Has COVID-19 'broken' our food supply chain?

COVID-19 caused shocks on a global scale not seen since World War II. In March 2020, after impacting 144 countries in three months, the virus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. All segments of the food supply chain (farm production, processing, transportation and consumer demand) were simultaneously disrupted. The direct impacts of COVID-19 and the indirect impacts of the efforts to contain the virus have highlighted challenges that need data science, analytics and operations research skills, including: 1. more data and better models to predict and mitigate food supply chain risks, 2. building more resilient, sustainable regional and local food supply chains, 3. forging more agility between food retail and food service sector supply chains, 4. increasing automation to address the food and agriculture labor challenges, and 5. scaling e-commerce capabilities for fresh products and groceries.