Evidence of supply chain disruptions are everywhere consumers look… except the mainstream news. The unprecedented “shelter-in-place” rules imposed by governments to fight the COVID War have not only crippled the livelihoods of hundreds of millions across the globe and destroyed the businesses of countless millions, they also have crushed many sectors of the economy.
The international lockdown restrictions have disrupted the flow of raw materials, component parts, and finished goods. The widespread shortages, coupled with the creation of trillions of dollars of devalued digital cash backed by nothing and printed on nothing will lead to higher prices…
Across the country and around the world, there have been sporadic shortages at local grocery stores of “essential” items since the lockdowns were imposed. The first scarcity many shoppers noticed was that toilet paper isles had been wiped clean, and many common household cleaning products were unobtainable.
As more people stayed home, afraid to go out, the shortages spread to the food sector where many canned goods were in short supply as were some dairy and meat products. At the onset of the lockdowns, dairy farmers were forced to dump milk down the drain, cattle ranchers were forced to slaughter livestock, and meatpacking facilities were closed down due to positive coronavirus tests.
While reports of new cases continue to make headline news, “essential” businesses, i.e., liquor stores, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Amazon, etc., where cases also rose, barely make the news and were permitted to do business as usual while small businesses deemed “unessential” were forced to stay locked down.
Thus, the economic devastation, particularly in the food, hospitality, events, tourism, and restaurant sectors will further widen the gap between rich and average citizen, while the big businesses grow bigger and smaller ones disappear.
Making matters worse, weather-related disasters around the world have put an additional strain on food resources that were already in relatively short supply.
In the U.S., California fires are threatening the Central Valley, one of the nation’s most productive food regions. Iowa and the Midwest were recently devastated by a derecho (a large storm with high winds), which damaged countless acres of corn as well as grain elevators and silos.
In the U.K, the country is expecting the lowest wheat harvest in decades due to cool temperatures. Sheep are freezing in Patagonia; the rice fields of Bangladesh are flooded; and, across the globe, farmers and livestock producers are expecting below average yields due to Mother Nature.
Food prices, especially meat products, already are rising in many locations. Expect food prices to further increase and future shortages to become more common as the food supply chain suffers continued attacks from an invisible enemy.
Feeding America said it could face a deficit of “10 billion pound shortfall between now and June of 2021 – the equivalent of 8 billion meals.”
In July, the nonprofit organization “estimated the total need for charitable food over the next year would be an unprecedented 17 billion pounds, more than three times the food bank network’s last annual distribution of 5 billion pounds.”
Rising food insecurity comes as the economy faces a tidal wave of long-term unemployment as millions of people who lost jobs early in the pandemic and remain out of work, unable to find a job, as job losses increasingly become permanent.
At the moment, nearly 4 million jobs have vanished forever. Two problems are developed: rising long-term unemployment and permanent job losses, the combination of the two create deep economic scarring and immense financial pain for households.
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