U.S. food pantries have faced unprecedented demand while billions of dollars in produce has gone to waste due to supply chain disruptions from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic—conditions that are renewing calls for reforms to make the nation’s food systems more localized, resilient, and sustainable.
Coronavirus-related lockdowns and business closures this year have led to “staggering” levels of job loss, with the U.S. Department of Labor reporting Thursday that roughly 22 million people have applied for unemployment insurance since mid-March.