Yes, it's a matter of sourcing the raw goods, contracting suppliers to process those goods into food, and distributing the food to the shops. I always thought it worked quite smoothly. There were never any problems at home. [None that she ever saw, in any case.

She learned all about it in school, with the expectation she'd at least nominally be in charge of it some day. But how it works, exactly, in this world, with its telephones and its computers and its long-distance automobile transport... that she can't quite wrap her head around.]

This has to be an issue at the last step. At home, we could contact the suppliers directly, take over the distribution directly if need be. [She glances over to him.] You don't suppose they'd need help, do you? Maybe we should find the person in charge here and see if there's anything we can do.

[She wouldn't even know where to start, but doing something, no mater how ineffectually, is better than going back to the apartment and seeing if she can figure out how to make a meal out of black pepper, celery, and half a block of cheese.]