Looking to the Past to Fix Today’s Supply Chain Problems
According to various sources the idiom “Tongue-in-Cheek” refers to a “humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a mock serious manner.”
The physical act of putting your tongue in your cheek once meant contempt – or in the ironic usage of the term – to put your tongue in your cheek to prevent laughter.
With that said - and out of the way – let’s talk for a minute about the supply chain, history, and what our ancestors did in times of pandemic.
First though, a little look into my train of thought. Drug shortages have always been a problem – even before COVID-19. In fact, as you are probably aware, the FDA puts out a weekly list of drug shortages. It’s not really a secret. The pandemic has exacerbated this situation, not just for drugs, but for all types of consumer products.
One of these recent communications noted that now baby formula is in short supply. Supply chain issues are mostly to blame. Making the situation worse was the recent shutdown a baby formula manufacturing facility after three recalls.
Is there an easy solution to this problem? I think so. All we have to do is look back to what our ancestors ate during the Black Plague.
For information on this solution, I would like to direct your attention to one of my favorite YouTube channels – Weird History.
As the channel name implies, they cover all sorts of “weird” history topics. The videos are entertaining, professionally produced, and you might just learn something.
A recent upload, “What Did People Eat During the Black Plague?” might just help us out of this situation.
First of all, there was no baby formula during the Black Plague, so it stands to reason that infants and young children probably ate and drank what adults did. Maybe smaller portions – but probably the same stuff.
You can watch the entire video yourself, but to summarize, during this time people ate and drank:
- Vinegar -as it was thought to have medicinal properties
- No fresh milk or vegetables – milk was thought to be unhealthy and vegetables had to be cooked
- Meats – whatever they could get their hands on
- Fresh Herbs – again used as medicines and treatment for ailments
- Wine and Beer – to avoid poor quality water they drank wine and beer for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Kids drank it too.
- Grains – apparently this was plentiful during the plague
- Sugar – if you were wealthy, you put it on everything
- Gruel – cheap to make and lasted a long time
Looking at this list and comparing it to what we have today reveals that while we have shortages, we can still get our hands on most of these products.
In particular, I have noticed that there seems to be no shortage of beer, wine and other spirits at my local alcohol purveyor.
So, while the baby formula shortage is a problem, looking at what people ate and drank (and probably fed their kids with) during the Black Plague, gives us many alternatives for pediatric nutritional needs.
I have also observed that it is much easier to eat and drink when you remove your tongue from your cheek.
Which I just did.
Mike Auerbach
Editor In Chief
[email protected]
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