Food distribution
War, economic failure, political problems, and weather conditions all play a role in determining the efficiency of any food system.
The distribution systems of the United States and Latin America have developed in unique ways, and faced different problems in the past century.
The United States' food distribution system is vast in size and strength, and is dominated by corporations and industry.
[7] During Rome's height, it is estimated that the city itself needed 150,000 tons of grain and millions of liters of water and wine every year to survive.
In times of shortages, bad harvests, or interference by pirates, the government made sure to fulfill its obligation to food distribution.
The practice of specifically distributing grain to the plebeian class, known as frumentationes, gained prominence around 120 BCE and supplemented the efforts of the annona to feed the Roman people.
[7] The United States' food distribution system has experienced major changes in the past hundred years.
[8] Food distribution primarily relied on small, local farms in the 1940s, but quickly grew to become a large business in the 1960s.
[8][11] Three economic advances that allowed for the growth in food distribution between 1910 and 1960 were the establishment of chain stores, retail cooperatives, and supermarkets.
The benefits of joining one of these organizations are the reduced cost and improved variety in diet that comes from purchasing food with other families.
[12][13] Prominent risk factors that can affect the food distribution within a society include war, economic failure, political instability, and weather conditions.
[1] Two prominent examples of risk factors' negative effect on a society's food distribution system are the situation in Japan during World War II and Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
[2][3] Japanese food distribution drastically decreased from the effects of World War Two and the country's economic shortcomings.
95% of Japanese rice between 1936 and 1938, just a few years before major conflict arose with the United States, was imported from its colonies in Korea and Formosa.
Changes in tax collection and price control were also created to feed Japan, but these measures ultimately did not supply the Japanese people with enough food for survival.
The heart of the political problems and economic failures affecting food distribution included poor agricultural pricing and a lack of state involvement with rural development.
The weather and environmental issues regarding the Sub-Saharan African food distribution crisis also have roots in failed colonial policy.
Labor migration cycles used during colonial times were ecologically damaging to the local environment and failed to create new areas for growing crops.
As a result, desertification and a loss of soil fertility hurt the local agricultural sector, which then in turn negatively affected food distribution.
Prominent contributors to large-scale food distribution effort in the US include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army receives federal supplies from FEMA and the USDA, and then works on the local level to distribute necessary goods.
Prominent contributors to local food disaster efforts include groups like Emergency Communities and the American Rainbow Rapid Response (ARRR).
These organizations typically focus on supplying rural and lower income areas that do not receive priority from large food distribution groups during a crisis.
The Red Cross coordinates with local communities to provide essentials such as food, water, and hot meals for those in need during a crisis.
