Food Distribution
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Food distribution is the process where a general population is supplied with food. The
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO) considers food distribution as a subset of the food system. The process and
methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bri ...
behind food distribution varies by location. Food distribution has been a defining characteristic of
human behavior Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Kagan, Jerome, Marc H. Bornstein, and Richard M. L ...
in all societies, and recordings of food distribution date back for thousands of years. Most governments and societies are highly shaped by the systems created to support food distribution. There are a multitude of risk factors that can affect food distribution. War, economic failure, political problems, and weather conditions all play a role in determining the efficiency of any food system. Two recent examples of war and economic failure impacting food distribution includes the decline of food distribution in Japan during World War II and food
recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
in
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In both cases, food distribution was hindered and the
population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
in these areas consequently suffered. Special organizations exist today to prevent any total collapses in food distribution, assist in developing food distribution and food systems in underdeveloped areas, and respond to food distribution crises. At the international level, the
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO) plays a key role in facilitating the growth of food distribution systems all over the world. At the national level different countries have developed more complex support systems; by example, a mixture of federal,
non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
, and volunteer organizations function in the United States to safeguard the well-being of the US food distribution system. Within the United States, there is an issue of food insecurity where food distribution is one of the key solutions to target food insecurity. This creates a "food bank industry" where many organizations use tactics of business and trade skills within the food distribution sector to give food to communities that are in need.


History

One clear and defined documentation of historical food distribution comes from the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
and
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
. Many Roman rulers and emperors sought to determine the best method of distributing food throughout the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, and as the demands of the
Roman people grc, Ῥωμαῖοι, , native_name_lang = , image = Pompeii family feast painting Naples.jpg , image_caption = 1st century AD wall painting from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet , languages = , relig ...
changed in time, so too did their leaders’ plans. In the few centuries after the death of
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
, the ''annona'' became a prominent aspect in Roman food distribution. As the Empire expanded and the accessibility to certain foods changed, the demand for grain and wine drastically increased, and became a defining aspect of Roman
food culture The sociology of food is the study of food as it relates to the history, progression, and future development of society, encompassing its production, preparation, consumption, and distribution, its medical, ritual, spiritual, ethical and cultura ...
. Societies prominent after the fall of the Romans continued to deal with the ever-present dilemma of food distribution. The distribution systems of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
have developed in unique ways, and faced different problems in the past century. The United States' food distribution system is vast in size and strength, and is dominated by corporations and industry. Current methods of food distribution in the US rely on the country's advanced network of
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
and
transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
. In less developed parts of the world like Latin America, food distribution differs from the US.


Rome

The traditional Roman diet consisted of grain, fruits, olive oil, meat and wine. Of all these, grain was extremely important to the
Roman people grc, Ῥωμαῖοι, , native_name_lang = , image = Pompeii family feast painting Naples.jpg , image_caption = 1st century AD wall painting from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet , languages = , relig ...
. During Rome's height, it is estimated that the city itself needed 150,000 tons of grain and millions of liters of water and wine every year to survive. It was traditionally the responsibility of the Roman government to guarantee that there was enough food for distribution among the people. In times of shortages, bad harvests, or interference by pirates, the government made sure to fulfill its obligation to food distribution. Officials would sometimes buy food themselves and then sell it back to the people at little to no cost. When Rome eventually established its Empire, foreign lands would send taxes in grain to Rome, which helped decrease the chance of a food distribution crisis.


The ''Annona''

The first indication of a collective, organized food distribution system within the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
comes from the ''annona''. Originally meaning "yearly return", the ''annona'' became the administrative term for governmental bread and grain distribution. Over time, ''annona'' came to represent the distribution of all pertinent foods in the Roman diet. The ''annona'' was originally organized between 500 and 50 BCE, and gained increasing influence in the centuries to come. The practice of specifically distributing grain to the
plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...
class, known as ''frumentationes'', gained prominence around 120 BCE and supplemented the efforts of the ''annona'' to feed the Roman people.
Emperor Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
officially changed the ''annona'' system between 8 and 14 CE. He established the position of ''praefectus annonae'', Prefect of the Annona. Up to this point in time, the ''annona'' was handled by local government officials called
aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...
s. Augustus’ Prefect of the ''Annona'' oversaw all transportation, weighing, inspection, and storing of state foods. The physical distribution of foods throughout the Roman Empire varied by location and type of food. Some foods were shipped by boat and then distributed once they reached port. Others, specifically meat, were transported by land and brought into urban areas. Special regulations were put in place for the distribution of olive oil, as the Empire made contracts with olive oil producers all over the Mediterranean. Free daily distributions of olive oil were enacted by Emperor Severus during his reign from 192 to 211 CE. His distribution policy lasted for at least a few centuries, but scholars are unsure if the policy continued thereafter. Wine was not as freely distributed as olive oil, but was sold for a very low price starting around 300 CE.


