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Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

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It seems that the COVID-19 pandemic is not only directly affecting millions worldwide, it’s also exposing major flaws in how governments and policies work. In the US, more than 22 million people have filed for unemployment aid since President Trump declared a national emergency, showing just how severely workers, as well as businesses, were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Although the government issued a financial aid program to help out those struggling, many report that they still haven’t received their checks.

And while some problems are immediate, we can’t overlook the major setbacks that exist in the system. Chef and founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), José Andrés, recently took to Twitter to share some insights on the food industry in America.

RELATED:

José Andrés is a chef and founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a non-profit devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: David Shankbone

He expressed his thoughts on the current food industry and its flaws in a Twitter thread

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

The man used a juxtaposition of two images taken in Idaho and San Antonio to perfectly illustrate how flawed the current system is. One picture showcases piles and piles of potatoes that were discarded by farmers because no one would buy them as the commercial demand decreased drastically following the lockdown. On the other side, however, thousands of cars could be seen lined up in front of the San Antonio food bank. As millions lost their jobs and source of income, many found themselves seeking help from food banks, which, unfortunately, were quickly overwhelmed by so many new applicants.

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So how did this happen? How could two such photographs from the same country at the same time exist? That’s where Andrés steps in to explain that the food industry in America is flawed. “It’s because all along the way, we have a food supply chain that we treat as invisible when it’s working…and only notice it when it’s not,” the chef said. He added that the people behind World Central Kitchen are doing all they can to bridge the gap between the farmers and the hungry, however, Andrés also admitted that their efforts are not enough and the government had to step in.

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

Concluding his Twitter thread, the famous chef rallied people to make their voices be heard and encourage their representatives to take action and responsibility:

“Call your elected officials & ask what they are doing to make food part of the solution. Ask what specific legislation they are supporting to increase #SNAP, empower food banks & non profits, involve restaurants, and ensure the govt is buying from farms. Accept nothing less.”

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Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

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Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: chefjoseandres

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

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Image credits: chefjoseandres

Here’s how people reacted to the Twitter thread

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: DrSunshineWa

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: buckwheat1939

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: rock1040

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: leahmcelrath

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: s1cox

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: CoueMichele

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

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Image credits: Cruellaisdevine

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: quefregados

Chef Points Out What’s Wrong With The Food Industry In America By Simply Comparing 2 Pics

Image credits: Sean_Of_Canada

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Giedrė Vaičiulaitytė

As a writer and image editor for Bored Panda, Giedrė crafts posts on many different topics to push them to their potential. She's also glad that her Bachelor’s degree in English Philology didn’t go to waste (although collecting dust in the attic could also be considered an achievement of aesthetic value!) Giedrė is an avid fan of cats, photography, and mysteries, and a keen observer of the Internet culture which is what she is most excited to write about. Since she's embarked on her journalistic endeavor, Giedrė has over 600 articles under her belt and hopes for twice as much (fingers crossed - half of them are about cats).

As a writer and image editor for Bored Panda, Giedrė crafts posts on many different topics to push them to their potential. She's also glad that her Bachelor’s degree in English Philology didn’t go to waste (although collecting dust in the attic could also be considered an achievement of aesthetic value!) Giedrė is an avid fan of cats, photography, and mysteries, and a keen observer of the Internet culture which is what she is most excited to write about. Since she's embarked on her journalistic endeavor, Giedrė has over 600 articles under her belt and hopes for twice as much (fingers crossed - half of them are about cats).

What do you think ?

Jovita A 4 years ago (edited)

I was about to say that the photo of parked cars, is fake like why he is using images from a Chinese highway or something... As always did the fact check... Was humbled and actually scarred that it's a real picture... https://www.houstonchronicle.com/coronavirus/article/Photos-Vehicles-line-up-before-dawn-for-San-15192877.php#photo-19278203 this article has even more pictures.... Though people do need to understand, that storing, transporting and processing goods require money which farmers not getting.. Like someone was suggesting why farmers don't make cheese instead of dumping milk.. Well, do you realize that making cheese it's a process requiring electricity, storage, people to do it..

45points

Meami 4 years ago

Not only does it take electricity, storage, and man-hours, it takes the right equipment to make the cheese. The other thing that is always interesting to me that people don't understand how many temporary workers we get in this country from Mexico that work in our food supply chain. The numbers of temp visas have dropped dramatically in the last couple of years. You can say that those people are taking jobs away from American citizens but most Americans don't want those jobs. They are brutal and don't pay squat but they are vital to our food supply and economy.

29points

Load More Replies...

