1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbam here. If you've been to 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: a supermarket in the past month or so, you may 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: have been shocked by the empty shelves and curtains of 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: eggs that cost twice as much as usual. You may 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: also have seen the news that a major meat processing 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: plant had to shut down indefinitely because employees tested positive 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: for COVID nineteen and just in time for spring harvest. 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: Farmers are concerned about possible shortages of farm labor because 10 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: of hold ups and workers visas, which could mean blueberries 11 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: and other crops could rot in the fields. Even with 12 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: all of this grim news, the U. S Department of 13 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: Agriculture says that there is no nationwide shortage of food 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: due to the novel coronavirus, but these still escalating crisis 15 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 1: clearly has put stress on the supply chain that normally 16 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: enables food stuffs to get from farm fields to americans 17 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: dinner tables, and to do it so efficiently that many 18 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: of us probably barely even think about where our usual 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: bountiful supply of fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, and countless varieties 20 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: of pasta. Even comes from the risk of COVID nineteen 21 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: has forced food processing plants to utilize precautions that have 22 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: slowed production lines and reduced the variety of products in 23 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: the interest of efficiency. Additionally, as shutdown orders deter Americans 24 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: from dining out, the surge in demand for food that 25 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: can be prepared at home and the difficulty of making 26 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: it available to consumers while maintaining social distancing has compelled 27 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: grocery stores to revamp their ways of doing business on 28 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: the fly. Even after the pandemic eventually passes into memory, 29 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: the changes and innovations that resulted from it may permanently 30 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: alter the way that Americans get their food. One of 31 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: the biggest challenges has been that the pandemic forced a 32 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: sudden drastic change in where and what Americans eat. We 33 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: spoke with Doug Baker, the vice president of industry relations 34 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: for f m I that's Food Marketplace in core Paraded, 35 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: an association that represents the interests of food producers and 36 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: retailers across the supply chain and to the government. For 37 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: every dollar that Americans spend on food, fifty four cents 38 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,239 Speaker 1: of that dollar goes to eating in restaurants or buying 39 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: take out meals, but starting in mid March, as states 40 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: began imposing lockdown and stay at home orders, all of 41 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: that abruptly changed, with schools and businesses closing down in 42 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: rapid succession. Americans of all ages soon we're eating all 43 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: of their meals at home and needing more and more groceries. 44 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: Baker said it was almost a perfect storm. The sudden 45 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: change created massive problems for farmers and food producers, who 46 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: were used to growing and packaging a lot of their 47 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: output in industrial sized quantities for restaurants and school cafeteria kitchens. 48 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: As a New York Times article describes, without restaurants frying 49 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: onion rings of food that people seldom make it home, 50 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: there suddenly was no market for fifty pound sacks of 51 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: onions those are about twenty two kilos did for the 52 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 1: vast quantities of milk that go into Latte's and other 53 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: drinks of coffee shops. That left farmers with little choice 54 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:10,799 Speaker 1: but to dump or bury their output. At the same time, paradoxically, 55 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: ordinary consumers were clamoring for different foods and other products 56 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: that they were afraid they might not be able to 57 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: get in the future. Baker said early on it was 58 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: home cleaning products, household care, personal health. Then as we 59 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: came into the major spike and people were asked to 60 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: be able to shelter in place, the concern became being 61 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: able to access food. Initially, people cleared the shelves of 62 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: perishable products such as milk, eggs, and bread, and gradually, 63 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: as fears of quarantines rose, they began grabbing up canned 64 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: and frozen vegetables, pasta, ramen, noodles, and other stuff that 65 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: would last longer in a crisis. A poll conducted in 66 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: mid March on behalf of the online loan marketplace lending 67 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,119 Speaker 1: Tree found that sixty three percent of Americans had purchased 68 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: supplies related to the coronavirus outbreak, such as food, cleaning 69 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: products and medication, with the average consumer spending a hundred 70 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: and seventy eight dollars and forty four cents. This unprecedented 71 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: surgeon demand peaked during the third week in March, with 72 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: the nation's grocery retailers seeing sales go up by thirty 73 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: Baker said it was sort of like having Easter every day. 74 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: After that, demand eased off a bit, with people following 75 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: government orders to stay at home or else not feeling 76 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: comfortable going out and possibly risking infection, or else already 77 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: having a stockpile of supplies. But by then the shift 78 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: in consumption already had rocked the nation's food supply chain, 79 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: in which products passed through a variety of stages before 80 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: they reach the people who eat them. A food that's 81 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: grown on farms goes to processing plants, where it's made 82 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: into products and packaged. Then it's shipped to warehouses, which 83 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: in turn deliver it to grocery stores, where