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The COVID Shuffle The COVID Shuffle Top Ten Topics: 2020 in Review Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 2020 Workforce U.S. Hunger U.S. Hunger Workforce Workforce International Trade Workforce Weather Stewardship U.S. Hunger Stewardship Human Health Stewardship U.S. Hunger Stewardship International Human Health Food Safety Protein Human Health Trade International Pesticides Food Safety Protein Food Safety Trade Meatless Protein Workforce Weather Pesticides Niche U.S. Hunger Stewardship Pesticides Protein Production Niche International Food Protein Human Health Production Trade Safety Global Food International Climate Change Pesticides Weather Supply Trade Niche Niche Food Safety Pesticides Human Health Production Production We will remember 2020 as a year of extremes and stable food chain overshadowed the development of a year that hit food production in the gut. Extreme trendy alternative proteins. working conditions and unemployment, extreme food While the pandemic will continue well into 2021, insecurity and extreme disruptions to the food supply the Trump administration will not. The incoming chain — these are the topics that set 2020 apart for the administration under Joe Biden has promised to shift leading voices in the food and agriculture industry. priorities for food and agriculture production (see Ag Of course, these extremes stemmed from one all- on the Ballot for campaign promises). Between Biden’s consuming cause: coronavirus disease (COVID-19). pledges to raise the minimum wage and mitigate As the pandemic spread across the country, it drove climate change, we expect the top ten topics to as much as 60% of all conversations between leading reshuffle again this year. voices (see Coronavirus in 3 Charts) and completely In addition to the Top Ten Topics, this report offers reshaped priorities in food production. Worker well- a look at how COVID-19 factored into conversations being overshadowed C-suite shuffles. Feeding hungry (Page 7) and examines how shifting priorities drove families in the United States became more urgent than corporate sustainability commitments (Page 8). exporting excess agriculture products. And ensuring a QUARTERLY REPORT 1. Workforce Pay, benefits and safety of workers In stark contrast to the topic’s heavily stressing the meat supply. Leah Douglas of Food & absence from the top ten in the Environment Reporting Network mapped the outbreaks. past eight years, the pandemic On April 28, President Trump issued an Executive Order to catapulted worker-related issues direct meat and poultry companies to “continue operations to the top position in the first uninterrupted to the maximum extent possible.” Later, quarter and secured a top ranking attention turned to farm fields (Politico), food processors for 2020. Initially, discussions (Environmental Working Group) and fishing enterprises focused on protections and (NPR) — all of which involve people working and living in hazard pay for low-income close proximity. reclassified farm, restaurant and retail workers — now as As COVID-19 vaccines approached final approval, “essential” and “critical” by the Department of Homeland interest groups jockeyed for workers’ positions on signed Security. On March 27, President Trump a $2 trillion the waiting list. The United Food and Commercial coronavirus stimulus package, providing aid for workers Workers International Union urged the CDC to across the production spectrum. Lockdowns forced prioritize food processing and retail workers. After restaurants to shift operations, lay off employees and CDC updated guidelines for vaccine distribution on temporarily shutter. The National Restaurant Association December 22 — placing food and farm workers in estimated on May 9 that employment in foodservice the second wave, behind healthcare workers — reached its lowest point since 1989, with 6 million jobs lost. North American Meat Institute implored states to Workers infected with COVID-19 forced many meat follow CDC’s recommendations. processing plants to close and sanitize by mid-April, Attention to wages and worker benefits is likely to persist beyond the pandemic. Florida Looking voters passed a minimum wage hike in November (The Wall Street Journal), joining a broader movement to increase the minimum wage at the state and city level (The New York Times). Ahead: Joe Biden has endorsed a $15-per-hour minimum wage, so it’s possible that wages will also increase nationally. 2. U.S. Hunger Food-related welfare policy and food insecurity in the United States Since the beginning of the With food banks straining to meet demand and the pandemic, broken supply chains, supply chain struggling to move food staples, the federal economic instability and mass government attempted to mitigate food insecurity with unemployment have increasingly the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which set contributed to alarming rates aside $3 billion to purchase farm products and distribute of food insecurity in the United them to food banks and nonprofits. More than 2,000 States. Discussions about hunger organizations recommended to Congress that increasing started before the pandemic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, aka slammed the economy and worsened steadily throughout food stamps) benefits would be a more efficient solution. the year. In response to work requirements proposed Separately, 48 states allowed SNAP participants to use late in 2019, 14 states filed a lawsuit (Politico) against the benefits for online purchases by the end of the year. Trump administration citing unlawful interference. Once To help fill the hunger gap, industry leaders stepped up the pandemic’s domestic impact became clear, a federal throughout the year. Global animal health leader Zoetis, Inc. blocked judge the work requirement and the rule was partnered with food banks to provide needed fresh dairy, struck down officially in October. meat and poultry products. The National Pork Producers Hunger relief organization Feeding America updated Council (NPPC) initiated the “Give-a-Ham” challenge, a an interactive map throughout the year, indicating that national social media campaign encouraging hog more than 50 million people (including 17 million children) farmers and those involved in the industry to donate nationwide experienced food insecurity at some point of pork to organizations serving the food insecure and 2020. A December 8 edition of PBS Frontline cited a U.S. challenging others to follow suit. Other leaders, including Census Bureau poll that found 12% of adults in America said Dunkin Brands, American Egg Board and Kellogg Company, their household didn’t have enough to eat in the last week. donated millions in dollars, time and products. 2 QUARTERLY REPORT 3. Stewardship Environmental management of the land, water and air quality on and around farms and ranches In a year dominated by the human Federation, National Farmers Union and National Coalition impact of food production, the of Farmer Cooperatives, effectively representing producers volume of ongoing conversations of all sizes and political persuasions. proved that on-farm practices Corporate policies also guided discussions of farming remain a core focus for minimizing practices in what The Nature Conservancy called a “shift carbon emissions in food towards a nature-positive future.” General Mills, Inc., production. Bookending the year, McDonald’s Corporation and Cargill, Inc., embraced an array of agriculturalist groups regenerative agriculture practices. Corteva Agriscience formed Farmers for a Sustainable committed to provide tools that help farmers improve Future on February 19 and an overlapping coalition — soil health and biodiversity. Burger King announced an the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA) — on update to cattle feed for its producers to reduce issued November 17 recommendations for ways that methane emissions. However, the National Cattlemen’s climate policy could reinforce good farm stewardship Beef Association (NCBA) and UC Davis professor practices. Notably, these alliances were made possible Frank Mitloehner, PhD, disputed the veracity of the burger by cooperation between the American Farm Bureau chain’s claims. Bills such as the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which earned bipartisan support and Looking endorsements from 50 corporations and interest groups, failed to advance during the Trump administration. This is likely to change under the Biden administration, as Biden campaigned Ahead: on agriculture’s role in mitigating climate change and will likely rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. 4. Human Health Diet-related health conditions, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension The topic of human health rose Tufts University to prominence in 2020 largely nutrition professor because of discussion around the Dariush Mozaffarian Dietary Guidelines for Americans, called it “Another 2020-2025. This quinquennial unfortunate example recommendation drives important of science being policies for school lunch and food trumped by politics.” assistance programs like SNAP. Outside of the Following the July publication of scientific recommendations guidelines, school for the guidelines, debate centered on the percentage of lunch drew attention. daily calories that should come from added sugars and School districts the amount of alcohol that can be healthfully consumed. scrambled to provide shared Food Business News the report’s reasoning on sugar healthy meals to reduction: “Added sugars, particularly from SSB (sugar- students learning sweetened beverages), may contribute to unhealthy
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