I finally found the incentive to give up chicken, pork, and beef. I have one friend who’s been trying to sell me on the benefits of becoming vegan for years but I wasn’t having it. Another was gently chiding me to start with baby steps and just give up bacon. I understood the health benefits to be obtained and while I reduced my intake on both pork and red meat, I was nowhere close to giving them up.
But having a burger, some ribs, a drumstick, or bacon isn’t worth the sacrifice of human lives. There I draw the line.
Donald Trump issued an Executive Order requiring meatpacking plants to remain open, calling them “critical infrastructure” to keep the nation’s food supply from being disrupted. He apparently had little concern for the worker’s lives that would be disrupted, some of them permanently.
Tyson suspended operations at its pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa after a slew of infections, and Smithfield Foods halted production at its plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota after an outbreak infected 853 workers there. Several workers at the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in central Minnesota walked out on April 27th to protest the company’s record on employee safety. Workers at meatpacking plants typically work side by side, social distancing is wishful thinking.
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said the administration should have acted earlier to put safety measures in place.
We only wish that this administration cared as much about the lives of working people as it does about meat, pork, and poultry products.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 1.3 million food and retail workers, said Tuesday that 20 food-processing and meatpacking union workers in the U.S. have died of the virus. An estimated 6,500 are sick or have been exposed while working near someone who tested positive, the union says.
There are government institutions charged with protecting the health and safety of workers. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released guidelines which meatpacking plants should strive to comply with. They say changes in production practices “may be necessary.” They suggest physical barriers “if feasible.” Facilities “should consider” consulting with HVAC engineers to ensure adequate ventilation. Touch-free sanitizing stations should be utilized “if possible.” Additional clock-in stations should be utilized at safe distances apart “should be considered.” In other words, the CDC and OSHA don’t require the plants to do a damn thing to protect the workers, they only provide helpful hints.
I don’t dispute that the closing of multiple meatpacking plants across the nation would ultimately affect the supply. Smithfield Foods had shuttered plants in Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. JBS closed a meatpacking plant in Colorado after four deaths. Tyson Foods reported three deaths of workers at a Georgia plant (which remained open) though they halted production at plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Canada after hundreds of workers tested positive for COVID-19.
What I do have a problem with is requiring workers to risk their lives in obviously hazardous conditions, so that Trump can have steak with catsup or a Big Mac; some of his favorite foods. The nation was making do with a shortage of toilet paper, Trump didn’t think it a national emergency when doctors and nurses didn’t have masks and gowns. A little less meat is an inconvenience, not worth sending people to their deaths.
So at least until this is over, I’m giving up chicken, pork, and beef. I don’t have to participate in the murder of workers for the pleasure of others. Time after time when the choice is people or corporations, the wrong choice is made. It may only be a coincidence that many workers in these plants are recent immigrants. Then again, it might be one more reason for him not to care. I wonder?
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Previously Published on Medium
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