COVID 19 Changes How People Buy Food
2020-06-21
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1The COVID-19 world health crisis has affected almost every part of daily life -- including the way we get food.
2The food industry faced massive difficulties from shutdowns ordered to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
3Restaurants and markets closed or sharply limited their service.
4The spread of the virus caused slowdowns in meat and produce processing.
5Food supply systems changed suddenly around the world.
6All people involved in all parts of those systems had to adjust to continue operating.
7Take, for example, the United States fishing industry.
8Fisherman Eric Pray lives in the northeastern state of Maine.
9He traps lobsters. Pray used to ship his seafood to markets and restaurants all over the country.
10That changed when the coronavirus began to spread.
11Pray now sells closer to home and from home.
12He keeps the lobsters he traps in a homemade tank in his garage and sells them directly to consumers.
13Pray is one of hundreds in the fishing industry, along with farmers and other food producers, who have changed their delivery model during the virus outbreak.
14A food movement called farm-to-table has been growing for years in the U.S. Farm-to-table means the food producer grows, raises or makes the food and then sells it to the local community.
15With the pandemic, the movement expanded naturally as food manufacturing and transport changed.
16The changes were difficult for most food producers but also brought new customers.
17Fisherman Pray says that when restaurants reopen, he will "probably keep doing home delivery" because now he has a good base of buyers. We call this a "customer base."
18Templeton Farm in Vermont is a small, family-owned producer of cow meat, or beef.
19It has been in business since 1810.
20The company lost its two biggest customers when two restaurants shut down because of the virus.
21At the same time, Templeton Farm began to get calls from new customers looking for locally raised beef, said farmer Bruce Chapell.
22"Since then, our beef sales have been off the charts," he said.
23However, not all America's food producers have had a good experience.
24Jayson Lusk is head of the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University in Indiana.
25He said that in late April and early May, U.S. beef and pig meat, or pork, processing ability was down 40 percent from last year.
26The factories are now mostly producing again, Lusk added.
27But they are processing less beef and pork -- about 10 to 15 percent below last year.
28Some areas of food production, like sales of live lobsters, have also suffered losses, mainly because of restaurant closures.
29Eric Pray, the Maine fisherman, has been in the seafood business for 30 years.
30He said he has been able to keep his business going so far.
31But he said it becomes more difficult the longer restaurants and processing plants remain closed or limited.
32LaPorchia Collins is an economics professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
33She says there are two main difficulties facing food suppliers.
34One is moving food along the supply system while protecting the health of workers.
35The other, she said, is reshaping food demand in a way to avoid future slowdowns and stoppages.
36Before the pandemic hit, Gunthorp Farms in LaGrange, Indiana, had been selling most of its pig and chicken meat to high-quality restaurants and meat shops.
37Then, practically overnight, restaurants and shops shut down.
38The farm's business was greatly reduced.
39The farm has been able to change processing to produce smaller amounts for individual customers.
40But it has not been easy on the business.
41Greg Gunthorp is an owner.
42This is what he told the Associated Press: "It's been way, way too much work -- way more changes. We made more changes in the first two weeks [of the shutdown] than we had planned to make in two years."
43PrairiErth Farm is in Atlanta, Illinois.
44This season, the company has doubled its direct-to-consumer produce program.
45About 322 members in the program pay for produce delivery throughout the season.
46Katie Bishop is one of PrairiErth's farmers.
47She said the company has listed about 75 people who want to join the program.
48But, she said, it is unclear if this new model will be possible when the health crisis ends.
49I'm Anna Matteo.
1The COVID-19 world health crisis has affected almost every part of daily life -- including the way we get food. 2The food industry faced massive difficulties from shutdowns ordered to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Restaurants and markets closed or sharply limited their service. 3The spread of the virus caused slowdowns in meat and produce processing. Food supply systems changed suddenly around the world. All people involved in all parts of those systems had to adjust to continue operating. 4Take, for example, the United States fishing industry. 5Fisherman Eric Pray lives in the northeastern state of Maine. He traps lobsters. Pray used to ship his seafood to markets and restaurants all over the country. That changed when the coronavirus began to spread. 6Pray now sells closer to home and from home. He keeps the lobsters he traps in a homemade tank in his garage and sells them directly to consumers. 7Pray is one of hundreds in the fishing industry, along with farmers and other food producers, who have changed their delivery model during the virus outbreak. 8A food movement called farm-to-table has been growing for years in the U.S. Farm-to-table means the food producer grows, raises or makes the food and then sells it to the local community. 9With the pandemic, the movement expanded naturally as food manufacturing and transport changed. The changes were difficult for most food producers but also brought new customers. 10Fisherman Pray says that when restaurants reopen, he will "probably keep doing home delivery" because now he has a good base of buyers. We call this a "customer base." 11Templeton Farm in Vermont is a small, family-owned producer of cow meat, or beef. It has been in business since 1810. The company lost its two biggest customers when two restaurants shut down because of the virus. 12At the same time, Templeton Farm began to get calls from new customers looking for locally raised beef, said farmer Bruce Chapell. 13"Since then, our beef sales have been off the charts," he said. 14However, not all America's food producers have had a good experience. 15Jayson Lusk is head of the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University in Indiana. He said that in late April and early May, U.S. beef and pig meat, or pork, processing ability was down 40 percent from last year. The factories are now mostly producing again, Lusk added. But they are processing less beef and pork -- about 10 to 15 percent below last year. 16Some areas of food production, like sales of live lobsters, have also suffered losses, mainly because of restaurant closures. 17Eric Pray, the Maine fisherman, has been in the seafood business for 30 years. He said he has been able to keep his business going so far. But he said it becomes more difficult the longer restaurants and processing plants remain closed or limited. 18LaPorchia Collins is an economics professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She says there are two main difficulties facing food suppliers. One is moving food along the supply system while protecting the health of workers. The other, she said, is reshaping food demand in a way to avoid future slowdowns and stoppages. 19Before the pandemic hit, Gunthorp Farms in LaGrange, Indiana, had been selling most of its pig and chicken meat to high-quality restaurants and meat shops. Then, practically overnight, restaurants and shops shut down. The farm's business was greatly reduced. 20The farm has been able to change processing to produce smaller amounts for individual customers. But it has not been easy on the business. 21Greg Gunthorp is an owner. This is what he told the Associated Press: "It's been way, way too much work -- way more changes. We made more changes in the first two weeks [of the shutdown] than we had planned to make in two years." 22PrairiErth Farm is in Atlanta, Illinois. This season, the company has doubled its direct-to-consumer produce program. About 322 members in the program pay for produce delivery throughout the season. 23Katie Bishop is one of PrairiErth's farmers. She said the company has listed about 75 people who want to join the program. But, she said, it is unclear if this new model will be possible when the health crisis ends. 24I'm Anna Matteo. 25Lisa Rathke and Patrick Whittle reported this story for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 26________________________________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28adjust - v. to change (something) in a minor way so that it works better 29consumer - n. a person who buys goods and services 30delivery - n. the transfer of something from one place or person to another 31customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business 32off the charts - phrase : quite a lot more or better than is usual or was expected