The same threats that climate change poses for farmers — floods and severe storms — “are also highlighting the vulnerability of food distribution systems,” says Earth Island Journal in a story developed in partnership with The Food & Environment Reporting Network. In the United States, food often is transported long distances on tight delivery schedules, and passes through huge centralized wholesale market. As an example of the risks, writer Elizabeth Grossman says while Hurricane Sandy inundated parts of New York City in 2012, the Hunts Point Distribution Center, the hub for most of the city’s food supply, escaped flooding. Yet deliveries within the city were disrupted by road damage and fuel shortages.
“What makes for economic efficiency in large-scale agriculture and food production also introduces vulnerabilities,” says Alfonso Morales of the University of Wisconsin. One idea under discussion in New York is the establishment of a new wholesale market, separate from Hunts Point, that would focus on food from regional sources. Nevin Cohen, a professor of food policy at The New School in New York, says diversifying food hubs and building local food production would result in a more resilient food system.