Under normal circumstances, more than 19 billion pounds of food is distributed across the five boroughs every year, according to “Five Borough Food Flow,” a 2016 city report. It’s consumed not only by more than eight million residents, but hundreds of thousands of commuters and some 60 million tourists. Now, with students and workers at home, travelers vanished and the possibility of government-enforced lockdowns, New York City’s food system — one of the largest and most diverse in the world — is about to go through a radical transformation. Food distributors and other experts are not concerned the city will run out of food — at least not in the short term. Rather, they are rushing to put together the logistics of feeding millions of housebound New Yorkers, as they begin to feel the effects of an unprecedented economic dislocation.

Source: New York Times March 18, 2020 13:52 UTC