Source: NCSU COLLEGE OF AG & LIFE SCIENCES, 5/21/20


As North Carolinians adjust to cooking more at home instead of going out to eat, Allen Boyette has an important message to share.

“There is not a broad food shortage in North Carolina or across our nation,” he says. “There is reduced variety, if you will — we may not be able to get exactly what we’re looking for, the type of chicken or the type of pork. Everybody must understand it’s not a crisis where we don’t have food right now, it’s just that you may not get it exactly how you want it.”

Boyette heads the Food Supply Chain Working Group, a panel of industry experts, members of the agricultural community and government officials the state brought together last month to address food production and distribution issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group is examining every angle of the subject, from farm to fork.

It’s not his area of expertise, but Boyette was approached for his leadership and organizational abilities, honed from years as senior director in the Facilities division at NC State and as a brigadier general in the North Carolina National Guard. His job is to establish priorities, facilitate cooperation and do his best to make sure the state stays fed. He has help from another member of NC State, Mike Yoder, associate director and emergency programs coordinator for NC State Extension.

“The group is phenomenally professional, and everybody wants to solve these challenges,” Boyette says. “It’s just sometimes hardest to figure out the best way to accomplish those tasks.”

For more of this story, click here.