Rissie 4 years ago

It requires the government reallocating industries. Like someone tweeted. Make Bezos do it. When it comes to manpower and knowledge of logistics. There are production companies in entertainment that are doing nothing. A whole industry of logistics on that side that had thousands of trucks standing by useless. There are thousands of workers out of a job. It just takes leadership to act. And here comes the proof that most of our governments have no clue at what scale they are operating in a society. This has been going on long enough that something like that should have been started up weeks ago in stead of just hoping for the best.

4points

ChickyChicky 4 years ago

Thanks for doing that. I thought it couldn't possibly be real. My god.

3points

Amazon QT 4 years ago

That’s a photo of parked cars that come to the different Ports to be shipping to dealerships. Look closely they are ALL THE SAME KIND OF CARS!! Theres not that many people that have that many of the same kinds of cars all in one place...

1point

Roadkill The Brave 4 years ago

This one is a lot to unpack. This is a prime example of Supply and Demand as well as the Supply Chain and how much the two rely upon each other. Yes, there can be things done about this, but a lot of it is going to be changing policy and company issues. You might look at the mountain of potatoes and ask why not get it to where its needed, but depending on where's it at in the chain depends on if they can do with it. Manufacturing plants have FDA guidelines they have to follow or they can get closed down, especially when it comes to food safty. They even have disposal guidelines for how to get rid of the stuff, 'handing it out for free' isn't on that list. If its from the farmers that's different, but those people just lost a million dollars or way more, they don't have the money to ship it. Who are you going to ask next? Truckers to do it for free? Sure some might, but more likely your answer is going to be no. On top of all of that, there's Monsanto. I'll add more down in the reply.

16points

Roadkill The Brave 4 years ago

Monsanto, if you don't know who they are you need to look them up. You want to talk about the evil of Corporate America, and yell at farmers for destroying crops, you need to turn your eyes to them. Monsanto's gone global now and I really feel for any place where they're at. Monsanto owns the rights to all their seeds, including seeds that are produced from their seeds. Not that 2nd gen seeds from Monsanto crops will grow, they genetically engineer the seeds to only be viable once so they're not 'Heirloom'. If Monsanto wanted to, they could go after farmers for giving away their 'intellectual property', and yes they've done it before more times than I can count. Usually its in reference to farmers keeping a portion of their harvest back to re-sow, not that Monsanto seeds can be re-sown, but you get the picture. Anyway, got on a tangent sorry. Yes, there needs to be changes and back up plans, and I have a feeling that will happen because of everything that's happened since lockdown.

23points

Load More Replies...

Monika Soffronow 4 years ago

These photos are obscene. And to see to it that this need not be like this takes political willpower - and all I see right now is the will of the occupants of White House to amass more power. Period. Monsanto, as you point out, was evil, and I am afraid that the new behemoth Bayer (which has bought Monsanto) is an even worse combination. Bayer is the worlds largest producer of neonicotinoids (neuro-active insecticides) "Neonicotinoid use has been linked in a range of studies to adverse ecological effects, including honey-bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) and loss of birds due to a reduction in insect populations" (Wikipedia)

6points

Christina Uhlir 4 years ago

Did you know that thousands of dollars in aid went to big agricultural industry and small farmers got NOTHING, they're still waiting for help; how can they deliver their products to the customers, even if they would want to give it away for free?

0points

WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago

Strange that all those "poor" people suffering in "socialist" countries do not report the same issues. Makes you wonder why....

9points

giovanna 4 years ago

We are and will be facing enormous problems in Italy. But there hasn't been those queues for food.

5points

Load More Replies...

AnnSmithJones 4 years ago

The only socialist countries in the world are China, Vietnam, Cuba & Lao. They are definitely complaining. The non Marxist-leninist counties who reference socialism in their constitution (India, Bangladesh, N. Korea, Algeria, Guyana, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka) you're nuts if you think those ppl are well off. There are NO socialist countries who are wealthy & there never has been. The problem is that most people are too basic & too ignorant to look beyond a bumper sticker or party line. No European country is socialist - they all have capitalist free market economies. Educate yourselves!

1point

L Duncan 4 years ago

Because freedom of speech doesn't exist in socialist countries.

1point

Load More Comments

Jovita A 4 years ago (edited)

I was about to say that the photo of parked cars, is fake like why he is using images from a Chinese highway or something... As always did the fact check... Was humbled and actually scarred that it's a real picture... https://www.houstonchronicle.com/coronavirus/article/Photos-Vehicles-line-up-before-dawn-for-San-15192877.php#photo-19278203 this article has even more pictures.... Though people do need to understand, that storing, transporting and processing goods require money which farmers not getting.. Like someone was suggesting why farmers don't make cheese instead of dumping milk.. Well, do you realize that making cheese it's a process requiring electricity, storage, people to do it..

