Will the Recent Port Strike Create Food Shortages?

As you've probably seen in the news recently, the International Longshoreman Association (ILA) went on strike as of 10/01/2024. 

According to multiple news sources, roughly 85,000 union workers walked off the job at midnight on 10/01/2024.

The strike occurred because the union failed to reach an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance. Supposedly, the main reason the ILA are on strike is to prevent their jobs from becoming automated.

This strike has officially shut down 14 ports from Maine all the way to Texas. According to an Investopedia report, these 14 ports accounted for 68% of all containerized U.S. imports last year!

Which means if this strike extends into weeks, it'll have harsh consequences to our supply chains (roughly $5 billion a day in loss).

But how much will the food industry be affected by this strike?

Let's dive in to the details. Back in 2022, the U.S. imported $194 billion worth of food. Of that $194 billion, over $10 billion of it was meat imports, which is roughly 5%.

From looking at the statistics, bovine and poultry meat won't be too affected by the strike, but the Seafood industry looks as though it will be greatly affected!

Despite plenty of coastlines, the US imports roughly 70–85% of all its seafood and accounted for 15% of global seafood imports in 2020 at $21.8 billion.

With the 14 ports closed, most of the imported Seafood will be sitting out in the ocean rotting away.

Events like this always goes to show the importance of being a self-sustaining nation.

By having small farms become the backbone of the US food supply chain again, the US population would have little-to-no worry about whether they would be able to feed their family a nutritious meal.

Unfortunately, the US has allowed major corporations to control our food supply, which means we are becoming more and more dependent on imports.

It'll be interesting to see how this strike plays out. The last time this strike took place was back in 1977. It is new territory for us as a nation and only time will tell.

However, you can always have that guarantee of food via supporting small, family farms local to your area. 

We can, as a nation, turn in the opposite direction we are heading and never rely heavily on imports again, and have full control of most supply chains in our country.

However, it will take many of us coming together.

Stay strong out there and take control of your food freedom once again!

References

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/us-food-imports-by-country/#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20imported%20around%20%24148,%2C%20tree%20nuts%2C%20and%20more.