Crazy world! First problems during the pandemic was when toilet paper was out and people started stock piling soap and toilet paper at home like crazy. It makes sense that food will be the main issue during the second and third wave of corona. Better to prepare ourselfs already and building up stockpiles. This will be so sad once people start selling a bag of apples for 100$. We should try to become self suficient again as a nation and not rely on imports all around the world.
The extended shortage of toilet paper was caused by a sudden shift in consumer demand. The country didn’t suddenly start using more, it’s just the place where demand originated changed. Production capacity is more than adequate, but it was split between industrial production and personal production (i.e., work and home). When offices and businesses suddenly didn’t need the industrial production anymore, producers had to shift production to meet the i teases home consumption. That takes time, the supply chains are large. But things have reached an equilibrium again.
As it goes for food production, we’re not really reliant on the rest of the world, so there’s no concern there. The US produces enough to feed itself and is a net exporter of foodstuffs.
I do agree with the 1st statement, people suddenly panicked to buy products that they thought they would need to survive the 1st part of the pandemic that results to overshopping of products they think that they need to stock as soon as the pandemic starts, needlessly thinking that most of the people in the country are in the same shoe. thus leading to shortage of products such as toilet papers, and soaps.
as for the 2nd part, I do not really agree for before, the US can produce enough to feed itself, but given that the world is in the state of pandemic, and US currently has 2.5 million active cases, the productivity of farms is affected by the virus, and the fear that the pandemic gives is really alarming. Though we can say that US will last for a period of time but will scarce if the pandemic continues.