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Abstract
Excerpt: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities as well as sources of resilience in U.S. agri-food supply chains. These chains adapted to changing circumstances such as significant workforce strains and a shift almost overnight from foodservice and restaurant sales toward grocery delivery and “eat at home” consumption. The current COVID-19 crisis has illustrated how any future pandemic will likely to lead to significant food supply chain disruptions and imbalances. Food production and distribution in the 21st Century still largely relies on human labor and pandemic-related illnesses will result in food and agriculture worker absences, which will naturally affect food supply chain continuity and product availability. Other vulnerabilities have been of longer-term concern, such as the risks posed by the nation’s aging transportation infrastructure, cybersecurity threats, impacts of climate change on farm production and resources, animal disease outbreaks that affect supply, food safety related recalls that can disrupt marketing channels, workforce health and pre-pandemic labor supply challenges facing farms and food industries, and unequal access to agri-food markets by historically disadvantaged groups and underserved communities. This report describes the outcomes of a USDA assessment to identify priority vulnerabilities in U.S. agri-food supply chain resilience and potential measures or “actions” that the Federal government could take to reduce these risks and vulnerabilities and improve equitable access to agri-food markets. This assessment involved extensive input and review by USDA subject matter specialists, consultations with other Federal agencies, and recommendations obtained through a public comment process.