Two lessons COVID taught us about the food supply

As COVID spread across the world in early 2020 it disrupted a highly integrated and interdependent food system, producing shortages, creating fear, and eroding confidence. Since the initial shock of the virus we’ve learned two important lessons. The first is a reminder that during times of crisis food scarcity isn’t a thing of the past or a problem solely for developing countries. The second is that the idea of “local food” isn’t just for farmers markets and fads. If we want a resilient food system able to withstand exogenous events while maintaining stability, safety and order we need to learn the lessons of COVID. We need to put an emphasis on supporting American farmers, fisheries, processors, packaging manufacturers, and others along what needs to become a more transparent and domestic supply chain. We must ensure that the people who provided us with food during COVID are still around for the next emergency. It’s not protectionism, just protection.

COVID changed almost everything in our lives, including the reliably boring, colossally stable global food system, a system which has been evolving for nearly as long as we have been. This system is so inextricably linked to our survival and prosperity that when it has experienced periods of advancement it has allowed for our further evolution. It is the most important man-made system on earth. Over the last…