Stores in Santiago, Chile, ran out of yeast in mid-March, such as it happened after the beginning of the social crisis in 2019. Given that Chile has the second-highest bread consumption per capita in the world, it would seem that Chileans handle uncertainty stocking up ingredients for bread making. Everybody wants to make bread, including myself.
Two yeast sachets arrived earlier today, along with the rest of my grocery delivery. When reading the information displayed in the packaging, I was surprised by how many factories and offices were involved in the yeast supply chain. I was also surprised by the fact that the burgers I bought were produced in southern Chile, then exported to Argentina and Colombia, while the yeast was brewed in Argentina and exported to Chile. It is like selling mezcal to Mexicans.
Globalization, worldwide interconnection, and unexpected supply chains are not breaking news, but the current COVID-19 pandemic and our anxiety due to the fact that any envision of the future seems blurred at this time led me to think over the future of our cities.
