Farmers Dumping Food Even as Global Shortages Predicted

[NoRoadUntravelled]

Why? We weren't prepared to handle the virus calamity and it looks like the same is happening with the food supply.

Restaurants and schools are closed so the food isn't being consumed right now. Why not process the food and store it for when supplies run short instead of subsidizing farmers to destroy it even as children go hungry here and around the world?


This piece discusses the dumping of billions, make that $BILLIONS of dollars worth of food.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/us-coronavirus-outbreak-agriculture-food-supply-waste?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVUy0yMDA0MTA%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS

Food Bank Shortages are a big concern with people out of work due to the CoronaVirus. Burying life sustaining food sources seems horribly short sighted. Horribly short sighted doesn't really describe it. It's appalling.

[Baclava]

1. Farmers dumping MILK, there goes our 5 lb blocks of cheese, I want one, they made great mac n cheese

[Claustrum]

2. You need a functioning government for that

Individual farmers don't have the money to transport the milk or the connection to send the milk to a processing plant. You need a functioning government to pay the farmers (at a lower rate) and then organize to have the milk processed.

Unfortunately, we have a government that believes the government shouldn't do anything, small government and all.

So for now, it's cheaper for the farmers to dispose them instead.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

15. Yes, we do need a government/administration that functions at a much higher level.

I'm looking forward to that come election day!

[cayugafalls]

3. This is where the DPA would come in handy, if we had a REAL president.

They could divert the produce to canning manufactures and dry food suppliers and not waste a thing. Ramp up production, put people to work. It would be hard and take a lot of coordination, but it could be done. That excess milk could be made into cheese. Ramp up cheese production all across the country. Use the DPA.

Instead we have a government run by corporate lackeys who do the bidding of their masters. Poor will suffer. Middle class will suffer. Those at the top, not so much. The DPA will never be used.

Once the Corona-virus curve flattens and things start returning to semi-normal there will be a host of other problems to deal with and this government will be nowhere to be found.

I do not believe for one minute that things are going to return to normal. There is a new sad reality that is going to slap us in the face here shortly. Disaster Capitalism at its finest.

We are so screwed.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

7. Yes! It should go to canning manufacturers and dry food suppliers as you say.

This isn't a partisan issue. It's a moral issue.

[uponit7771]

4. There's some guy with 50 billion dollars who will contribute two billion to distributing food

Because we know the billionaires in the f****** millionaires are so loving

[gristy]

5. Food supply chains are in crisis.

This leads to both farmers dumping food and global food shortages.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

11. Yes, they are. This could be avoided with some planning.

Process the food now and distribute in needed areas now or reserve for future shortages.

[Blue_true]

19. Nikki Fried, the Florida Agriculture Commissioner is trying to get the

Trump administration to buy of produce that is being plowed under and add it to the nation's strategic reserves. The produce can be sent to wet and dry processing plants and be processed into products that will help us breech the coming food shortage once the country is back rolling. But Trump and his people have no such vision.

Remember Nikki Fried's name, she is a democrat, is still young and likely is headed for national prominence. She is really smart and forward looking.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

20. You're so right. No vision for our future except what they can take from us for their own gain.

I'll remember Nikki Fried's name. I know there will be more like her across the country to help move us out of this dank swamp water and into some nice fresh air and sunshine.

[malaise]

6. Same here

many of our farmers produce for the hotel industry and they are all closed now.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

9. Yup. Hotels, Restaurants and Schools

There will come a day when we may wish there were stockpiles of food just as we wish there were stockpiles of medical supplies right now. These closed businesses and schools offer an opportunity for the country to gain some extra food supplies should they be needed in the future, if they'd process rather than plow it under the ground.

[malaise]

10. I watched one farmer on TV with loads of cucumbers, tomatoes and pineapples

and wondered how my mother (who survived WW2 as a student in England) always preserved extras snd prepared for the day when shortages would come. She would have pickled every freaking cucumber and found a variety of ways to preserve tomatoes and pineapples.

I only knew pineapple jam until I was nearly an adult.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

12. Yes. Little went to waste. Society's so different now.

I LOVE pineapple jam.

There's something very satisfying about growing one's own vegetables from seed and canning them in the Fall. The colorful jars that held tomatoes and beans and all sorts of fruits lined up on the pantry shelves were beautiful and gave a sense of security to be able to winter comfortably.

[malaise]

14. Yes that's a beautiful image I'll have forever

although we don't have to worry about winter in these parts.

[Marrah_Goodman]

8. Greed

[BGBD]

13. There is no farmer

who is going to waste their product if there is somewhere to send it.

The fact is that their normal customers aren't taking it and there isn't the infrastructure or supply chain in place to send it elsewhere.

They can't just send it to processing plants that they don't normally. These places would need to have the capacity to store and process it, and if they are still open themselves they are likely still getting their regular supplies. They may not be able to scale up to accept more.

We have a finite ability to produce something like cheese, and just because there is excess supply doesn't mean we can handle that.

Also, in most states, it's illegal to sell raw milk products to the public.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

16. Yes, I hear you. It's not the fault of the farmers. Understood that this is beyond their control.

There is no system in place at the present time for farmers to do other than what they are doing. It's incredibly sad all around. The labor, the water, the seeds, the equipment, all of it wasted.

If there were a system in place that could avoid wasting a growing season's worth of food because processors had the capacity to expand operations when needed, as you say, it could be good for everyone. The extra food supplies could be set aside for emergencies such as natural disasters, pandemics, crop failures.

[Claustrum]

17. You forgot that every drop of milk they dispose is money they would otherwise earn

They are literally disposing money down the drain. They really really really don't want to do this if they have a choice.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

18. You are so right and I haven't forgotten. The farmers are being left no options and it's

heartbreaking.

What's happening now with Coronavirus and the supply chain issues isn't a one off deal. We will continue to face these crises along with the rest of the world as global warming results in crop failures such as the ones last summer that devastated corn crops and as this virus runs its course. In addition, there's more damaging weather patterns that are leaving areas of the country devastated. We can expect more.

And, if this is so, it stands to reason that food shortages will result over time. If we can come up with a system where the farmers will be paid and processors can accommodate the food by freezing, canning, etc. the surplus food could be stored (like we thought medical equipment had been stored) for times such as this. The idea is to lessen the hardship wherever possible. Including farmers. Where would we be without them, right?

More efficient use of our tax dollars that could see 'right now' results during times like this if done right.

[crickets]

21. This - trump has screwed the farmers again and again.

My heart breaks for them. How many of them may lose their farms at this point? It's so sad to see the incredible loss of someone's livelihood and hard work, the loss of related jobs all along the food production chain, the criminal waste of tons of food... it's mind boggling.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

23. Yes. My point exactly.

It's unbelievably sad that there is no contingency plan and the farmers have no other option at this point. It's hard for me to wrap my head around this as there are much better options.

I can't understand why there is no plan in place for times such as this. The food could be processed and stored to feed a hungry population when natural disasters or other calamities such as Coronavirus happen.

I'm having a hard time making sense of this administration cutting the SNAP program while no plan exists to process the billions of dollars worth of food that's being buried right now.