As we’ve been echoing for the last several weeks, to stay positive and maintain joy, it’s crucial to have a rosy, Pollyanna outlook. Find silver linings and, dare we say, exploit them!

 

Not only have we survived the economic downturn during this crisis, we are thriving. And we’re confident that we’re going to be a major disruptor in the food industry because of our process. In just a bit, we’ll reveal how and why we’re going to turn the food industry upside down. 

 

But first, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. 

 

Let’s take a step back and start with the crisis that’s currently going on in U.S. supermarkets…

 

Massive Meat Shortage To Hit American Supermarket Shelves

 

If you’re a big fan of bacon, burgers and Buffalo wings, bad news. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the monolithic structure of Big Agriculture, pork, chicken and beef are in short supply in American supermarkets. 

 

Slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants have shuttered in the U.S. as hundreds of workers have fallen ill from the novel coronavirus. As a result, at least 13 meat-factory operations, which employ thousands of workers, have shut down. Of all the meat-processing plants in the U.S. 80% of them are owned by just 4 companies. (And just 10 corporations have a stranglehold on the U.S. and global food supply chain.)  

 

Small farmers, who basically function as modern-day sharecroppers, just one economic wrung on the ladder up from slavery, now have nowhere to ship the meat they are raising for international conglemerates. (Contract farmers do not own the pigs, chickens and cattle. Big Agricultural operations own the animals.) 

 

Restaurants are closing or scaling-down operations. Cafeteria contracts for corporations, hospitals, and universities are in limbo. Food operations for sporting and concert events are cancelled for the foreseeable future. Consequently, there aren’t enough employees to process the meat. And even if there were, there aren’t enough places of business open for the meat to get to market, other than supermarkets. 

 

Millions of animals are at risk of being euthanized because of the shortage of meat-processing labor and the economic downturn. But rather than look at this as an opportunity to fix problems with factory farming, including the welfare of both animals and employees, Big Agriculture companies are insisting that problems in the food supply chain, and the reason Americans are now facing an unprecedented meat shortage are a direct result of the meat-processing plants closing. 

 

Supply is low. America’s insatiable appetite for meat remains high; so if you’re going to your supermarket to buy meat, you’ll be left holding the bag (paying much higher prices.) 

 

Will More Americans Turn To Plant-Based Diets As a Result of the Meat Shortage?

 

Let’s hope so. This is one huge silver lining we’re seeing here at BōKU HQ. While plant-based “meats” account for less than 1% of U.S. meat market share, sales grew by 40% from 2017-2019. [SOURCE]

 

Although mock meats are a mere drop in the bucket, there’s been a huge upsurge in the number of people identifying as vegans. In fact, the research firm GlobalData released a report, revealing that in the U.S. over the last three years, there’s been a 600% increase in people who identify as vegans. Approximately 6% of U.S. consumers identified as vegans in 2017, up from 1% in 2014. 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded everybody how inextricably linked diet and health are. Hopefully, U.S. consumers will eat less inflammation-causing, factory-farmed meat and more fruits and vegetables, either because of the meat shortage or because of a willingness to modify lifestyle factors in order to get healthier. 

 

But even if more people buy more produce and less meat from supermarkets, there’s still big problems in the food supply chain that need fixing…

 

Supermarket Produce: Inflated Pricing & Suboptimal Nutrition

 

What’s in your basket at the supermarket? 

 

Blueberries imported from Chile. Apples from Washington State. Cherry tomatoes and cucumbers from Mexico. 

 

The carbon footprint of imported produce from far-flung locations is high. The water and human resources required to get produce on supermarket shelves, not to mention the amount of fuel from planes, trains, trucks and tractors… 

 

The paradigm of getting supermarket produce on the shelves is a race against time, and a largely inefficient one that ends up costing consumers in the end. 

 

You see, most of the produce on grocery store shelves do not ripen in transit; the minute produce is harvested (by hand or machine), nutrient density starts to decline. As a result, the shelf life of most supermarket produce is only a few days. 

 

Produce is rushed into refrigerated containers and sometimes sits for months before it’s sold. The average supermarket apple sits for 9-12 months in a warehouse as apple growing season is short in the U.S. (August and September).  Apples and other produce are often sprayed with chemicals to prevent them from spoiling. 

 

While organic produce might be safer to consume, organically-grown fruits and vegetables also arrive at supermarkets way beyond their nutritional peak. 

 

There is an inordinate amount of wasted produce. Any fruit or veggie with a blemish is thrown away.  

 

Like death and taxes, perishability is an inescapable part of life—if you’re buying supermarket produce. (Hopefully where you live, Farmer’s Markets are back in business.)

 

And because of all the waste, supermarket chains need to offset this loss by jacking up prices. You, dear consumer, are paying artificially high produce prices. 

 

Let’s also not forget that most of the soil in which supermarket produce is derived is either polluted and/or largely devoid of health-sustaining minerals and trace minerals.

 

So what’s the answer to the perishability problem of the U.S. food supply chain? How can the environmental impact of transporting food be substantially lowered? 

 

The BōKU Organic Superfoods Process: The Future of Food

 

We believe that in light of current events due to the pandemic and related disruption in the food supply chain, there is an amazing opportunity to reinvent the way in which food is processed and distributed. Consumers can have, should have, and will have, one day in the near future, access to healthier and more affordable food. And the food won’t have a shelf life of mere days but rather years! 

 

The future of food is already here and BōKU is at the forefront of this new paradigm. 

 

BōKU’s process could very well serve as the model for this new future of food. Here’s how we’re currently doing it: 

 

We harvest superfood ingredients (high-nutrient dense, organic fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, grasses, sprouts, sea vegetables, etc.) only when they are at their ripened peak. Then, the ingredients are gently dried at low a temperature and powdered. Maximal whole food nutrition with a shelf life that goes from days to years, with no loss in nutritional value. 

 

That’s it. It sounds simple and it relatively is...

 

The challenging epoch we are faced with presents enormous opportunity for shifts in consciousness and radical change. 

 

We can feed the world with non-perishable superfoods. But we can’t do it alone. We need your help. Share this article with your network of friends, family and followers. 

 

Invest In A Game Changer That Will Bring Health To Millions

You can also, with a minimum of only $200, invest in our crowd-funding campaign to become a major disruptor in the food business. 

 

Imagine the millions of metric tons of produce that goes wasted (especially now because of restaurants closing). All that’s needed is drying and powdering superfood ingredients at their peak harvest. No food or water would go to waste. This is what optimal nourishment that never spoils and that can feed the world looks like. The solution is simple. 

 

We see the future of food making people healthier. Do people really need to eat three large meals a day? We don’t think so. Optimal health can be obtained through less calories and more nutrients, in organic, powdered form. We call it, “Shake It & Take It” nutrition. 

 

Now, besides the BōKU process, what’s also needed is the audacious personalities and unyielding determination to see our vision of becoming a major disruptor in the food industry come to fruition. We’ve got the cojones and the drive to get it done! 

 

With your help, we will grow into a force to be reckoned with, a small-family business that makes Big Agribusiness squirm with concern. Perhaps because of us, huge multinational corporations will adopt our process and start making the world a better place. 

 

Like we said, it’s all about silver linings these days…

 

We won’t rest until this mission is accomplished.