Economics Blog Post #1: Impact of Covid-19 on The Food Industry

The Covid-19 pandemic has proved to be detrimental to numerous areas of the United States economy. From the automotive industry to the sanitation product industry, Covid-19 and the myriad of restrictions, lockdowns, and policies it has introduced into the United States have caused tremendous amounts of shortages and price fluctuations. However, one industry that has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic is the food service industry.

The reason this industry has been hit harder than others is because of the nature of the economic “hiccup” that is occurring at the moment, which is a pandemic. Unfortunately for the food service and production industry, many of the ways in which a pandemic is combated prove highly inconvenient for them. Restrictions on the amount of people that can be seated in a restaurant or place of business was reduced, the number of people physically leaving their homes and purchasing food was reduced, and the number of workers across all industries was greatly reduced, leading to a trifecta of food industry-damaging events.

On a more specific note, COVID-19 resulted in the movement restrictions of workers, changes in demand of consumers, closure of food production facilities, restricted food trade policies, and financial pressures in food supply chain.

Fortunately, there are ways that the businesses and consumers of this industry could be protected or aided so that they are not too economically harmed too badly by the end of the pandemic, economist and food afficionado Serpil Aday writes on this topic in greater detail.

“Therefore, governments should facilitate the movement of workers and agri-food products. In addition, small farmers or vulnerable people should be supported financially. Facilities should change the working conditions and maintain the health and safety of employees by altering safety measures.”

https://academic.oup.com/fqs/article/4/4/167/5896496

 (Zach Smith, 1/26/2022)