Policy Brief Vol. 4, No. 38:
September 27, 2001
Safeguarding U.S. Food Production
Food security. For many years, Americans have tended to take plentiful supplies of food for granted. Moreover, despite periodic concerns about the safety of specific foods, we know most food meets high safety standards. Our multi-layered federal and state inspection systems give us collective confidence in what we eat.
Yet an important question lingers after the recent terrorist attack: Could terrorists somehow interrupt food flow to the point that massive food shortages would occur? Chilling as that thought is, this query needs to be dealt with in more than a hypothetical way. We need to be prepared.
One possibility is that a virulent, highly contagious disease could be introduced into our animal herds. Foot-and-mouth disease is an often-cited example. But there are many other possibilities, not only in the livestock sector but for agricultural and horticultural crops.
An initial response is that we have a good screening system in place to inspect what comes into the country. But make no mistake about it. These USDA-administered activities have received increased scrutiny in recent days, not unlike tightened security at airports and sporting events.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are the lead USDA agencies charged with monitoring threats of bio-terrorism. Through their field staffs, they also have developed contingency plans for dealing with emergency situations. These federal entities are joined in the latter effort by appropriate state agencies. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture, for example, has a plan in place to respond to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) is proving to be another important player in agriculture/food security. On three different occasions since the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, the FAA has grounded all crop dusters. This precaution has been taken to guard against implied threats of biological or chemical warfare. Longer term, both crop dusters and farmers hope new procedures will be developed so that crop spraying can return to normal.
While it would be foolhardy not to take the threat of bio-terrorism seriously, some comfort can be taken from the geographic dispersion of food production and processing in the United States. With the exception of some specialty crops, most production occurs over wide geographic areas. The same can be said for livestock production.
Moreover, most years we produce more food than we need for our own purposes. This gives us a margin for error if — perish the thought — we need it.
09/27/01-RF/DM
Roy Frederick - Ph.D.
Agricultural Economics
Professor
(402) 472-6225
Dan Moser IANR News & Photography Coordinator (402) 472-3007
Department: Agricultural Economics
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