"No vegetables, no bread, no fork": the shortage of supply makes it difficult for American students

Original title: "no vegetables, no bread, no fork": the shortage of supply makes it difficult for American students to eat
According to the report on the website of the New York Times on September 28, the most basic task of providing food for students is becoming increasingly complex due to supply chain problems and the lack of truck drivers. Schools across the United States are facing a shortage of canteen necessities such as chicken, bread, apple juice and even plastic tableware.
School officials say they are eager to provide food for students because many students rely on the food they eat at school as an important and sometimes the only source of daily nutrition. Many educators say they expect supply chain problems to only worsen in the coming months.
This problem stems from a series of events, most of which are related to COVID-19. Food dealers and manufacturers are plagued by labor shortages. They say there are not enough people to drive trucks, transport products from warehouses or work on assembly lines.
It is reported that Jenna Knut, director of school food and nutrition services in North Kansas City, Missouri, is increasingly worried that she will not have enough food to provide 21500 students in her school district after three large food dealers said they were about to stop supply. Therefore, Knut's colleagues regularly go to the local Sam's club and catering stores, where they buy a large number of frozen pizza, potato cakes and hot dogs.
Knut said that many products purchased in wholesale stores did not meet the nutritional standards issued by the federal government, adding that these foods were not unhealthy, but had higher sodium and fat content than the products usually purchased in the school district.
"We are purchasing food as much as possible," said Knut, who now "begged" local dealers to sign contracts with suppliers.
Beth Wallace, President of the school dietary nutrition association, said that the organization is asking federal officials to further increase the proportion of subsidies and temporarily relax the requirement that some products must be made in the United States. A recent survey conducted by the Association showed that 97% of school meal project leaders expressed concern about the interruption of the supply chain.
It is reported that Cindy Jones, assistant director of Food Service Department of olasi School District, Kansas, said that last month, after a delay in delivery, the school there had no vegetables for two days. The school district had to encourage students to eat more fruit.
Jones said delivery trucks usually don't deliver all the food ordered by the school district when they arrive. She added that only about 65% of the school district's orders could arrive.
Food prices soared as dealers passed on rising freight prices. Jones said that sometimes the district does not know how much freight to pay before the truck arrives, which forces it to either accept the freight or face the risk of food shortage.
The report points out that it is not just school lunches that are affected by the disruption of the supply chain. COVID-19 has shut down factories around the world, reducing inventories in many enterprises. This has led to delays in delivery, rising costs and shortages of various commodities, including computer chips, bicycle parts and meal mats.
In public schools in Missouri, school district officials issued a notice on September 13 to encourage parents to bring their children lunch when they send their children to school.
"If it is not a burden for your family to bring food from home, we will encourage this choice as a short-term requirement," the notice said