In a year that has seen us fighting over toilet paper, paper towels, Clorox, Clorox Wipes, Lysol, Lysol wipes, and unbelievably, coins, comes another item that is experiencing a critical shortage. If you were thinking about making a vegetable soup for this cool fall weekend, you might have a little more trouble finding cans of corn to add to the mix.

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Yes, that's right, canned corn is just another item that is going to be hard to find on your grocery shelves. And who knows for how long, because honestly, I have yet to find one store that actually has Lysol disinfectant wipes after seven months. (And if you know where they are, please, I beg of you, let me know!)

According to a recent article in Good Housekeeping magazine, the shortage is somewhat puzzling because canned corn makes up the smallest portion of the corn crop in the United States. They cite a Wall Street Journal story that says corn grown for canning is only harvested once a year, in the summer. But earlier this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed everyone into isolation and quarantine, the sales for canned corn went up by a whopping 47%. The only logical conclusion to this is that a whole lot of folks were hoarding their cans of corn. Good Housekeeping says "brands like Del Monte and Green Giant tried to urge farmers to plant more corn in order to keep up with demand, but at that point, the farmers already had their harvesting plans set in stone."

In addition to canned corn, regular corn has been purchased in bulk by China which potentially added to the shortage of the product locally.

Transporting the product has also been an issue. So, if you really really need that can of corn for your recipe, better start looking for it RIGHT NOW.

We salute the hard-working agricultural industry for providing food for the masses. Here's a quick video from Louisiana corn farmers beginning their 2020 harvest.

 

 

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