Hello everybody and i hope you can hear me. Sonnon the secretary of agricule along with my co moderator and and rated and you are here today to welcome you to this Bipartisan Policy Center food summit. We want to thank you all for being here. We want to thank our guests and especially secretary sonny perdue who we will introduce in a minute. This is become one of the most talked about issues of the whole covid19 issue. It has to relate to the food supply. From the production to the processing to the distributing to the consumption. And how it affects farmers, how it affects processors and how it affects the average person and particularly the hungry. So we are delighted to be here. We can dove into every issue in great depth because of the time. But its a way to start the discussion and we think we will have an interesting time listening to this very important issue about feeding this country. So i would like to again welcome everybody and thank the Bipartisan Policy Center for their hosting of this event and turn it over to my calling secretary and. [applause]. Thank you is always right it is always a pleasure to be with you in so it is my honor today to introduce our first speaker rated 31st secretary of agriculture sonny perdue. Now as secretary, all three of us have faced nine times during her tenure. Ann in my case, included 911 and another. But today, we are facing unprecedented challenges to the food system as the covid19 pandemic has spread around the globe. So we want to say thank you very much mr. Secretary for joining us today to discuss these challenges and how the u. S. D. A. Is responding during this extraordinary time. Thank you very much for being here. Sonny perdue thank you to my former colleague. It is good to be with you. Give you with which i had the honor to serve on the governors counsel. So another work and i appreciate the convening of this topic. Almost like every crisis has its own language if you think about it. And who who thought about Food Supply Chains prior to now. And i guess, more americans are aware and revolve often talked about the fact that in modernday america, and certainly in urban america, the most people think about good really comes from the Grocery Store. With the Food Supply Chain, within the problem and the expectations and understanding exactly what has happened here in america. I am even guilty of not understanding the very dual threat parallel reduction in a processing and logistics and Delivery System that we had in the United States of america. When we think about the context of what we faced, over 50 percent of the food we consume, is being consumed out of the home. We had a production scheme, very efficient synchronized emigrated, sophisticated integrated livery system to look for the production and the processing and the just takes in the delivery to the different sectors. One being the traditional setting and one being the consumers mostly grocery chains and that way. So when you think about the outcome of the process is in the middle. Its for different consumers. The packaging ands processing and other things. And the realignment, almost 50 percent chains, stopped very suddenly. I liken it to the fact that they were on a four lane interstate. And really a major crash occurred ahead. In two of those lanes have totally blocked pretty we although it happens and Pretty Things backup very quickly. And if were in that kind of thing, my spouse would say will wanted to anticipate this to make a detour around the crash. And maybe thats the question everybody is answering. Why did we not anticipate this. What could we done. The fact is that no one anticipated the issues that we have had the Food Supply Chain in the degree to which we were segregated in our production and process. But obviously as you folks and secretaries no, it is the usda role to be flexible and move very quickly in realigning this location and misalignments that we have had in the supply chain in order to do that. Im very proud to be here. You probably heard me say before, do the right thing and feed everyone. This is a huge challenge obviously. Uncertainly in our hunger areas but also just in our regular supply chains of the Grocery Stores. Remember, Second National hurricane warning initially people fled to the Grocery Stores and the shows became bear. And that created even more panic. As we saw people wondering, what we have enough food. That was the first question. And secondly almost right away, we had schools closing. What are these kids get their nutrition from. Those folks were feeding breakfast and lunch for school so we had to make very immediate flex abilities there. And secretaries, as you know, we all have to do things by rules and regulation. And we have certain criteria to preserve the integrity of the processes because this is public money. We have to preserve the integrity of that. And maintain the integrity of the way things that things are handled and delivered but also creates an inflexibility in times like this. So we had to do many labors initially in order to get these kids fed and it was amazing how the communities reached up and reached out to get the kids fed through a lot of programs. And one interesting thing was the partnership at the universities. And the global, and logistics company, pepsico, multinational joined together to deliver initially over 1 million meals a week to the school kids in rural areas the couldnt get into the pickup sites. And eventually went to 5 million meals a week during those times. The good news stories. We had many other laborers. We certainly had four our pandemic cdc were you loaded the amount of School Lunches and box us on the cards for reduced lunch kids there. So they could get that way. In many other laborers of that way. The School Nutrition professionals, locals School Systems and many in the private sectors have