President Trump will use the Defense Production Act to keep meat plants open.

File photo of workers at BPI. Reuters.

President Donald Trump will use the Defense Production Act to keep America's struggling meat producers open. Reuters. The President is expected to issue an executive order instructing the plants to stay open and will provide liability protection for the companies affected. America is facing a major shortage of meat, especially of pork products and many hogs are being euthanized instead of being brought to market due to a lack of operating meat plants. As many as 20 slaughterhouses and processing plants have been closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak leading to a 43% reduction in pork production and a 38% reduction in beef. Critics disagreed with the order saying it didn't go far enough to protect workers, though the order will likely include guidance on allowing more vulnerable workers to stay home. 

My Comment:

First a disclaimer. Though I don't often talk about my job I think it's important to note that I do work in this industry. I don't want to say much more than that but I think the potential for bias here is obvious and should be pointed out. I also want to say that my words below are my own and should not be considered to be coming from my employer. 

With that out of the way I do think that this was necessary. I went to the store today and it was clear that supply is not meeting up with demand. There was a little beef there but almost no poultry and almost no pork available at the store and it seemed like a lot of the various staples were running low throughout the store. This is a problem that will get worse over time if it's not dealt with.

I think we are pretty close to a serious food crisis in this country, one that could be way more dangerous than the Coronavirus. Though I am hoping that some people stocked up supplies, we really can't afford to risk it if people did not. I have always said people are willing to put up with a lot but going without food is pretty unprecedented in America and not something that will go over well to say the least. I know that we still have vegetables and seafood, which don't seem to be as affected for whatever reason, but that's still not enough to feed the country. I don't think this is a problem of people not getting the food they want but a problem with people not getting enough food period. 

I also think that these plants needed the political and legal cover to stay open. There was a lot of pressure to close these plants from both activists and some members of the community and there is also the fear that workers could sue if they catch the disease. Neither of these things should be a concern for now. I don't think there will be any protests though, as the people that seem most concerned about this virus are the people on the left. 

I think the "why" is pretty well covered but the "how" is a mystery for me. Most of the plants that closed seemed to do so because they ran out of workers, not because they were worried about lawsuits. With many of these plants reporting hundreds of people sick and widespread cases of absenteeism, I am not sure how they are expected to open. These plants are fairly complex and it only takes a few missing people to derail operations.  I'm kind of wondering if there won't be an exception for the hardest hit plants. Without the order sitting in front of me it's hard to say how the government will deal with this issues. 

Complicating things is the role the media and the Democrats will play in this. I am guessing that they will try and whip up the unions to try and force plant closures. The fact that if we close all of these plants it will lead to hunger and widespread misery is seen as a benefit to these people as they will do anything to keep President Trump from being reelected. They do not care at all who gets hurt. 

That being said, I do have to say that the workers are being asked to take a big risk here. Though the PPE situation seems to be resolved, they are not a panacea and wearing facemasks, shields and gloves won't stop all infections. This order will likely lead to more people getting sick. I won't be surprised if people don't show up after the harder hit plants are reopened. 

But I also don't know what else can be done. We need meat in this country to feed people. I think it's a hard ask to open these plants up but it's necessary. And I say that as someone who is at risk (though I am at lower risk than most) of catching the disease if the plants stay open.