DeLauro: Supply Chain Help On The Way

Lamberti’s Italian Sausages President Jay Pallotti saw his grandfather’s 1946 Long Wharf business threatened after more than 70 years of business when two of the company’s refrigerated trucks broke down — and no replacement vehicles were available for purchase.

Help may be on the way, Pallotti learned Monday when he gathered with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Mayor Justin Elicker, CEO and President of Connecticut Food Share Jacob Jakubowski, and Val Capobianco, the owner of Brazi’s Italian Restaurant.

That crew met inside Brazi’s at 9:30 a.m. not to eat calamari or tortellini, but to talk about growing the multifaceted means that keep New Haveners and their neighbors consuming and connecting with communal history — like The New Haven Food Terminal itself, which was built in 1964.

The event highlighted two federal laws — one enacted into law, one about to be signed by the president — designed to confront supply chain disruptions and support domestic manufacturing so that small businesses operating out of New Haven’s Food Terminal, like Lamberti’s, can survive the uncertainty of current and future economic conditions.

The already-enacted law, the American Rescue Act, is investing roughly $4 billion in food production, improved processing, food distribution, and market opportunities. The U.S. Department of Agrictulrue is currently in the process of unrolling grant and loan opportunities to support local farmers and small-scale producers focused on improving equity, resiliency, and sustainability in food systems infrastructure.

The goal is to focus on local systems so ​“that we are not dependent on one large producer or just one outlet for the source of our products,” DeLauro said.

The second piece of Legislation is the America COMPETES Act, a bill passed by the House and Senate and awaiting President Biden’s John hancock.

That bill promises to put nearly $100 billion into American manufacturing to bolster the country’s supply chains and decrease the nation’s reliance on globally produced goods. 

That includes $45 billion which would go towards preventing shortages of critical goods by investing in manufacturing companies within the United States as well as another $53 billion to support the U.S. production of semiconductors. Semiconductors are key components in consumer electronics, cars, healthcare, and defense systems. 

Production of semiconductors in the United States, rather than China, could help Jay Pollotti access refrigerated trucks to keep his business running, for example.

While many prefer to avoid thinking about how the sausage gets made, DeLauro urged her audience to consider the global systems that contribute to the making of New Haven’s iconic Italian hots — and keeping the countless number of individuals who are food insecure across the state fed.

“We need to be a nation once again that builds,” DeLauro stated, ​“not just consumes.”

Jacob Jakubowski of Connecticut Food Share noted that before the pandemic, nearly 75 percent of the food distributed by his organization was donated by the grocery industry. In March of 2020, he said, that figure dropped to ​“zero percent.”

Jakubowski, Pallotti, and Capobianco all pointed to inflation as a significant burden on those trying to get food into their communities. The costs of basics like poultry, canned soup and rice, the trio said, have shot up by around 40 percent.

“There are a lot of moving parts,” DeLauro said. ​“You don’t realize it’s a domino effect … It’s a truck, it’s the driver, it’s the phone… we’re not thinking in those terms, but these folks are coping with it every single day.”

Watch the full press conference below.