Monday on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue argued that in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, the United States has demonstrated that it has a sound and stable food chain, the best in the world.

“We have a very complex food supply chain from those vendors that supply our farmers with the tools and inputs they need to grow the crops,” Perdue said. “And then after that, it has to be harvested and processed. And our food safety inspectors are still on the job, just as they’ve always been. And then the processors and the logistics and all the way to the consumer.”

“So it’s a very complex supply chain, but fortunately, it’s sound, it’s stable, and I think the demand surge that we saw a couple of weeks ago — we’re seeing shelves replenished,” he continued. “I think that gives people a sense of calm when they go in the grocery stores and see the replenishment there. So things are working very well there from the farm to the fork.”

“[T]his whole system has been very stable,” Perdue added. “It’s the best food supply chain in the world, and it’s demonstrated that in light of this pandemic.”

Perdue said coronavirus was not without challenges for farmers, however.

‘It’s very challenging, obviously, even with phase one,” he said. “And we see China beginning to buy, thanks to President Trump’s leadership and using the leverage of his office. And we see good news coming out of there. Even the under-the-radar regulatory issues are being resolved.”

“But nonetheless, it’s still tough on the farm all the way through, and farmers under duress,” Perdue continued. “We don’t know exactly what the long-term impact will be, but thankfully, with this latest legislation that’s passed, Congress provided the resources there to help farmers in need. We’ll continue to evaluate that and make some recommendations to the president.”

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