Most people living in the US (and many Americans living abroad) will sit down for a Thanksgiving meal today. As an ag economist, byond the obvious--family and friends, a fulfilling occupation, etc.--when we sit down for that meal, we should all be thankful for our food system. 1/

These past few years, that food system has been remarkably resilient to a number of "shocks" both foreseen and unforeseen which would make the food system in some other countries stop ensuring a stable food supply. 2/

I realized how lucky we are on that end when I went to a local drugstore recently and realized that some shelves were half-empty. We don't see that in grocery stores, even on a busy day like today. Or maybe: We haven't *yet* seen that in grocery stores. 3/

Why? Because our food system--really, the myriad of value chains that compose it--is resilient, whether food comes from the other side of the world or not or from right outside of town. 4/

With what we have seen in recent years--trade wars, weather shocks, etc.--I'm not sure whether local, national, or international food systems are more resilient. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses. 5/

What I do know is that, so far, my worst fears haven't come to pass, and that I don't know that in the history of the world, we have managed to feed so many people at such affordable prices for so long. 6/

There is still a long way to go when it comes to nutrition. And you might not like what people eat at such low prices. But on mere hunger, the progress has been real. This makes me hopeful that on nutrition, too, the progress will be real over the next 50-100 years. 7/

But for that to happen, our politicians and policy makers will need to understand (or, at the very least, appreciate) how and why the food system we have is nimble, flexible, and best of all resilient to all kinds of shocks. /end