Is Our Indispensable Industry Collapsing?

Amer ica’s ample supplies of bacon and burgers, long taken for granted, are now at risk. Covid-19 has forced numerous meatpacking plants to close. In South Dakota, more than 500 workers in a now-shuttered pork-packing plant were diagnosed with coronavirus, representing more than 40 percent of cases statewide. Government leaders increasingly fear the dire economic consequences of these closures. In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds mobilized National Guard troops to help test and monitor plant workers. President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to keep plants open.

Concerns about the livestock and poultry sectors are well founded. The process of transforming live animals into the wide array of edible products demanded by consumers is a complicated one. Resembling an hourglass, the meat industry includes many farmers supplying animals to a smaller number of slaughterhouses and meatpackers, which then provide processed meat to a larger number of distribution outlets. Read Full Article »