P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/2/18/181458.shtml?s=he
Grocery Industry Prepares for Bird Flu
NewsMax.com Wires Monday, Feb. 19, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. -- Stocking up on food is as simple as a trip to the grocery
store, a veritable land of plenty for Americans.
"It's so easy when you have three grocery stores in your vicinity," said
Becky Jones of Omaha, who stocks up once a week for her family of three.
"You think: how could you possibly not get what you needed?"
But will fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, bread, milk and other household
staples still be available if the U.S. is hit with an anticipated bird flu
pandemic? If state and federal officials urge people to stay away from
public places, like restaurants and fast-food establishments, will they be
able to get the groceries they need to prepare food in their homes?
For Jones, the prospect of not having access to food is frightening. She
said most people, herself included, only have food on hand for three or four
days.
Unlike other critical infrastructure sectors like water, energy and health
care, the food industry isn't getting much help from state and federal
governments when it comes to disaster planning. That puts the burden on
individual supermarket chains and wholesalers to deal with a potentially
large number of sick workers that could affect store operations and disrupt
the food supply.
"The industry is actively thinking through contingency plans, so if it
should happen, our members would be well prepared to deal with it," said Tim
Hammonds, president of the Food Marketing Institute, an advocate for grocery
wholesalers and retail supermarkets nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates a third of the
population could fall ill if the H5N1 strain of the bird flu mutates into a
form that spreads easily from person to person. It's not clear if that will
ever happen and no human cases of bird flu have ever been traced to eating
properly cooked poultry or eggs.
But if a pandemic emerges, the Department of Homeland Security projects
worker absenteeism to reach 40 percent or more over a prolonged period.
Hammonds said retail food stores would have to contend with worker shortages
and disruptions in the supply chain.
The food and agriculture industry is listed among 13 critical-infrastructure
sectors that the Department of Homeland Security says must remain functional
during a pandemic.
"Having those critical facilities open - like power, water, food - becomes
very important" during a national disaster such as a pandemic, said Keith
Hanson, an outreach coordinator for Nebraska's Center for Biopreparedness
Education.
Hanson works with local businesses, helping test their preparedness plans.
He will speak about the importance of that testing at the Public Health
Preparedness Summit in Washington, an annual conference designed to help
public health workers prepare for emergencies. This year's meeting started
Friday and ends Feb. 23.
Hanson said continued operations of power and water utilities are of the
utmost importance, but grocery stores rank highly too. That's because people
today keep less food on hand, opting instead to make weekly trips to the
grocery store.
Americans are also dining out more than they have in the past. Money spent
on food prepared outside the home rose from 34 percent of total food costs
in 1974 to about 50 percent in 2004, according to a report by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
The Food Marketing Institute's Hammonds said a widespread pandemic will
likely cause food consumption to shift away from restaurants and fast-food
establishments and toward in-home eating, causing a greater demand for
groceries.
"That means stores would need to be prepared for an increase in volume," he
said.
Hy-Vee, a West Des Moines, Iowa-based supermarket chain that operates more
than 200 stores in the Midwest, does not have a disaster plan developed in
the event of avian flu. But company spokeswoman Chris Friesleben said the
company keeps abreast of the illness through the Food Marketing Institute.
"The food supply is essential to the well-being of the community," said
Hammonds. "We've been through a lot about what we need to do as a
supermarket."
That includes urging wholesalers and retailers to talk with their suppliers
about alternative sources for their products and to anticipate what products
will be in high demand in a pandemic situation, such as medicines and food
staples.
Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for Omaha-based ConAgra Foods Inc., said a
company task force was formed more than a year ago to develop an operating
plan in the event of a national disaster. The plan specifically addresses
bird flu, examines areas that could be affected and how the company could
respond, she said.
ConAgra is one of the nation's largest food companies, with brand names that
include ACT II popcorn, Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Marie Callender's, Egg
Beaters and Orville Redenbacher's.
The company employs about 27,000 people, but Homeland Security projections
indicate that number could fall to 16,200 during a pandemic.
Childs said such worker shortages and difficulties with suppliers getting
their products to ConAgra plants were among the potential problems the
company identified. She did not disclose how the company would address those
issues.
The federal government and public health agencies are urging people to stock
up on nonperishable food, like canned goods and dried fruit, to ensure they
have to food to eat during a pandemic.
Jones, the Omaha woman, said that's a proactive approach, but was worried
that people with limited incomes may not be able to afford a large stockpile
of food.
She stopped short of calling for the government to oversee the food
industry's pandemic planning, but said, "If they see a crisis that is on the
horizon, they do have to give us some type of warning."
