Grocery shopping the first few weeks of this crisis was insane (and frankly, it's still pretty nuts now). Shelves were empty. People were trying to buy up tons of stuff because no one knew what was going to happen; so demand was way up, but supply was the same.
For the most part, supply and demand has evened out, but there may be a new reason for empty shelves in produce sections soon. The health of farmworkers is at risk. If there are more outbreaks on farms, there might not be enough healthy people to pick food.
Just imagine a world where viral cooking shows didn't have any food to cook with. Actually, no need, we've imagined it for you in this, the fifth installment of the Quarantine Edition of Planet Money Shorts.
Listen to the original Planet Money podcast episode here! Subscribe to our video series here — and while you're at it, subscribe to our podcast.
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