Coronavirus has exposed the paradox of our food system: plant closures have led to a backlog of meat, forcing some producers to euthanize animals. Meanwhile more Americans are becoming food insecure as job losses mount..
Hog farmers are considering euthanizing animals to deal with the backlog of pigs after several major meatpacking plants shut down due to coronavirus outbreaks in facilities.
"Thing are changing very quickly," said Patrick Westhoff, an agricultural economist at the University of Missouri. "A few days ago, I might have said that having one or two plants close temporarily would not seriously disrupt the supply of meat to consumers, and that any impact on producer or retail prices would be minor and temporary."
Union leaders say the rising number of cases among employees exposes the dangerous conditions workers must face on the job, while recent deregulatory actions have not alleviated any of those concerns. Tyson Foods said it takes the temperature of employees when they arrive for work. | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via AP Photo
Coronavirus hot spots at meatpacking plants are occurring against the backdrop of a deregulatory agenda at the Agriculture Department. The USDA under Trump has created a new hog inspection system that eliminates line speed limits in slaughterhouses and shifts certain inspection tasks from federal inspectors to plant workers.
Hog values have plummeted from the pandemic and agricultural economists say pork producers could suffer $5 billion in losses this year. Just a handful of plant closures that represent about seven percent of processing capacity has led to a backlog of hogs as farmers have fewer places to send animals ready to be slaughtered.
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