What consequence resulted from focusing on efficiency through globalization in supply chains?
Answer
Resilience to disruption
The structural priority of the modern food system has heavily favored maximizing efficiency, often achieved through lean, just-in-time, and globally concentrated supply chains. This intense focus on efficiency has come directly at the expense of building robustness against unexpected events. When shocks occur, such as the conflict in Ukraine disrupting wheat supplies or the sudden demand shift during the COVID-19 pandemic, these fragile systems quickly buckle, leading to acute food insecurity or logistical failures like milk dumping. The text concludes that this trade-off means the system sacrificed resilience, making it vulnerable to cascading failures.
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