Canadian government, industry plan for food shortage during flu pandemic

[Snowy Owl]

Government, industry plan for food shortage during flu pandemic
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070326.wxfoodsupply26/BNStory/National/home​

GLORIA GALLOWAY
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OTTAWA<!-- /dateline --> ? Food industry representatives will meet with government officials today to strategize about ways of getting food to Canadian stomachs in the event of a flu pandemic.
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While much pandemic preparedness has been focused on the health sector, government documents say grocery-store shelves could be emptied if the long-anticipated global influenza were to strike hard and fast.

Worst-case scenarios suggest the disease could take out a third of the work force, borders could close and transportation lines could shut down.

"In a modern-day, just-in-time food-supply chain, also drawing inputs and ingredients from across the world, such [a] pandemic would not only have severe public-health implications but also pose significant economic impacts and challenges across the entire agri-food continuum," says a federal discussion guide written last year.

Farmers, food producers and distributors will not be immune to the disease, says the paper.

"Moreover, [the health of] workers indirectly supporting this industry such as those involved in power generation, utilities, fuelling, spare parts etc. will also have an effect on our collective ability to feed Canadians during a pandemic."

The documents, prepared by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and obtained by Ottawa-based researcher Ken Rubin, suggest that the federal government would have little control over food distribution during a pandemic because the responsibility for the supply chain lies in the hands of private industry.

"What is not clear at the moment," says one document, "is what powers Canadian governments have and the precedence of different pieces of legislation to redirect food supplies, set food prices [if necessary], storage and distribution of food during a [World Health Organization] Phase 6 influenza pandemic."

Governments have "done little work on models of food-supply chain," they say. And without that kind of planning, a pandemic "may quickly lead to empty shelves."

Nick Jennery, the CEO of the Canada Council of Grocery Distributors, says food producers and suppliers started working on pandemic preparedness two years ago and filed a plan, which they continue to revise, with all three levels of government last year. "Being prepared for a crisis, whether it's a pandemic or otherwise, is part of the business that we're in," Mr. Jennery said in a telephone interview with The Globe and Mail. "Consumers depend on us having safe food available. . . . So, part of your mindset as a retailer or distributor is to make sure that you have backups, that you have alternative sources of supply, backup systems, alternate carriers, all those types of things."

Even so, Agriculture Canada decided it was important to assess the capacity of the food distribution industry, to develop a basic food ration that individuals could live on in emergencies, and determine the level of the threat.

The department also asked the industry to come up with a list of 20 non-perishable food products that could continue to be produced here in Canada in the event of a crisis.

And it called for the type of "table-top pandemic planning exercise" that will take place today in Gatineau, Que.

"We have a group of consultants who will bring forward a scenario about pandemic flu arriving in North America and we will be having government and private sector participate and asking them a series of questions" said Rod Myer, the deputy director of Agri-Food Industry Emergency Preparedness.

Representatives of farm suppliers, farmers, food producers, distributors, restaurateurs and others will be asked, "What is your organization going to do, recognizing that pandemic has occurred somewhere in the world?" Mr. Myer said.

"If 20 per cent of your employees are unable to come to work, the question is, How are you going to be able to continue your business?" he said.

Although Mr. Jennery said he believes the plan devised by food producers last year is a good one, he concedes that a pandemic would pose more of a challenge than other types of disasters because it would involve a prolonged period of crisis.

"To say that I would be confident [in the industry's plan for a pandemic] would be to indicate that we have done enough or that we can't improve or that we should do no more thinking. That would not be the case," he said.

"Even though we have a plan, even though we have tested that plan, even though we've learned through the crises such as SARS and hurricane Juan and blackouts and Port of Vancouver strikes and all of these types of things, even though we've learned lessons through all of that, we continue to simulate possible vulnerabilities."

 

[Amish Country]

Re: Canadian government, industry plan for food shortage during flu pandemic

I pray that one of the foods included on their list is infant formula!