How a break in the nation’s food supply caused regional food companies to soar

Nation Jun 7, 2020 3:42 PM EDT

During the first months of the pandemic, as industrial meat plants closed and grocery stores experienced shortages, some mid-sized local food companies saw an unexpected boom in business. As people across the country sheltered in place, they turned to these local food sources to fill in the void. But will the demand for local and regional food last? NewsHour Weekend’s Melanie Saltzman reports.

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Melanie Saltzman Melanie Saltzman

Melanie Saltzman reports, shoots and produces stories for PBS NewsHour Weekend on a wide range of issues including public health, the environment and international affairs. In 2017 she produced two stories for NewsHour’s “America Addicted” series on the opioid epidemic, traveled to the Marshall Islands to report on climate change, and went to Kenya and Tanzania to focus on solutions-based reporting. Melanie holds a BA from New York University and an MA in Journalism from Northwestern University, where she was a McCormick National Security Fellow. In 2010, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in Berlin, Germany.

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Laura Fong Laura Fong

Laura Fong shoots and produces stories for PBS NewsHour Weekend on a wide range of topics, including U.S. politics, education, the arts and urban transit. She also covers breaking news for the Saturday and Sunday broadcasts. Before joining NewsHour Weekend, Laura worked on the first three seasons of the CNN documentary series "Inside Man" with Morgan Spurlock. Through Teach for America, Laura taught first grade for two years in Houston. She has a B.A. in electronic media from the University of Oregon.

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How a break in the nation’s food supply caused regional food companies to soar

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