45points

Meami 4 years ago

Not only does it take electricity, storage, and man-hours, it takes the right equipment to make the cheese. The other thing that is always interesting to me that people don't understand how many temporary workers we get in this country from Mexico that work in our food supply chain. The numbers of temp visas have dropped dramatically in the last couple of years. You can say that those people are taking jobs away from American citizens but most Americans don't want those jobs. They are brutal and don't pay squat but they are vital to our food supply and economy.

29points

Load More Replies...

Rissie 4 years ago

It requires the government reallocating industries. Like someone tweeted. Make Bezos do it. When it comes to manpower and knowledge of logistics. There are production companies in entertainment that are doing nothing. A whole industry of logistics on that side that had thousands of trucks standing by useless. There are thousands of workers out of a job. It just takes leadership to act. And here comes the proof that most of our governments have no clue at what scale they are operating in a society. This has been going on long enough that something like that should have been started up weeks ago in stead of just hoping for the best.

4points

ChickyChicky 4 years ago

Thanks for doing that. I thought it couldn't possibly be real. My god.

3points

Amazon QT 4 years ago

That’s a photo of parked cars that come to the different Ports to be shipping to dealerships. Look closely they are ALL THE SAME KIND OF CARS!! Theres not that many people that have that many of the same kinds of cars all in one place...

1point

Roadkill The Brave 4 years ago

This one is a lot to unpack. This is a prime example of Supply and Demand as well as the Supply Chain and how much the two rely upon each other. Yes, there can be things done about this, but a lot of it is going to be changing policy and company issues. You might look at the mountain of potatoes and ask why not get it to where its needed, but depending on where's it at in the chain depends on if they can do with it. Manufacturing plants have FDA guidelines they have to follow or they can get closed down, especially when it comes to food safty. They even have disposal guidelines for how to get rid of the stuff, 'handing it out for free' isn't on that list. If its from the farmers that's different, but those people just lost a million dollars or way more, they don't have the money to ship it. Who are you going to ask next? Truckers to do it for free? Sure some might, but more likely your answer is going to be no. On top of all of that, there's Monsanto. I'll add more down in the reply.

16points

Roadkill The Brave 4 years ago

Monsanto, if you don't know who they are you need to look them up. You want to talk about the evil of Corporate America, and yell at farmers for destroying crops, you need to turn your eyes to them. Monsanto's gone global now and I really feel for any place where they're at. Monsanto owns the rights to all their seeds, including seeds that are produced from their seeds. Not that 2nd gen seeds from Monsanto crops will grow, they genetically engineer the seeds to only be viable once so they're not 'Heirloom'. If Monsanto wanted to, they could go after farmers for giving away their 'intellectual property', and yes they've done it before more times than I can count. Usually its in reference to farmers keeping a portion of their harvest back to re-sow, not that Monsanto seeds can be re-sown, but you get the picture. Anyway, got on a tangent sorry. Yes, there needs to be changes and back up plans, and I have a feeling that will happen because of everything that's happened since lockdown.

23points

Load More Replies...

Monika Soffronow 4 years ago

These photos are obscene. And to see to it that this need not be like this takes political willpower - and all I see right now is the will of the occupants of White House to amass more power. Period. Monsanto, as you point out, was evil, and I am afraid that the new behemoth Bayer (which has bought Monsanto) is an even worse combination. Bayer is the worlds largest producer of neonicotinoids (neuro-active insecticides) "Neonicotinoid use has been linked in a range of studies to adverse ecological effects, including honey-bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) and loss of birds due to a reduction in insect populations" (Wikipedia)

6points

Christina Uhlir 4 years ago

Did you know that thousands of dollars in aid went to big agricultural industry and small farmers got NOTHING, they're still waiting for help; how can they deliver their products to the customers, even if they would want to give it away for free?

0points

WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago

Strange that all those "poor" people suffering in "socialist" countries do not report the same issues. Makes you wonder why....

9points

giovanna 4 years ago

We are and will be facing enormous problems in Italy. But there hasn't been those queues for food.

5points

Load More Replies...

AnnSmithJones 4 years ago

The only socialist countries in the world are China, Vietnam, Cuba & Lao. They are definitely complaining. The non Marxist-leninist counties who reference socialism in their constitution (India, Bangladesh, N. Korea, Algeria, Guyana, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka) you're nuts if you think those ppl are well off. There are NO socialist countries who are wealthy & there never has been. The problem is that most people are too basic & too ignorant to look beyond a bumper sticker or party line. No European country is socialist - they all have capitalist free market economies. Educate yourselves!

1point

L Duncan 4 years ago

Because freedom of speech doesn't exist in socialist countries.

1point

Load More Comments

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