Purdue-developed dashboards will offer timely food supply info during crises Jayson Lusk WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, as governments issued lockdown orders and stay-at-home advisories, grocery store shelves went bare. Shoppers scooped up flour and yeast, canned goods, frozen vegetables, meats and any other staples that they were concerned could run out before they got the chance to return to the stores. With few exceptions, there were no real concerns about food shortages in the United States, said Jayson Lusk, distinguished professor and head of Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics. However, there was no easy way for consumers or policymakers to know that since data that could be used to calculate the risk to the country’s food supply is spread piecemeal across multiple government agencies like the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.