The Toronto Star spoke to Prof. Michael von Massow, a food economist with U of G’s Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, for his ideas on changes to make grocery store shopping easier during the pandemic. 

Von Massow, who studies the structure and performance of food supply chains, suggested a few ideas that would result in shorter lineups. Stores could take reservations for specific shopping times, he said. Or perhaps grocers could use “fast passes” similar to those used at theme parks so customers wouldn’t have to wait in line. 

He has made several media appearances in recent weeks to discuss food retail and production issues such as grocery store shortages, the closures and slowdowns at meat packing facilities, agricultural labour issues and the larger food system problems these problems reveal.