5@5: Insurers won't cover pandemic-related losses | DoorDash adds grocery items to compete with Amazon

Each day at 5 p.m. we collect the five top food and supplement headlines of the day, making it easy for you to catch up on today's most important natural products industry news.

August 5, 2020

2 Min Read
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Businesses thought they were covered for the pandemic. Insurers say no

Thousands of business owners nationwide who have been paying annual premiums for business interruption policies are finding that insurance companies will not cover their losses due to COVID-19 shutdowns. Insurers say they don't have enough capital to cover every coronavirus-related claim and only tangible damage is eligible, but business owners are countering that the effects of the pandemic require a new interpretation of what "direct physical damage" means. Read more at The New York Times

 

DoorDash adds grocery items, offering more competition to Amazon's Prime Now

DoorDash revealed this week that it will open small grocery distribution centers in eight cities so that its users in these areas can begin ordering food items alongside their takeout. The DashMart stores will carry over 2,000 items from suppliers including Unilever and Procter & Gamble as well as frozen and prepackaged restaurant fare. Read more at Forbes

 

The country's most productive farmland is now one of its worst COVID-19 hotspots

Inland California's Central Valley is the most important agricultural region in the U.S., which is why California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to form "strike teams" that will help hospitals and essential businesses contain the virus should cases spike in the area. California broke the single-day COVID-19 death toll three times in the past week. Read more at Modern Farmer

 

Rising grocery prices are particularly painful for the unemployed

Supply chain chaos has led to price hikes in nearly every category of food across the board., adding to the already huge burden on the many Americans who have lost their main source of income as a result of COVID-19. The price of eggs, for instance, is up 12.1% from a year earlier. Experts say the level of food insecurity caused by the pandemic could last a decade. Read more at The Washington Post

 

Food is growing more plentiful, so why do people keep warning of shortages?

While millions of people around the world are still hungry or malnourished, the proven long-term trend in terms of food production is that food is consistently becoming more abundant and cheaper overall—at least until 2050, when climate change is expected hamper food production significantly if global greenhouse gas emissions continue at the same rate. Researchers say that governments and farmers need to switch the focus from producing enough food to producing food in a way that doesn't destroy the environment. Read more at NPR

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