done wonderful things. And we had our stipulation predict and are low nutrition population. In the crisis at that occurred and we had to continue and have flexibility there. And Online Shopping. To enable that in many states. To all of those who have applied. We had to do other programs that help to move the food into our food banks and other things that is normally used for local disaster. They had household Distribution Program they usually is used for localized disaster when there is not access for Grocery Stores. We had to be able to use that in states as well. So it required a lot of creativity and ingenuity and the one program that we are really rolling out now is announced on friday. They were really proud of and that is the harvest of the families of the Food Box Program. Its really disheartening that all of us in agriculture, when a producer farmer, puts her bloods foot in tears into the growing animals and vegetables are produced, or milk and having to destroy that milk or dairy produce or meet because its a misalignment of cant getting up wrote 24 it needs to be. In the product were need to be. This Food Box Program at 3m dollars of the 19 billiondollar program that the president today was pretty 3 billion to the up and running. And the contracts in place over local distributors and they been used to using and serving the distribution market and retail. And in restaurants. And its a right nationwide that we love and look very much forward to that being rolled out in the other thing we try to do is to feed america group. As to work there early on with a programs and help get those end of people who locally in helping get food to those citizens who showed up at the food banks, and the plots their jobs. It is been quite a scramble. Obviously, borrowers and producers are in a real bind. Please also have a situation with her Food Processing and part of the chain, and his constituents and producing the food, we have to process in the packet. For consumer consumption. And we have had somewhat of a crisis in that area. With meals, our work is coming down with covid19 and we have had to work around it for the processing, closed in the executive order has helped us. We have turned the corner but we are still underneath what our capacity is. I think we can still say we will have been fronting for the future. Looks like we will have all of this plants except for a couple arent open operated their reduced workforce but theyre working very well. The usda said its really, student nutrition, has just been amazing. In a 24 hour section, our ams with this programs and delivering logistics programs to our food banks. The work has been amazing and im really proud of the fact, having done all that, in remote situations, we cant come together but we have been stopping almost all of the time. I feel more tired when i go having been on skype all day long but i have been having meetings all day long but anyway, the theme has just been amazing. I am really proud of the group in a part of all of these workers both from the farmer to the state to the field to the processors in the packers, to the logistics and the truckers credit deliver the food and Grocery Store stockers and Grocery Store checkout want to make sure that we have got a consistent supply. So the most efficient sophisticated synchronized Food Supply Chain in the world, has been nimble enough to continue the supply to our people with confidence that we can have fo food. I think that helps to fill that of doing the right thing and feeding everyone. Are we going to be perfect. Know i am not saying that plaintiff we have worked very hard though as people who need the food mostly, were able to get that. Thank you all and i look forward to hearing the rest of you all. I think, the week are going to now introduce our panel. And there have been a couple of changes in the panel so i want to make sure that people know that were going to go through for people first. President of the American Farm bureau, delighted to have years of the pretty second will be juliana, who is president and ceo of the north American Meat institute. And going to be talking a lot about the processing industry. And what is happening in terms of preparing this meat for the consumer. In the third will be leslie. President and ceo of fmi, is to be known as the Food Marketing institute to talk about the distribution of food in the recently side of the picture. And finally will be Katie Fitzgerald the ceo of feeding america. There we will talk about the impact on the nations food banks, then nations for, and maybe talk a little bit about the steps program as well as talking about this enormous increase in the numbers of people because of rapidly increased unemployment who are in these could make lines and we have not seen probably since the great depression. So given that, im going to start first with zippy then i will go to juliana than leslie and to katie and then if you would each maybe talk for about five minutes and the challenges that you see in the Food Supply Chain, and how it affects your business, your members and what you do predict so lets start with zippy. Zippie covid. Zippie unmute. Thank you so much. Zippie i feel honored and privileged to be among the speakers neck. Thank you to be the voice of the American Farmer and interpreted today, my role is to talk about the production of the pandemic how it has affected us. And of course, environments, there is no way you can talk about american agriculture and all the aspects of it. By i will touch on the major hotspots that we have been talking about the last couple of weeks. And of course, i have described the situation that we are in an agriculture. And we will start with this pandemic. Agriculture during the last seven or eight years is been a declining economy rated and everybody else is economy has been moving, ours has been kind of dwindling behind. Where about 50 percent of our income. And we are also having a difficult time with this last ingredient of the perfect storm after all of the natural disasters and everything that we have experienced rated we are very appreciative of the assistance that the secretary and the president has brought to the agriculture and the last two years. And we look forward to continuing the work. That perfect storm has caused an increase in the last 12 months ending in march of 2020 of increase in bankruptcy. 