it's picked 84 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: off the shelves and tossed into shopping carts by the 85 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: eventual users. Usually, in normal times, the different parts of 86 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: the supply chain to maintain several months worth of safety 87 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: stocks so that they can cope with fluctuations in supply 88 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: and demand. But according to Baker, when the pandemic crisis hit, 89 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: those backup supplies throughout the system were used up in 90 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: just ten days, and replenishing those supplies of food has 91 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: been tougher because of the novel coronavirus. So far, only 92 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: a few facilities actually have had to suspend operations due 93 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: to COVID nineteen cases among the workforce, but staying open 94 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: has necessitated changes in practices that can slow down and 95 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: limit output. We talked about this via email with Gregory P. Martin, 96 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: a poultry Extension educator for Penn State Extension. He explained 97 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: these precautions are necessary to help protect workers who may 98 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: work in close proximity to each other on production or 99 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: processing lines. Hand sanitizing and dawning outerwear are normal practices 100 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 1: and food processing plants, so additional personal protection equipment would 101 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: be another layer of protection for the worker. Also spoke 102 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: with Martin buck Naviche, a senior food Safety Extension associate 103 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: in the Food Science Department at Penn State University whose 104 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: name I hope I said correctly. He told us it 105 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: has been an adjustment for facilities to adjust, for example, 106 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: to enact spacing where possible and other precautions. We may 107 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: be able to tell more after a few more weeks 108 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: regarding supply chain issues. In order to keep production rolling 109 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: with those added measures, Bucknevitch said, quote, many operations have 110 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: simplified their product offerings, and this is one thing that's 111 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: noticeable at the grocery store. Less selection, for example, and 112 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: fewer sizes. In order to cope with the demand, food 113 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: manufacturers started cutting the warehouse step out of the chain, 114 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: shipping from their plants directly to supermarkets. But at the 115 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: retail end, other challenges emerged. Stores rushed to install plexiglass snees, 116 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: shields for cashiers and equip employees with protective gear. Consumers 117 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: increasingly begin ordering their food online, either from stores or 118 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,160 Speaker 1: food delivery services such as Instacart, Fresh Direct, and Peapod. 119 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: According to Baker, before the pandemic, about three percent of 120 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: grocery stores business was e commerce, and while hard figures 121 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: aren't yet available, retailers have seen rises ranging from twelve 122 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: to twenty. This is significant because buying groceries over the 123 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: Internet turns out to be surprisingly labor intensive. The seemingly 124 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: fairly small job of your going physically to the store, 125 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: selecting items from shelves and bringing them to a register 126 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: for checkout and bagging turns into a flood. When so 127 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: many people offload the work onto grocers, there's only so 128 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: much labor to handle those orders, which is forcing grocery 129 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: stores to schedule curbside pickup and delivery windows days in 130 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: advance due to the demand. Additionally, the sudden surge in 131 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: e commerce means that store employees or delivery service workers 132 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: are grabbing groceries and products off the same shelves that 133 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: old school in person shoppers are still rely ing upon, 134 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: so there's not as much there for them. To fix 135 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: that problem, Baker says, some retailers have been setting up 136 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: separate automated micro fulfillment centers, which get their own shipments 137 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: of groceries. The micro fulfillment centers are grocery industry trend 138 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: that will most likely accelerate, according to Baker. Additionally, even 139 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: before COVID nineteen, retailers such as Walmart had begun to 140 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: look at using autonomous vehicles to make deliveries. At some 141 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: point in the future, it may be that when you 142 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: order groceries online, robots will handle much of the process 143 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: of getting it to you. That could make it a 144 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: lot easier to get food during future pandemics. But for 145 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: the present, the American food supply chain will continue to 146 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: depend upon human labor, even with added precautions. That means 147 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,719 Speaker 1: our supply chain is vulnerable to COVID nineteen, especially if 148 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,680 Speaker 1: the virus rapidly spreads in rural areas the way that 149 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: it has hit urban populations. We spoke via email with 150 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: Karan Grotra, a professor of Operations, technolog G and Information 151 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 1: Management at Cornell University. He said categories which are produced 152 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: an indoor, large scale labor intensive plants such as meat, 153 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: are most at risk as social distancing is harder in 154 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: these factories, Employees are financially insecure, labor is often migrant labor, 155 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,839 Speaker 1: and there's limited access to healthcare for these employees, so 156 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: they are vulnerable, and given the high level of consolidation, 157 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: even one facility or one breakout can take significant supply 158 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: off the market. Labor is the weakest link in these categories. 159 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Tiger and produced 160 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: by Tyler Clang. For more in this and lots of 161 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: other topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is 162 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 163 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 164 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.