Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy Volume 1, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2020 | Page 195

COVID-19 and the Case for a National Food Emergency Stockpile

United States should revise the United States Critical Infrastructure Protection Plan ( CIPP ) and the Food and Agriculture Sector-Specific Plan to include a stockpile of shelf-stable food to supplement the existing FAP and other networks . The scope , scale , and complexity of any effective solution necessitates a cross-disciplinary approach that links policy makers at the federal , state , and local level with members of the academic , agricultural , industrial , and scientific community . It will also be critical to include members of the non-profit disaster relief and food security world , as their organizations have the best understanding of existing efforts , and practically serve as the critical last mile in food distribution and community support . A good first step would be convening a summit of a wide range of stakeholders to begin to vet potential food stockpiling strategies and to identify implementation strategies .

As a starting point in that discussion , the authors here propose that , to be effective , any stockpile must include a diversity shelf-stable food that is consistent with the cultural and nutritional needs of the residents . It cannot simply be a collection of meals ready to eat ( MREs ) or a purely fiscal solution ( like a “ disaster relief fund ”) that does not account for supply chain fragility . Instead , this stockpile must be de-centralized , deployable , and consistent with cultural and nutritional needs . A crucial element to the planning efforts will be including FAPs operational efforts for local last-mile distribution of the food stockpile . Stockpile plans will need to be trained and exercised with the multi-agency governmental partners involved , drawing on lessons learned from the Cities Readiness Initiative exercises which practice SNS distribution . Making this policy shift will buffer against severe shocks to the FAP supply chain caused by natural or human-made disasters or economic collapse or dislocation .

Acronyms and Abbreviations

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