Food distribution in the 20th and 21st centuries


US food distribution from 1900 to 1960

The United States' food distribution system has experienced major changes in the past hundred years. Food distribution primarily relied on small, local farms in the 1940s, but quickly grew to become a large business in the 1960s. Three economic advances that allowed for the growth in food distribution between 1910 and 1960 were the establishment of
chain store A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...
s, retail cooperatives, and
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
s.


Chain stores

Chain stores did not become popular in the United States until the end of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. It was reported in 1929 that chain stores accounted for 39% of all grocery sales in the United States. Chain stores' success is related to their ability to undersell smaller distributors. An anti-chain movement arose in response to the success of the
chain store A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...
s during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, but caused little detriment to the success and profitability of the chains.


Retail cooperatives

Another response to the success of the chain stores was the development of retail cooperatives. These organizations were founded by groups of individual food distributors who saw the benefits of using chain-style pricing. Retail cooperatives accounted for 7% to 8% of the food market in 1930, and an increase in their popularity with independent food distributors rose retail cooperative's market share to 13% by 1958.


Supermarkets

The third and final change to US food distribution in the first half of the 20th century involved the establishment of supermarkets. The
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
performed the first experiment regarding the
profitability In economics, profit is the difference between the revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and the total cost of its inputs. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs. It i ...
of large-scale supermarkets after the end of World War I. Supermarkets officially began gaining prominence in the 1930s and steadily continued their growth into the post-WWII era.


Modern US food distribution

Modern food distribution in the United States is a result of continued growth since the 1960s. In an increasingly connected world, food distribution efforts in the US reach from coast to coast. A network of
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
, warehouses, factories, and commercial retailers comprise the bulk of US food distribution. It is estimated that food served in the United States may travel close to 1,500 miles between growers and consumers. While many products, specifically meat and grain, are distributed in different fashions, there are common trends to the distribution of most modern foods. An increase in the use of technology for farming has transformed the small local farm of the 1940s in to large production facilities. Several federal agencies, such as the
US Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
and the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
, manage and sustain the productivity of the US food distribution system.


Food distribution in Latin America

Food distribution in Latin America is mainly dominated by large distributors and chains. Efforts have been made to compete with the
industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
of the food distribution system through the establishment of four types of organizations: consumer purchasing organizations, consumer cooperatives, voluntary chains, and retailer purchasing associations. Consumer purchasing organizations are groups of families who buy food together. The benefits of joining one of these organizations are the reduced
cost In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which ...
and improved variety in diet that comes from purchasing food with other families. Consumer cooperatives differ from consumer purchasing organizations in that they are constituted by groups of individuals who work together to secure high quality food for low prices. The cooperatives are analogous to a food
union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
that actively works to secure the rights of its consumers. Voluntary chains are organizations of privately owned retailers and
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
wholesalers Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
who operate as one economic body. These groups form contracts to work under, but are economically independent of one another. Retailer purchasing organizations are groups of retailers who purchase products as though they were a single buyer. Members within these organizations are all involved in the purchasing of goods, but do not form contracts.


Global food distribution

Along with Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, and
Cargill Cargill, Incorporated, is a privately held American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in ter ...
, the
Louis Dreyfus Company Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC), also called the Louis-Dreyfus Group, is a French merchant firm that is involved in agriculture, food processing, international shipping, and finance. The company owns and manages hedge funds, Ship management, oce ...
is one of the four "ABCD" companies that dominate world agricultural commodity trading.


Risk factors affecting food distribution and examples of failed policy

Prominent risk factors that can affect the food distribution within a society include war, economic failure,
political instability Political decay is a political theory, originally described by Samuel P. Huntington, which describes how chaos and disorder can arise from social modernization increasing more rapidly than political and institutional modernization. Huntington provi ...
, and weather conditions. Each of these factors affects individual groups of people differently, but all share the common attribute of being detrimental to local food distribution and
food systems The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition, food, health, community development, and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: growi ...
. Two prominent examples of risk factors' negative effect on a society's food distribution system are the situation in Japan during World War II and Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s.


Japan

Japanese food distribution drastically decreased from the effects of World War Two and the country's economic shortcomings. The need for food during the 1920s and 1930s rose drastically as Japan's population and average lifestyle increased. Japan was importing large amounts of rice, sugar, soybeans, and wheat from its
colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
by 1935, and had a dependence on colonial possessions to distribute food to her people. 95% of Japanese rice between 1936 and 1938, just a few years before major conflict arose with the United States, was imported from its colonies in
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
and
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
. Only 2% of Japan's rice came from foreign countries. As war engulfed Japan after 1941, food distribution efforts began to suffer. Japan lost a tremendous amount of
cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
s and was surrounded by an effective US
blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...
for most of the war.
Import An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...
s were down, which cut off Japan from its primary source of food.
Rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
programs, ran by Japan's Central Foodstuff Corporation and Local Foodstuff Corporations, were an attempt to distribute food equally among the general population. Changes in tax collection and
price control Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of good ...
were also created to feed
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, but these measures ultimately did not supply the Japanese people with enough food for survival. The average ration allowance consisted of a flour mixture which was often unhealthy and barely edible. Normal consumers age 16 to 60 received an average 330 g of ration per day in May 1943, and the situation only became more desperate as the war progressed. Rationing programs were reduced even further in July 1945, just before the war's end.


Sub-Saharan Africa

In
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
, the food distribution crisis of the 1970s and 1980s was a result of a multitude of food distribution risk factors including political problems, economic failures, and
weather conditions Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...
. The heart of the political problems and economic failures affecting food distribution included poor agricultural pricing and a lack of state involvement with rural development. Some of the political problems can be traced back to the colonial period. Colonial policy supported the exportation of goods, even if it meant decreasing the amount of food for the local economy. Components of these colonial policies continued to be used after
African countries This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa. It includes both fully recognised states, states with limited or zero recognition, and dependent territories of both African and non-African states. It lists 56 sovereign state ...
gained their freedom from European nations. The usage of these failed policies caused malignant consequences on the economic situation of the
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
class, including the exploitation of peasant agriculture and in removal of peasants from their land. The weather and environmental issues regarding the Sub-Saharan African food distribution crisis also have roots in failed colonial policy. Labor migration cycles used during colonial times were ecologically damaging to the local environment and failed to create new areas for growing crops. As a result,
desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...
and a loss of
soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.
hurt the local agricultural sector, which then in turn negatively affected food distribution. The world’s farmers produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, but the inequal food distribution leaves hundreds of millions hungry.


Food distribution organizations


The FAO

One of the largest organizations working to avoiding food distribution crises on the global stage in the
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
). The FAO is a branch of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, and actively works to improve food distribution in countries that need support


Organizations within the United States


Federal and large-scale

Several different organizations exist to mitigate and respond to food distribution crises in the United States. Prominent contributors to large-scale food distribution effort in the US include the
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
(FEMA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and
Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
. FEMA and the USDA work together during food distribution crises to coordinate the procurement and transportation of nonperishable food,
water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
, and other
resource Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...
s to afflicted areas. The Salvation Army receives federal supplies from FEMA and the USDA, and then works on the local level to distribute necessary goods. All food given to civilians during a crisis is typically distributed at mass emergency feeding stations.


Volunteer and local

Groups like FEMA, the USDA, and the Salvation Army could not operate without help from volunteers and small
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
groups. Prominent contributors to local food disaster efforts include groups like
Emergency Communities Emergency Communities was a volunteer organization which formed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It provided meals and other relief to residents and emergency responders, first in Mississippi, then in Louisiana. Emergency Communities ran sites in S ...
and the American Rainbow Rapid Response (ARRR). These organizations typically focus on supplying
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
and lower income areas that do not receive priority from large food distribution groups during a crisis.


The American Red Cross

Another group that works out of the United States is the
American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...
. The American Red Cross is part of the
International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
, and 95% of all workers within the American Red Cross are volunteers. In the case of all crises, whether food related or not, the American Red Cross in engaged in relieving disaster victims. The Red Cross coordinates with local communities to provide essentials such as food, water, and hot meals for those in need during a crisis.


Food Distribution and Food Insecurity

Organizations that are founded to target food insecurity have relied on food distribution to serve people in need of regular nutritious foods.
Food banks A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direc ...
are the proper term to call these kind of organizations where they use "government sector, private sector, and civil society" to distribute and recover food that will ultimately go to waste. In the United States, there are many organizations all over the country that have the same similar goal however, there is not much effective collaboration between all organizations because it is challenging to coordinate efficient communication within one another.  There is one large organization that focuses on distributing food to people who need it in the United States,
Feeding America Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...
has over 200 food banks and 60,000
food pantries A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direct ...
.  There are more organizations that focus on distributing food that work independently and are not as big as Feeding America that contribute to distributing food to help with the issue of food insecurity.


See also

*
Overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale m ...
*
Cold chain A cold chain is a low temperature-controlled supply chain network. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain qu ...
*
Food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...
*
Logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
*
Retail concentration Retail concentration refers to the Market share, market-share generally belonging to the top 4 or 5 mass distribution firms present in a regional market, as a percentage of the total. Retail concentration is not simply a concentration ratio as is e ...
*
Right to food The right to food, and its variations, is a human right protecting the right of people to feed themselves in dignity, implying that sufficient food is available, that people have the means to access it, and that it adequately meets the individual ...
*
Agricultural marketing Agricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. These services involve the planning, organizing, directing and handling of agricultural produce in such a way as to satisfy farm ...


References


Further reading

* Nelson, Scott Reynolds. ''Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World'' (2022
excerpt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Food Distribution Transport by cargo Food industry Food security