As the coronavirus pandemic closes restaurants and schools, the U.S. food supply chain was disrupted while facing reported outbreaks at meat packaging and processing plants.
Outbreaks of the novel coronavirus were notably reported at Tyson Foods in Columbus Junction, Iowa. DeAnne Bloomberg, Illinois Farm Bureau Director of Issues Management, said those disruptions of the food supply chain will cause backups and cause farmers to lose money.
"It’s a really stressful time," she said. "A lot of my heart right now is with the livestock producers, as well as those in the packing and processing plants."
Iowa produces the most amount of pork in the U.S. and Illinois produces the fourth most.
"Don’t worry – there’s plenty of food out there," Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg described herself as a "practical realist" during her appearance on Good Morning Quad Cities on Wednesday, April 22 - saying the COVID-19 pandemic is a "pretty big hiccup," but:
"This shows how strong our food supply is and our farmers in the United States."
Those farmers are #StillFarming, a hashtag Bloomberg and the Illinois Farm Bureau is using to point out that our farmers feed the world and are still working during a public health crisis.
Bloomberg also noted the U.S. isn't dealing with a supply issue, rather a distribution issue.
"Taking products that were normally delivered to commercial [restaurants, schools, etc.] is not simply an easy overnight fix, so it’s taken a few weeks to get those distribution channels modified quite a bit," she said.
Help for farmers
The USDA announced a $19 billion Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, or CFAP, which includes $16 billion in direct payments to livestock farmers, dairy farmers, and more.
The other $3 billion will be used to purchase fresh produce, dairy, meat from farmers, which will then be delivered to food banks and other places serving people in need.
How you can help
News 8 is collecting monetary donations for the River Bend Foodbank: Click here for more information.
On Earth Day, Bloomberg says the day is a good reminder to appreciate everything our producers - small and big, young and old - are doing to help our planet.
"I'm giving a shout-out to everyone who is out there in the garden putting a seed in the ground or a very big garden like our farmers do around Eastern Iowa, Western Illinois," Bloomberg said.