Even before the current pandemic/economic crisis millions of American families lacked adequate healthy food and billions around the world faced food insecurity, hunger, or even starvation in places like Yemen. While this crisis has not yet resulted in major American food shortages, it has laid bare the instability of our globalized food system.
Disruptions caused by the current crisis have caused massive amounts of food to go to waste. Food workers, local food businesses, and the Main Street economy have been devastated, while the wealthiest Americans have profited or been bailed out. Very little of the food we eat is grown locally and most food grown locally is shipped elsewhere. Much of our food is shipped thousands of miles, producing massive pollution and carbon emissions.
Our current food system depends primarily on huge agribusiness and food distribution corporations whose main purpose is to enrich executives and profit shareholders. As a result it has become precarious and unsustainable in multiple ways: