Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The Frustrating Chasm Between Farmers With Rotting Produce And Hungry Americans In Food-Bank Lines
Tens of millions of pounds of American-grown produce is rotting in fields as food banks across the country scramble to meet a massive surge in demand, a two-pronged disaster that has deprived farmers of billions of dollars in revenue while millions of newly jobless Americans struggle to feed their families. While other federal agencies quickly adapted their programs to the coronavirus crisis, the Agriculture Department took more than a month to make its first significant move to buy up surplus fruits and vegetables — despite repeated entreaties. (Evich, 4/26)
Farmer Carl Grooms has been planning harvests for decades but now he is getting ready to plow under his nearly ripe peppers and beans because there is no market to buy them—and he doesn’t want to watch them rot. As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts supply chains, American farmers are dumping milk, throwing out eggs and plowing under healthy crops. Produce suppliers are especially vulnerable to surpluses because fruits and vegetables are perishable and can’t be stored. (Kesling, 4/26)
Georgia’s dairy farmers, along with Kroger Atlanta Division plan to deliver 24,000 half-gallons of local Georgia milk to first responders and healthcare workers across the metro Atlanta area. The partnership is a part of the new Great Georgia Give campaign, led by Milk on My Mind. The four-week campaign will kick-off this Friday, April 24 at Centennial Farms in Atlanta. (Villarreal, 4/23)
Tyson Foods (TSN) is warning that "millions of pounds of meat" will disappear from the supply chain as the coronavirus pandemic pushes food processing plants to close, leading to product shortages in grocery stores across the country. "The food supply chain is breaking," wrote board chairman John Tyson in a full-page advertisement published Sunday in The New York Times, Washington Post and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. (McLean, 4/26)
Three of the nation’s largest meat processors failed to provide protective gear to all workers, and some employees say they were told to continue working in crowded plants even while sick as the coronavirus spread around the country and turned the facilities into infection hot spots, a Washington Post investigation has found. (Telford and Kindy, 4/25)
