What’s the Impact? Florida’s Food Supply Chain Industries Asked to Respond to COVID Survey

By: Kirsten Romaguera, 352-294-3313, kromaguera@ufl.edu

A survey aimed to gauge impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the food supply chain will close on April 11.

A research team from various institutions, including the University of Florida aims to assess the impact of the pandemic on food and agricultural systems and to develop strategies for coping with future crises. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (USDA-AFRI).

The project, titled “Lessons from COVID-19: Positioning Regional Food Supply Chains for Future Pandemics, Natural Disasters and Human-made Crises,” includes multiple components. One of the earliest efforts will capture impacts to food supply chain businesses via surveys. The survey created for Florida industries is scheduled to close on April 11.

“We’re seeking food supply chain respondents, from producers to retail distributors, and everything in between,” said Christa Court, UF/IFAS assistant professor of food and resource economics and lead investigator of the food supply chain survey component of the project. “So far, the response rate in Florida has been lower than expected, and we ask anyone involved to help us to accurately represent Florida industries in this national survey.”

The UF/IFAS Economic Impact Analysis program, which Court directs, conducted similar, short-term surveys of Florida businesses last year as impacts evolved along with the pandemic. Information from these efforts can be found on the program’s Disaster Impact Analysis webpage and will continue to be updated.

The survey for Florida industries can be accessed at tinyurl.com/afri-covid-survey-FL.

Source: UF/IFAS