Food and Other Supply Flows in Case of Catastrophe

Abstract

Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a two-part invited article on food provision to population centers under normal conditions and in the aftermath of a regional catastrophe. Focusing on Washington’s Puget Sound region, the present analysis depicts modern grocery supply chain complexity and the dynamics and drivers of food flow. It has a direct bearing on food supply planning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessing the impact on food provision of pandemic-related sheltering, workforce and other strategies should rely on the most accurate understanding possible of an area’s food supply chain. The article should be helpful to public administrators and planners in marshaling available information to accomplish that. The second installment, to be presented in the Winter 2020 issue, will portray the implications on food supply of a “black sky” seismic event in the same region. One of the nation’s preeminent food supply chain specialists, Philip Palin has served as the principal investigator for Supply Chain Resilience with the Institute for Public Research of the nonprofit CNA Corporation and with the Resilient America Roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He is the subject matter expert for Supply Chain Resilience with the FEMA-National Integration Center Technical Assistance Program.

Keywords

• food supply
• supply chain
• food distribution
• food volume
• supply velocity
• covid-19
• pandemic policy