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Michigan Farm Bureau President expects changes after coronavirus
Michigan’s Farm Bureau President says after the coronavirus pandemic, many things will be different. Carl Bednarski says, “It’s not going to be business as usual. No matter how much we try, we’re not going back to the place we were before. Things have changed too much.”
Bednarski tells Brownfield the COVID-19 pandemic has brought out some holes in the logistics of the food supply chain that have been a real detriment to agriculture. “When we take a look at shutting down some of these distribution channels through our schools, our restaurants, our sporting events, those types of things, we realize that we don’t have the infrastructure to put all of that product through a grocery store. Who would have ever dreamed just maybe 30 days ago that we would have empty shelves in a grocery store.”
And, Bednarski believes everyone along the food supply chain is learning from the lessons of COVID-19. “I think businesses are looking right now of ways to not have this problem again in the future. I think you’re seeing businesses trying to figure out what’s the process going to be when we’re done with this.”
Bednarski says he expects additional food security measures will be taken, and there will be an effort to source more products from the U.S. instead of overseas.