I agree, sadly; I have actually been focused on mitigating the losses inherit in the Supply Chain itself, as on a solely Calorie basis we could easily feed the entire population, and is for the most part already at a post-scarcity level despite all the turmoil with Factory Farming and especially State subsidies that distort the commercial aspects of Agriculture (see last paragraph).
This underscores the 'what and why' better than anything I've seen so far and what can lead to Dairy Farmers being asked to dump milk to maintain prices via artificial scarcity:
> The dairy industry’s woes signal broader problems in the global food supply chain, according to farmers, agricultural economists and food distributors. The dairy business got hit harder and earlier than other agricultural commodities because the products are highly perishable - milk can’t be frozen, like meat, or stuck in a silo, like grain.
Other food sectors, however, are also seeing disruptions worldwide as travel restrictions are limiting the workforce needed to plant, harvest and distribute fruits and vegetables, and a shortage of refrigerated containers and truck drivers have slowed the shipment of staples such as meat and grains in some places.
Leedle could likely sell his milk if he could get it to market. Dairy products in grocery stores have been in high demand as consumers stay home during the pandemic, though panic buying may be slowing. Earlier this week, a local market told Leedle’s wife she could buy only two dairy products total per shopping trip as retailers nationwide ration many high-demand products.
Dairy cooperatives oversee milk marketing for all of their members and handle shipping logistics. Leedle said he will be paid for the milk he and other farmers are dumping, but the payments for all cooperative members will take a hit from the lost revenues.
>[...] Dairy Farmers being asked to dump milk to maintain prices via artificial scarcity
That's not the impression I got from the article. They're dumping milk because the supply chain can't transport any more milk, not because of cartel-like behavior to jack up prices like you suggest.
>the milk supply chain has seen a host of disruptions that are preventing dairy farmers from getting their products to market. [...] Trucking companies that haul dairy products are scrambling to get enough drivers as some who fear the virus have stopped working.
> That's not the impression I got from the article. They're dumping milk because the supply chain can't transport any more milk, not because of cartel-like behavior to jack up prices like you suggest.
I knew I should have made that point clearer before I hit submit but I had to get started on something else.
I was making an allegorical reference to how dumping milk can become commonplace, as was done in WWII all while food was being rationed and such. Things we still to this day find abhorant, but can easily be normalized.
I saw how farmers in the EU were paid not to harvest citrus in order maintain prices and supply in other member nations and bountiful fruit orchards were left neglected, I saw how massive amounts of cucumbers were destroyed (without being accurately tested) in Spain when an outbreak happened in the EU, only find out they came from Germany after the destruction. Same with Horse meat etc... my point being that that bureaucratic meddling distorts the ability for producers and consumers to be able to find the most efficient way to exchanged good and services, because of a series of obtuse and poorly formulated regulations and this more the norm than most people think.
The broken food supply chain is the best example of that, its seriously a miracle it has 'worked' at all thus far if I'm honest.
"milk can’t be frozen, like meat, or stuck in a silo, like grain"
...but it can be dried. I bought some powdered milk during my preparation and have been using it to cook with, for which it's been great. In a pinch you can drink it, or use it to extend fresh milk, if you have any. It can be stored for a long time, too.
I know it's not ideal, but it's better than throwing milk away.
> Or do what we’ve done for millennia: make cheese.
Or do the next best thing as cheese making requires elaborate infrastructure, preps and a very refined skill-set (its basically bio-chemistry), which is to feed local livestock with it directly; when I worked in Bern I got the honor to apprentice for a day under one of the most highly regarded Emantaler Cheese Masters in the Country. My day started at 3am where I got there and began reaching out to the local livestock farmers by phone or email asking the list of regulars if they would be available to pick up the whey until about 5am while the cheese maker and his staff sterilized everything and got there preps ready. In addition to it being a sustainable practice I learned at lunch that he was also paid for this by the local farmers which helped him offset expenses and provide a very valued service to the community.
By 10am when the cheese wheels had already been formed and was in the brine we had 5 livestock farmers ready outside to come pick up ~3000 liters of whey to feed their animals and we just emptied the hose from the fermentation vat to their containers. It all just made perfect sense and moved me to try and model this in my bahaviour moving forward.
By my 2nd year when I went to Italy and ran the farm and the Kitchen in the agrotourism I worked directly with the owner/artisan Cheese maker (much smaller operation and herd) and he was just dumping the whey into the drain after production.
I told him I'd get a couple of chickens and would upcycle the wasted bread and whey and provide to provide them with feed in addition to the food scraps we had and could have egg laying hens producing in a month or two and would highlight it on the menu, as well as have another attraction for the patrons to visit before/after Dinner. By the time I left, our group of volunteer and BnB guest's food budget went down 50% because I was able to feed them and also sell them by the dozen to restaurant patrons at 5 Euros/Dozen. One of the front of house girls started to make nice woven baskets from straw and we included fig jam (that could be made for pennies) she'd make from the excess harvest.
I honestly think the real core issue is that we've normalized this expendable resource narrative to its furthest extreme, which the Earth cannot take any more, and its such that that only a generation ago your grandmother (if you're millennial aged) would be aghast at the sight.
The bigger problem is that these people then have entered office, or roles of supervision and created or enforce legislation that rewards that disastrous mentality and it keeps Food producers content (just enough) with subsidies that distorts all of this and has ripple effects all down the supply chain.
We're fortunate to be in a position where the profit incentive has led to a situation where, when there is a disruption in the demand distribution points (restaurants), the biggest problem is that we have too much production.
Without the profit incentive, we have seen time and again, far more severe disruptions to the food supply (USSR, Venezuela, DPRK). Capitalism does not provide for everyone, but it does an excellent job of providing for the vast majority of people. Charity and welfare programs are a good supplement to that, but profit itself is an immensely powerful and useful tool to keep people fed.
