The Human Cost of Cheap Meat Gets Higher in the Pandemic
Working in a processing plant has always been grueling and dangerous. With Covid-19, it’s even scarier.
It looks like bad times for Big Meat. The meat processing industry was slow to recognize the danger of Covid-19: Workers continued to work elbow-to-elbow and without masks long after other Americans took precautions. Outbreaks of the disease among employees have now forced the shutdown or slowdown of dozens of plants that produce beef, pork, and chicken. Tyson Foods Inc. Chairman John Tyson has placed full-page ads saying “the food supply chain is breaking.” The world is dismayed by scenes of farmers euthanizing hogs and chickens that can’t be sold—even as meat prices are leaping and supermarket shelves are emptying.
But it’s not all bad for Tyson and the other companies that dominate U.S. meat production, including Cargill, Brazilian-owned JBS USA Holdings, and China’s WH Group, owner of Smithfield Foods. The profits from the plants that continue to operate at full capacity have soared: Spot prices for beef and pork are way up because the supply is tight, while the price the plants pay for animals is down because the processors can’t handle all of them.