Trump takes executive action to keep meat-processing plants open [Wall Street Journal]
President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday paving the way for meat-processing plants to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic, as hundreds of workers have fallen ill and concerns mount about food-supply shortages. The move is expected to relieve pressure on meatpackers and farmers, who have struggled with food-supply upheavals following pressure from local and state officials to close plants. It is likely to draw fire from unions and worker advocates, who have said such closures are a necessary step to stem the virus’s spread through communities.
Editorial: Trump’s meat supply fix is a recipe for coronavirus disaster [Los Angeles Times]
… The order appears to impose no new health or safety obligations on the plants, leaving workers as vulnerable as ever to the virus. This disregard for the health and safety of people already working in appalling conditions is unconscionable. … At this point, a disruption in the meat industry seems unavoidable. But it’s not without at least one benefit: It’s not a bad idea for Americans to eat less animal flesh. … It’s not worth the cost in human lives to rush this troubled industry back into production just so that Americans can count on having an ample supply of steak.
Coronavirus: Should California brace for a meat shortage? Not exactly, say industry experts [San Francisco Chronicle]
Is the coronavirus crisis pushing the U.S. toward a meat shortage? There’s not a shortage, exactly, say industry experts, though interruptions to the supply chain mean that it’s taking a little longer than usual for meat to get from a farm to your grocery store shelf. … The main problem right now is that many meat processing plants have had to close down temporarily because of COVID-19 outbreaks among workers, and those that remain open have had to slow down their typical operations because fewer employees can work than usual. … Slower processing, which leads to shorter supply, inevitably results in higher prices at the grocery store. Paradoxically, however, livestock farmers are actually getting paid less because of the backup.
A family of strawberry growers had big dreams. Then came the pandemic [Los Angeles Times]
… Peak strawberry season in Southern California approaches in May. Yet with restaurants shuttered and some farmers markets suspended, demand has dropped. The Carranza family is worried. … The Carranza family is a rare unit in the state’s strawberry supply. They are not laborers on a large industrial farm, like those paid by the box, but an entirely family-run enterprise that sells to restaurants and at five farmers markets … As May approaches, the broader strawberry industry is holding its breath. … The markets have not weathered the pandemic particularly well.
Democrats want to let millions more Americans use their food stamps at restaurants [Washington Post]
A bill introduced in Congress on Tuesday would expand an underused part of the food stamps program to help feed millions of out-of-work Americans while assisting restaurants across the country that are struggling to survive a pandemic that has dramatically reduced their revenues or shut them down altogether. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) introduced legislation in their respective chambers to expand the Restaurant Meals Program, a little-known initiative that allows seniors, disabled and homeless people to use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to purchase discounted restaurant meals because these folks often can’t cook for themselves or don’t have access to a kitchen.
California’s farming students might be out hundreds to thousands of dollars with canceled fairs [KXTV Sacramento]
With county fair cancellations rolling in due to the coronavirus pandemic, California’s Future Farmers of America could be missing out on hundreds to thousands of dollars. FFA and 4-H students invest hundreds and thousands of their own dollars to raise an animal project and sell it at the county fair or state fair, but, due to coronavirus-related fair cancellations, that won’t happen for 2020. … Instead, many will have to venture into a vastly wide world of virtual auctions, where auctions happen daily and clients make up more than just their community supporters. … On the school’s end, they’re marketing their students’ projects with an online presence.
Costco, Walmart, Kroger ‘grossly inflated’ the price of eggs during coronavirus pandemic, lawsuit claims [Fox News]
Dozens of retailers and farms have been named in a class-action lawsuit that alleges they engaged in price-gouging by marking up the price of eggs sold in California. Costco, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Kroger were just a few of the retailers accused of “the despicable and illegal practice of price-gouging of essential groceries” amid the ongoing coronavirus health crisis, according to court filings obtained by Bloomberg Law. … Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that egg prices, on average, had tripled since the beginning of March due to shortages and demand
https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/lawsuit-claims-coscto-walmart-kroger-eggs-coronavirus-pandemic
