The dynamics of the food supply chain help explain those empty store shelves we have all recently experienced this past year. Money is used to buy or sell the food products from one spot to another.  In order to get food from the farmer to your kitchen table that bowl of cereal moves in the food supply chain from:

Farmer > Processor > Distributor > Retailer > Consumer

In addition, an example of the domino effect in the food supply chain is when restaurants were forced to close their indoor dining areas. This caused there to be less of an immediate need for restaurant workers and big-bag food items. Over 100,000 restaurants were closed. Workers lost their jobs. Distributors such as Gordon Food lost money since restaurants were not buying as much food from them. Also, PepsiCo (food processor company) revenues fell 3% as the pandemic hit beverage sales.

Homeschoolers: (Economics assignment) Draw/sketch an illustration. Define the following words: farmer, processor, distributor, retailer, and consumer. Describe the food supply chain in your own words. (Fairy tales assignment) Explain why some animals do not eat the fresh baked bread in “The Little Red Hen.”