The food plans that Crisis Lab reviewed assume one disaster at a time. They expect a disaster to strike, responders to hand out the stock, and the government to buy more food before the next disaster. In 2017 the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) held relief stock at its Caribbean warehouse and pre-negotiated contracts for meals and water. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma used up both, and Hurricane Maria struck while the warehouse was still short of supplies. FEMA then had to buy from vendors outside its contracts.
Stocking for one disaster and buy more before the next will not feed people through a long, complex crisis. Governments restrict food exports, and food prices rise and stay high. Governments pay more to refill their stocks, and households with the least money are the first unable to afford enough food. In 2025, 20.3 percent of EU residents below the poverty line could not afford a meat, fish or vegetarian meal every second day. National and local food plans should treat food supply as a security matter, as NATO does.
What we review in this issue
How three hurricanes in 2017 exhausted FEMA's Caribbean stock and contracts before restock.
How Sweden and Finland refill food supply through trade, and how export bans and the war in Ukraine restricted trade and raised grain prices.
How food prices left low-income households unable to afford enough food, what NATO's 2026 food requirement asks, and six checks a community can run.
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