A Tenth of the World Could Go Hungry While Crops Rot in Fields

The massive spike is happening at a time of enormous global food surpluses, with the pandemic exposing ‘cracks in the system’

Sep 3, 2020 · 8 min read

Cars wait in line for handouts of surplus potatoes and other free items, including milk, grains, produce, bacon, and more in Kennewick, Washington on May 8, 2020. The Washington Potato Commission said at the time that growers in the state faced a surplus of approximately one billion pounds due to slumping demand during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: David Ryder/Bloomberg

Cars wait in line for handouts of surplus potatoes and other free items, including milk, grains, produce, bacon, and more in Kennewick, Washington on May 8, 2020. The Washington Potato Commission said at the time that growers in the state faced a surplus of approximately one billion pounds due to slumping demand during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: David Ryder/Bloomberg

By Megan Durisin, Elizabeth Rembert and Tatiana Freitas

To keep reading this story, get the free app or log in.
Read the rest of this story with a free account.

You’ll also discover more fresh thinking personalized to your interests and can follow your favorite authors, publications, and topics.

Or, continue in mobile web

Already have an account? Sign in

Learn more.

Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours.

Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore

Share your thinking.

If you have a story to tell, knowledge to share, or a perspective to offer — welcome home. It’s easy and free to post your thinking on any topic. Write on Medium

Get the Medium app