The supply chain is at breaking point. Not only are the fresh food chains at risk, so are the non-perishable chains.
Fortunately, the USA is a massive food producer but we import a great deal as well. In the UK and Europe soft early fruits are spoiling because of lockdowns and border closures preventing laborers getting to the fields. These early problems will escalate as we roll into Western hemisphere growing seasons. Foods from foreign nations: like imported pastas and wines from Italy, meat from Spain, cheeses from France may also be impacted. China supplies grains like quinoa – as well as much of the packaging used in the USA. Not a big deal if you’re not picky.
But, if you know what you like, get it NOW. While we probably won’t starve, our choices will be reduced. Special diets may be trickier to accommodate. Get your non-perishables while you can.
There may be good news for farmers who have suffered with saturated markets – literally in the floods and figuratively through a worldwide glut of agricultural products – as countries will not be running surpluses and exporting. In addition, there seems to be a BUY AMERICAN movement underway which could get the wind under it wings in the next few months.
I have advised my friends and family to start buying frozen and canned foods. Toilet paper will be the least of our worries if the whole thing breaks down. Illness within the Amazon and Instacart delivery centers is increasing. Already the Amazon fulfillment center in Queens, NY has been closed because of an infection as well as centers in Michigan, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Connecticut and Kentucky,
In addition, the truckers are exhausted. Often they are unable to get a shower or hot food on the road because the governors have closed rest areas. There is now an increased risk of highjacking for high-value loads. (See story below).
The good news for truckers? They don’t have as many traffic congestion issues. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says truckers of essential goods such as health care supplies and food supplies no longer are prohibited from working more than 70 hours in an eight-day period. Nor must they take a 30-minute break every eight hours.
A group of small business truckers has sent an email to the Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. The email asks that, as part of the national emergency involving the Chinese virus, the federal government declare the Second Amendment overrides state law and federal regulation forbidding truckers from exercising their Second Amendment rights.
The latest The Sons of Liberty Daily! https://t.co/J4TcsT5LPm Thanks to @LynellAAA #guns #progun
— Sons of Liberty Tees (@sonslibertytees) March 27, 2020
From transportationnation.com:
The 15,000-member SBTC is calling on federal authorities to preempt state and local laws regarding the right to carry a firearm.
Therefore, in accordance with the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, we hereby request the U.S. Department of Transportation please issue a preemption order nullifying any and all state and local laws that restrict truck drivers from carrying firearms across state lines throughout America in order to enable them to protect themselves and their cargo as they engage in interstate commerce.
As this is now a matter of life and death, please issue same forthwith.
“The SBTC through its TRUCKER LIVES MATTER campaign has sought the unfettered ability of drivers to carry firearms for self protection nationwide since its inception in 2014,” Lamb tells Transportation Nation Network (TNN). “We have pointed to Department of Labor statistics that show the unusually high rates of murders on the road for workers in interstate transportation.”