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Um ... > The empty grocery shelves are unnerving. While we're probably not going to starve in the long run, the farm system is going to be seriously stressed.

Um ... > The empty grocery shelves are unnerving. While we're probably not going to starve in the long run, the farm system is going to be seriously stressed. Most of our fruits and vegetables are picked by hand. 73% of farmworkers in the U.S. are foreign born; half are undocumented. What happens when those workers get sick? How do we keep the food supply chain going when borders are closed over coronavirus concerns? https://www.npr.org/2020/03/25/821593542/episode-984-food-and-farmworkers https://www.npr.org/2020/03/25/821593542/episode-984-food-an...

tathougies 6y ago
> the food supply chain going when borders are closed over coronavirus concerns? After the last two decades, believing the United States has any ability to police its borders (especially its southern one) is willful delusion.
- devchix 6y ago
  I encourage you to give the podcast a listen. Hygiene and sanitation conditions for farm workers are horrific. The not-yet-realized future where undocumented farm workers successfully cross the border, then fall ill, is even worse. Now you have little or no crop, or contaminated crops, and a bunch of very sick people.
  - tathougies 6y ago
    It is highly unlikely the virus lives very long on many crops. In most cases, a few days of storage will denature the viral particles enough. Something surely for food regulators to think about, but nothing insurmountable.
pmoriarty 6y ago
Not only that, but a lot of food in US grocery stores comes from other countries. Many of these other countries are likely to get hit very hard by the pandemic, and most probably won't be responding as effectively as South Korea, so expect to see long-term shortages of foreign food.
treis 6y ago
>What happens when those workers get sick? The vast majority will have a mild cold and continue working. Covid isn't dangerous enough to the working age population to significantly impact the workforce
- tathougies 6y ago
  I don't understand why you're being downvoted. This is just empirically true. A 1% death attrition rate is really nothing in terms of farm output. The human cost may be a lot, but it won't affect much in terms of production.

tathougies 6y ago

> the food supply chain going when borders are closed over coronavirus concerns? After the last two decades, believing the United States has any ability to police its borders (especially its southern one) is willful delusion.

devchix 6y ago
I encourage you to give the podcast a listen. Hygiene and sanitation conditions for farm workers are horrific. The not-yet-realized future where undocumented farm workers successfully cross the border, then fall ill, is even worse. Now you have little or no crop, or contaminated crops, and a bunch of very sick people.
- tathougies 6y ago
  It is highly unlikely the virus lives very long on many crops. In most cases, a few days of storage will denature the viral particles enough. Something surely for food regulators to think about, but nothing insurmountable.

pmoriarty 6y ago

Not only that, but a lot of food in US grocery stores comes from other countries. Many of these other countries are likely to get hit very hard by the pandemic, and most probably won't be responding as effectively as South Korea, so expect to see long-term shortages of foreign food.

treis 6y ago

>What happens when those workers get sick? The vast majority will have a mild cold and continue working. Covid isn't dangerous enough to the working age population to significantly impact the workforce

tathougies 6y ago
I don't understand why you're being downvoted. This is just empirically true. A 1% death attrition rate is really nothing in terms of farm output. The human cost may be a lot, but it won't affect much in terms of production.