Yet, though we haven't had a worst case scenario occur in our food industry that doesn't mean that coronavirus hasn't taken a toll on the food industry. Here are some articles that I've collected since those May blog posts.
Tyson Foods, the largest meat processor in the United States, has transformed its facilities across the country since legions of its workers started getting sick from the novel coronavirus. It has set up on-site medical clinics, screened employees for fevers at the beginning of their shifts, required the use of face coverings, installed plastic dividers between stations and taken a host of other steps to slow the spread.
Despite those efforts, the number of Tyson employees with the coronavirus has exploded from less than 1,600 a month ago to more than 7,000 today, according to a Washington Post analysis of news reports and public records.
. . . Nikki Richardson, a JBS spokeswoman, said in an email that the company has adopted more than $100 million in enhanced safety measures throughout its facilities, including “increased sanitation and disinfection efforts, health screening and temperature checking, team member training, physical distancing, reduced line speeds and increased availability of personal protective equipment, including face masks and face shields.”
This $100 million investment in safety is just one company. So how much has been invested across the industry. Either this leads to food inflation or lower profits.
Fox News (May 26):
Farmers in North Carolina are being forced to euthanize 1.5 million chickens following outbreaks of the novel coronavirus at meat processing plants across the state, an official has revealed.
The mass euthanization due to coronavirus-related staffing shortages marks the first time during the pandemic that Tar Heel state farmers have had to kill their animals, Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Joe Reardon told The News & Observer last week.
. . . There are about 170 million to 190 million chickens and turkeys in North Carolina, Reardon said.
Wired (May 25):
In the US, poultry production has been getting steadily more mechanized for decades—going from 3,000 chickens processed per hour in 1970 to 8,000 in 1980 and 15,000 today. The birds’ smaller bodies mean companies need less capital investment to automate their production lines. But it’s only in the past 10 years or so, says Shai Barbut, a professor of meat science at the University of Guelph in Ontario, that pork and beef processors have started to catch up. In 2018, a pork plant opened in Coldwater, Michigan, with automated cutting and packaging robots that enabled the company that operates it, Clemens Food Group, to produce the same volume of pork with 300 fewer workers.
. . . In the wake of Covid-19, Barbut expects similar technologies to go mainstream. “The coronavirus is going to accelerate the acceptance of slaughterhouse robots, especially in places like the US,” he says.
Getting robots to do the job of human butchers isn’t trivial. Like lettuce and apples, animals come in all shapes and sizes. And though farmers can try to make them as genetically similar as possible and feed them the same amount of food, two pigs will never be identical in the way two smartphone batteries are.
As is pointed out, it isn't as easy to implement technology into the meat industry. In an article below, I quote that 1.7 million work at food and beverage manufacturing facility. If the technology can be figured out, a lot of jobs will be lost. According to statisa, 158 million work in the United States. So a little over 1% of US workers are employed in the industry.
LA Times (May 24):
Outbreaks of COVID-19 have struck nine industrial facilities in Vernon, including five meatpacking plants, Los Angeles County health officials said Sunday.
The largest outbreak occurred at the Smithfield Foods-owned Farmer John plant — producer of the beloved Dodger Dog — where 153 of 1,837 employees tested positive for COVID-19 between March and May, the Department of Public Health said.
Many of those workers are members of vulnerable refugee and immigrants communities. Given the nature of the work — with hundreds of employees standing shoulder-to-shoulder for hours each day, sorting, cutting and packaging the meat that feeds Americans — such plants have become virus hot spots.
Outbreaks of COVID-19 have struck nine industrial facilities in Vernon, including five meatpacking plants, Los Angeles County health officials said Sunday.
The largest outbreak occurred at the Smithfield Foods-owned Farmer John plant — producer of the beloved Dodger Dog — where 153 of 1,837 employees tested positive for COVID-19 between March and May, the Department of Public Health said.
Many of those workers are members of vulnerable refugee and immigrants communities. Given the nature of the work — with hundreds of employees standing shoulder-to-shoulder for hours each day, sorting, cutting and packaging the meat that feeds Americans — such plants have become virus hot spots.
As I point out in this post, the impact on the poor in Los Angeles is significant. At some point, I'm sure I'll come across an analysis regarding how these meatpacking plants resulted in X number of cases across Los Angeles.
LA Times (May 24):
Yet of the more than 5,000 cases that have hit South Dakota, close to three-quarters are in Sioux Falls. A state with America’s fifth-smallest population, it has had more infections per capita than all but the largest dozen. The biggest cluster has been traced to Smithfield, where 3,800 workers speaking 80 languages crammed into eight floors processing 19,000 pigs a day before the virus shattered the immigrants who dominate the rolls.