Grocery Industry Prepares for Bird Flu
NewsMax.com Wires Monday, Feb. 19, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. -- Stocking up on food is as simple as a trip to the grocery
store, a veritable land of plenty for Americans.
"It's so easy when you have three grocery stores in your vicinity," said
Becky Jones of Omaha, who stocks up once a week for her family of three.
"You think: how could you possibly not get what you needed?"
But will fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, bread, milk and other household
staples still be available if the U.S. is hit with an anticipated bird flu
pandemic? If state and federal officials urge people to stay away from
public places, like restaurants and fast-food establishments, will they be
able to get the groceries they need to prepare food in their homes?
For Jones, the prospect of not having access to food is frightening. She
said most people, herself included, only have food on hand for three or four
days.
Unlike other critical infrastructure sectors like water, energy and health
care, the food industry isn't getting much help from state and federal
governments when it comes to disaster planning. That puts the burden on
individual supermarket chains and wholesalers to deal with a potentially
large number of sick workers that could affect store operations and disrupt
the food supply.
"The industry is actively thinking through contingency plans, so if it
should happen, our members would be well prepared to deal with it," said Tim
Hammonds, president of the Food Marketing Institute, an advocate for grocery
wholesalers and retail supermarkets nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates a third of the
population could fall ill if the H5N1 strain of the bird flu mutates into a
form that spreads easily from person to person. It's not clear if that will
ever happen and no human cases of bird flu have ever been traced to eating
properly cooked poultry or eggs.
But if a pandemic emerges, the Department of Homeland Security projects
worker absenteeism to reach 40 percent or more over a prolonged period.
Hammonds said retail food stores would have to contend with worker shortages
and disruptions in the supply chain.
The food and agriculture industry is listed among 13 critical-infrastructure
sectors that the Department of Homeland Security says must remain functional
during a pandemic.
"Having those critical facilities open - like power, water, food - becomes
very important" during a national disaster such as a pandemic, said Keith
Hanson, an outreach coordinator for Nebraska's Center for Biopreparedness
Education.
Hanson works with local businesses, helping test their preparedness plans.
He will speak about the importance of that testing at the Public Health
Preparedness Summit in Washington, an annual conference designed to help
public health workers prepare for emergencies. This year's meeting started
Friday and ends Feb. 23.
Hanson said continued operations of power and water utilities are of the
utmost importance, but grocery stores rank highly too. That's because people
today keep less food on hand, opting instead to make weekly trips to the
grocery store.
Americans are also dining out more than they have in the past. Money spent
on food prepared outside the home rose from 34 percent of total food costs
in 1974 to about 50 percent in 2004, according to a report by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
The Food Marketing Institute's Hammonds said a widespread pandemic will
likely cause food consumption to shift away from restaurants and fast-food
establishments and toward in-home eating, causing a greater demand for
groceries.
"That means stores would need to be prepared for an increase in volume," he
said.
Hy-Vee, a West Des Moines, Iowa-based supermarket chain that operates more
than 200 stores in the Midwest, does not have a disaster plan developed in
the event of avian flu. But company spokeswoman Chris Friesleben said the
company keeps abreast of the illness through the Food Marketing Institute.
"The food supply is essential to the well-being of the community," said
Hammonds. "We've been through a lot about what we need to do as a
supermarket."
That includes urging wholesalers and retailers to talk with their suppliers
about alternative sources for their products and to anticipate what products
will be in high demand in a pandemic situation, such as medicines and food
staples.
Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for Omaha-based ConAgra Foods Inc., said a
company task force was formed more than a year ago to develop an operating
plan in the event of a national disaster. The plan specifically addresses
bird flu, examines areas that could be affected and how the company could
respond, she said.
ConAgra is one of the nation's largest food companies, with brand names that
include ACT II popcorn, Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Marie Callender's, Egg
Beaters and Orville Redenbacher's.
The company employs about 27,000 people, but Homeland Security projections
indicate that number could fall to 16,200 during a pandemic.
Childs said such worker shortages and difficulties with suppliers getting
their products to ConAgra plants were among the potential problems the
company identified. She did not disclose how the company would address those
issues.
The federal government and public health agencies are urging people to stock
up on nonperishable food, like canned goods and dried fruit, to ensure they
have to food to eat during a pandemic.
Jones, the Omaha woman, said that's a proactive approach, but was worried
that people with limited incomes may not be able to afford a large stockpile
of food.
She stopped short of calling for the government to oversee the food
industry's pandemic planning, but said, "If they see a crisis that is on the
horizon, they do have to give us some type of warning."
