How the COVID-19 pandemic has blown open the underregulated world of cheap meat
Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson left the Tyson pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, in disgust. On April 10, after receiving complaints from workers and community members, he and local health officials inspected the facility, which is responsible for about 5 percent of total U.S. pork production, according to industry estimates. “We walked out of that plant tour knowing those complaints were valid,” says Thompson, who is also chair of the Black Hawk Emergency Management Commission.
Thompson and other elected officials urged Tyson to close the plant immediately for cleaning and test employees for COVID-19. “They didn’t take action,” he says. Now, 1,031 workers at the Waterloo plant have tested positive, and 1,703 cases total have been confirmed in Black Hawk County, including at a long-term care facility for the elderly. Twenty-six people have died. Thompson traces the outbreak to the Tyson plant, one of the county’s largest employers.
“They didn’t start to take it seriously until we started getting cases in our town and in our plant.”According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention For longtime critics of America’s meat system, the current public scrutiny feels overdue. “The industrial meat system is about as nasty as you can get,” says Brent Young, whose Brooklyn butcher shop, the Meat Hook, was established in contrast to big meat — and is one of many small purveyors currently thriving even as major processors struggle.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
At a small Oregon meatpacking plant, first came fear, then a planAt Nicky USA's in Portland, Ore., sad realization struck that in the era of the coronavirus, the family business could not go on as planned.
Read more »
At a small Oregon meatpacking plant, first came fear, then a planHigh-end restaurant butcher Nicky USA is selling meat directly to consumers to make up for revenue and job losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more »
California still in danger zone as coronavrus deaths mount, slowing reopeningsAs death toll keeps climbing, California far from out of danger zone
Read more »
Man Who Recorded Ahmaud Arbery Killing Says His Life's Being ThreatenedThe man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery's murder says his life's now in danger.
Read more »
Meet the Real Ms. Monopoly: The Creator of the Landlord’s GameAfter that weirdo commercial went viral, satansjacuzzi did some digging and hit gold: Lizzie Magie, the creator of Monopoly's anti-capitalist inspiration.
Read more »
Inside McDonald's workers' organizing during the coronavirus pandemic - Business Insider'It's life or death': Worker unrest, a shifting America, and internal tensions amid the coronavirus outbreak could forever change McDonald's
Read more »