Major grocery chains limit meat purchases as meatpacking plants continue to be pandemic hotspots - Entrepreneur Generations

Meatpacking plants are increasing covid-19 hotspots, prompting major grocery chains like Kroger, Costco, and Sam's Club to limit meat purchases as plants struggle to remain open and workers continue to fall ill.

"Trump attempted to head off disruptions to supply lines last week when he signed an executive order and invoked the 1950 Defense Production Act to declare the plants 'critical infrastructure,' compelling the facilities to remain open during the pandemic," Alex Gangitano reports for The Hill. "The order has not led all closed plants to reopen, but Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said last week that meatpacking plants will reopen in a matter of 'days, not weeks.'"

Meanwhile, hundreds of U.S. Department of Agriculture meat inspectors have been exposed to covid-19 and three have died. "About 145 field employees were absent from work as of April 28 due to covid-19 diagnoses, and another 130 were under self-quarantine due to exposure to the virus, a spokesperson for the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the federal agency that inspects the U.S. food supply," Josh Carney reports for CBS News.

Meatpacking plant workers are particularly vulnerable to the pandemic, and it won't be easy for the industry to change, Nusaiba Mizan and Benita Mathew report for the Green Bay Press Gazette.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2zZUs49 Major grocery chains limit meat purchases as meatpacking plants continue to be pandemic hotspots - Entrepreneur Generations

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