U.S. Food Supply Chain Is Strained as Virus Spreads
The nation’s food supply chain is showing signs of strain, as increasing numbers of workers are falling ill with the coronavirus in meat processing plants, warehouses and grocery stores.
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America’s vaccine system faces more than a crisis of public confidence. It faces a potential operational breakdown. Changing vaccine recommendations without accounting for manufacturing capacity, supply chains, distribution networks and patient access risks turning uncertainty into shortages, delays and declining vaccination rates.
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The nation’s food supply chain is showing signs of strain, as increasing numbers of workers are falling ill with the coronavirus in meat processing plants, warehouses and grocery stores.
The World Health Organization on March 11 declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Within a week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that Americans keep a 14 day supply of food and other essentials. Alarmed consumers rushed to supermarkets hoarding groceries and cleaning products, leaving some stores trying to keep up with the surge in demand. For the week ending March 21, sales of fresh meat increased by 100%, canned tuna by more than 200% and dried beans by nearly 400%compared with a year earlier.
Karan Girotra, Cornell University professor, on whether we should be concerned about the U.S. food supply in light of all the panic buying that’s going on right now.
CATONSVILLE, MD, April 23, 2020 – Businesses don’t typically disclose information to consumers on how much it costs to produce a product. However, new research in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science provides evidence that doing so can increase consumers’ purchase interest by more than 20%.
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