This is a news article from CNN that is looking at the global food network chain and COVID-19’s impact on food security. The article begins by stating that while food scarcity may not be an issue yet, the delivery chain of food is being impacted on an international scale, and this could lead to shortages of international food goods on shelves in the very near future. But the article doesn’t stop there, it continues to go into detail, discussing how China managed their crisis somewhat effectively, and also showcasing some issues in the harder hit areas such as the pacific islands which rely heavily on imports for food, and Australia who has a significant portion of their economy based on food exports.

This chart shows the percentage of food imports which details the risk the pacific island nations face.

This chart shows the top customers for Australia food exports.

This article showcases just how global and interconnected our food supply is, and this virus has shown how easily this chain can be disrupted. The article mentions that those of lower socio-economic status would be more significantly affected, which may explain why things here in Washington still seem to be somewhat stable (even if we have seen some instances of price gouging). Ironically, the solution presented by the FAO for the issue relies even more heavily on globalized response- saying that governments should take action to mitigate the impacts; and says that “international cooperation and global trade is key”. We have to ask ourselves if our goal is to come out of this pandemic with things restored to how they were? Or should we push for something different- something that may be more resistant to such crisis in the future? Perhaps a less globally dependent system? What do you all think?

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/asia/coronavirus-food-supply-asia-intl-hnk/index.html