Ag News: Abundant Food Supply and Year-Round Fruit Availability
**Despite the shocks the pandemic has delivered to the food system, the chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture says people "can continue to rely on abundant food supplies."
USDA economist Robert Johansson says food markets remain well-supplied, and describes disruptions as "temporary and limited."
He says the food system has weathered impacts of the pandemic well, though it's hard to predict how conditions will evolve.
**Foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness have not gone away even though they appear to have taken a backseat to the pandemic.
If anything, the COVID-19 crisis is teaching the pork industry a hard lesson about disease outbreaks, that more work is needed.
National Pork Board CEO Bill Even tells porkbusiness.com, one of the key things we’ve learned is that the U.S. was not fully prepared for a foreign animal disease outbreak.
**Thanks to year-round availability, tastier varieties and improved growing practices, summer citrus seems to be more popular than ever at neighborhood supermarkets.
Grocery Outlet senior buyer, Daniel Bell tells thepacker.com, summer used to be a bastion for stone fruit, grapes and melons, but now, with globalization and everything that’s happened in the produce industry, other items are becoming more traditional in the summertime.
He says mandarins, once primarily a winter/early-spring staple, are now available 12 months of the year.
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