US Department of Agriculture to step in and buy up the produce to donate to food banks to avoid hurting the finances of farms. 

However, in that same article food suppliers like Brent Erenwart, CEO of Houston Cold Storage, a food supplier have mentioned that food banks are full noting that “the supply chain is the grocery stores seem to be pretty heavy on product, farmers are throwing away stuff, and food banks are full. We don’t know where the demand lies”. 

These contradictory situations highlight how broken down the food distribution system is within the United States as food banks that desperately need the products are unable to find donations due to people purchasing large quantities of foodstuffs with only themselves in mind and economic realities making it tough for farmers to help alleviate the financial burden that comes from planting, packaging and shipping new produce. Finally, even if those problems can be solved, it fails to answer how food banks suffering from shortages can get produce sent to them consistently and reliably.  

These problems likely require some government intervention whether that be buying produce from the farmers to give to food banks which could help alleviate the financial burden of these farmers or helping direct food distribution that allows for produce to go into the hands of food banks that are suffering from food shortages, it remains to be seen if the government will take these steps. Still, it is vital that problems with the food distribution system must be addressed. 

Boxes of food are set up for a drive-through food distribution run by Food Bank for the Heartland on March 16 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Photo Credit: Food Bank for the Heartland.