Posted on 05/01/2020 4:52:35 AM PDT by C19fan
America's mounting meat crisis has been laid bare in pictures showing empty store shelves across the country after processing plants were forced to slow production or close amid outbreaks of coronavirus. Two dozen meat processing plants across America have been forced to close at some point in the last two months while many others have been forced to slow output after workers got sick, according to union bosses. Shortages of poultry, beef and pork have continued despite stores limiting how many products each person can buy in order to prevent hoarding which has exacerbated the problem. The crisis is also set to get worse despite Donald Trump using the Defense Production Act to force plants to stay open and will not peak until the end of this month, unions have warned, with shortages likely to continue even for months after that.
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Just try to find a freezer to buy these days. Deliveries out to July.
We have 94 small meat processors in GA. I know of four in our area that have plenty of meat and one has no limit.
If there's any air in the packet, you get freezer burn. It's best to vacuum seal. Second best is to wrap the meat in clingy Saran wrap before putting it in a ziplock back.
Costco sells packets of chicken that have been vacuum sealed, and which freeze very well.
Very possible it was a combination of both!
These just seems strange. . .staggering cases in nursing homes, meat processing plants. . . . .
“vacuum sealed meat cuts...”
Don’t see much of that at the local grocery store. Never seen vacuum sealed chicken :(
I’ll look harder.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Perdue-Oven-Stuffer-Roaster-Whole-Chicken-6-8-lbs/42294617
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=food+sealer+meat
We are getting a 300lb pig for $100 this weekend from a commercial pig farmer. He has to sell them for what he can, because there is no place buying them. We are going to have to butcher it ourselves, because the big CAFO lots are taking up all the local butcher processing trying to liquidate excess animals. As of last weekend, 13% of all chicken processing in the US was offline. Cattle prices are crashing, so beef ranchers are going to be in the same spot as pig farmers are, right now.
Real, meaningful shortages are not happening right now, it is 4-6 months down the line. Think of the process like a conveyor belt. The line keeps moving, even if something happens at the front of the line; i.e. break down in processing or transporting animals. The people at the end of the line (the consumers) don't see the effect of that problem until that portion of the conveyor belt reaches them.
I am not terribly worried about shortages. I honestly don't think anything life threatening will come directly from them. I am more worried about the 2nd and 3rd tier effects of it, like the destruction of small ag, long term disruption in the shipping industry, the finances of it all, and most importantly any panic caused by any combination of the other effects.
I am no expert, and could be completely wrong. It's a simple matter of gathering info and facts to come to the same conclusion that I have, though. Any way it goes, it never hurts to be prepared for such things. At worst, you end up with a freezer full of inexpensive meat. At best, your family is able to weather lean times better than those around you. Stay safe, my FRiend
We have plenty of meat here in NE PA. It’s the paper towels that you cannot get.
My neighbor is a cattle farmer and has seen a drop in beef prices due to a lack of processing capability. He might have to start killing off some cattle because of the price of feeding them vs what he can sell them for. He has claimed to be breaking even right now, but any further drop in price means he will start to lose money on every one he sells.
Please, Mr. President, get a Subversive Rumor Counterstrike Team up and running IMMEDIATELY.
How many of those 900 no speeka dah inglich?
This is about more than a meat shortage. Please remember that these workers are mostly immigrants. I don’t know what their status is, as far as the unemployment compensation goes, but you can be sure that the closings are not their own idea.
The Tyson plant in WA, which is the latest to close, is in an area where there was near zero new cases of Corona virus, when the outbreak was declared. It was also at the same time that they started to offer drive up self testing at some locations in WA.
Within days of the first outbreak at the meat packing plant in Eastern WA, they announced an out break among the farm workers at a berry farm in Western WA, where the outbreak is just about over, also.
Sure as hell don’t see it at store
Interesting. Who is the one who brought it in to that plant? The spreader?
They claim to have more positive cases in the meat plant than they had in the whole county so far.
During the hot time in this, the shelves became sparse in the gro-sto. Went today and they were much better.
Do you remember the, during the Iowa caucus, the Bernie fans held a caucus inside a meat packing plant in Iowa, where not a single person spoke English and every single vote was cast for Bernie Sanders?
I think that the same type of thing is going on here. WA had a Tyson’s plant close this week after 130 workers all tested positive for the virus, more than they had in the whole county this entire time. My guess is that they used the do it yourself tests. They are also trying the same thing with the farm workers who just starting to work at the berry farms.
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