627 bankruptcies of 27 percent rated of the year before this. And we are very concerned about the ability of our farmers to be able to repay debt. In the flexibility that this Financial Markets have allowed for our farmers when into the future. And to be able to get operating loans to plan future crops. And of course, the main player in how we survived the financial revision that we are and, is going to depend on the problems that the secretaries going to deliver from the cares act. Im very appreciative of the president s and we think congress putting it out there and another the secretary and all of his employees have worked very hard and very diligent to be able to roll it out and look forward to that happening at the end of the month. And what comes in the package is going to really determine how much the farmers, how they can hold on to their futures. In one of the things that we have all been talking about for the last two or three weeks is severely crippled agriculture is the Processing Plants in the problems that we have had in getting animal and protein to harvest. And not just prepping but also in poultry and corn. Its also vegetables and fruits and vegetables. Its almost, the processing part of it, is really just hit us in the face. They really do talk about the processing before. And this is the important link that that is in the food chain. Of course the number one concern of all of us, is the employees on farms, and the employees in the Processing Plants, employees at the Grocery Stores predict everybody along the chain, be safe in the things that we can do to protect them and their families. In the new normal. Who knows rated this food chain, is a work in and operated today, may happened did not happen overnight. So how this will end up, effecting agriculture in the future, we really dont know. What we do know is the farmers, is that we do have to get the processing part of this right. We have to find the problem and get back to 100 percent capacity because we all know that pipeline, effectively animal to harvest, that pipeline is full. And what we have the processing, that pipeline backed up. It cost millions and millions and millions of dollars to our farmers. I want to say thank you to the secretary to the farm families who box program. Really excited about that pretty to have the conversation about creating a program such as that. We think they have done a tremendous job of that. We were delighted to see them deliver that out. The popular with more than 600 people putting in the plans to be able to utilize that print 600 companies putting food both back to work. And back out to the people who deserve it needed pretty sore just excited about being a partner in aspirated we can congratulate the secretary t program. One of the areas i have been talking about. But if they would talk, im really concerned about. It in this pandemic and people staying at tom, describing. That kind of a war among the people of our plans of continuing to slow down. And this is a part of a Rural America. To help our country become energy sufficient being able to not depend on the rest of the world for energy and corn in Rural America plays a major role in getting us to that position. In place to shut down, thats going to affect the ddg take. In the byproduct, that is fed to animals. And with the Processing Plant who god bless animals in the near future predict that is going to be less corn consumed. So corn, is really facing a difficult time. I am really concerned about what is going on without. The infrastructure, it just so important for Rural America and we need to kinda focus on whats going to happen and how we make that industry survived because its an important link and but our farmers depend on. And of course, and were real concerned about how the phase one comes out. We know that this Difficult Conversations going on about many different areas of society and difficult to conversations could make it a reality. And during this phase one trip trade agreement with chinas difficult. In all of the commodities need it very badly for phase 140 billion worth of purchases. Which china promises to exercise this year. We need to have that happen. It will help our farmers get through this. So we have had tremendous challenges. And i cant stop talking about agriculture. And to talk about my concern about bringing young people into agriculture. How can you ask a young man or a young woman to consider agriculture in the future when we are going through such difficult times. We have to make agriculture a bright future. We have to make to get it back on the profitable round. But we can brought people back to the industry and prepare them for the future. We can only bring in the bright young people back. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. You have ended right when i was going to tell you that so that worked out very well. So next month and we will get to questions afterwards predict i want people to know that. But next we have juliana who is president and ceo of the north American Meat institute has a huge background in agriculture. To talk about the prospecting side of the picture which is kind of the area that is received the most attention lately. The one that has been a gridlock event. For the supply chain. So juliana. Juliana thank you so much. It i am also very honor