One has to wonder how coronavirus got to Sioux Falls. Is it possible it got to that factory via a trucker?
USA Today via MSN (Jun 8):
Trump’s April 28th executive order followed the industry’s dire warnings of meat shortages and invoked the Defense Production Act to compel slaughterhouses and processing plants to remain open.
. . . But the number of coronavirus cases tied to meatpacking plants has more than doubled since then, topping 20,400 infections across 216 plants in 33 states, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting found.
At least 74 people have died.
That’s despite widespread implementation of protective measures like temperature checks, plastic barriers and social distancing meant to curb the virus’ spread inside the plants. Some of the recent outbreaks happened at facilities that had taken such steps.
Eater (Jul 24):
Yet of the more than 5,000 cases that have hit South Dakota, close to three-quarters are in Sioux Falls. A state with America’s fifth-smallest population, it has had more infections per capita than all but the largest dozen. The biggest cluster has been traced to Smithfield, where 3,800 workers speaking 80 languages crammed into eight floors processing 19,000 pigs a day before the virus shattered the immigrants who dominate the rolls.
One has to wonder how coronavirus got to Sioux Falls. Is it possible it got to that factory via a trucker?
USA Today via MSN (Jun 8):
Trump’s April 28th executive order followed the industry’s dire warnings of meat shortages and invoked the Defense Production Act to compel slaughterhouses and processing plants to remain open.
. . . But the number of coronavirus cases tied to meatpacking plants has more than doubled since then, topping 20,400 infections across 216 plants in 33 states, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting found.
At least 74 people have died.
That’s despite widespread implementation of protective measures like temperature checks, plastic barriers and social distancing meant to curb the virus’ spread inside the plants. Some of the recent outbreaks happened at facilities that had taken such steps.
President Trump's executive order may be a reason why the worse case scenarios did not play out. However, it did come with a price of 20,400 infections and 74 deaths (as of June 8).
LA Times (Jun 9):
There are about 1.7 million workers at food and beverage manufacturing facilities, of which roughly 500,000 are at meat processors, according to a 2018 U.S. Census Bureau survey.
About 35% of food processing and dairy facilities have had at least one confirmed COVID-19 case, according to an International Brotherhood of Teamsters survey in May of union locals representing 79 plants. Roughly 80% of employers weren’t testing for the virus and more than a quarter of the workplaces didn’t allow employees to physically distance themselves six feet apart, the survey showed.
Still, the Teamsters have seen a “marked decline” in reports of outbreaks at union-represented food-processing facilities in the past several weeks as employers have established more robust safety procedures, said Rome Aloise, director of the union’s dairy and food-processing divisions. Union-represented employers are doing more no-touch temperature testing; strict adherence to safety protocols, including use of protective gear; and placing portable sanitation stations in workspaces, Aloise said.
What is interesting is the dependencies between the Washington Post and the LA Times. The Washington Post reports that COVID-19 cases have exploded at Tyson Foods. The LA Times reports that case declines have occurred across facilities.
There are about 1.7 million workers at food and beverage manufacturing facilities, of which roughly 500,000 are at meat processors, according to a 2018 U.S. Census Bureau survey.
About 35% of food processing and dairy facilities have had at least one confirmed COVID-19 case, according to an International Brotherhood of Teamsters survey in May of union locals representing 79 plants. Roughly 80% of employers weren’t testing for the virus and more than a quarter of the workplaces didn’t allow employees to physically distance themselves six feet apart, the survey showed.
Still, the Teamsters have seen a “marked decline” in reports of outbreaks at union-represented food-processing facilities in the past several weeks as employers have established more robust safety procedures, said Rome Aloise, director of the union’s dairy and food-processing divisions. Union-represented employers are doing more no-touch temperature testing; strict adherence to safety protocols, including use of protective gear; and placing portable sanitation stations in workspaces, Aloise said.
What is interesting is the dependencies between the Washington Post and the LA Times. The Washington Post reports that COVID-19 cases have exploded at Tyson Foods. The LA Times reports that case declines have occurred across facilities.
[Andrew Binder, managing partner at Philippe’s in Downtown Los Angeles] says wholesale beef prices went over $7.50 a pound on average, up from $3 from before the pandemic, though they’ve since dropped to a more reasonable $4 to $5 range. Since the closure of indoor dining, Binder has been forced to furlough workers for a second time after bringing back those who wanted to return.
Even with meat production continuing, beef prices are still above normal. This is an interesting quote for me, as I notice at various food trucks that I visit that there are signs saying that prices have been increased due to meat prices.
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