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Tyson Foods warns food supplies are at risk with plant closures
Tyson Foods is warning that the nation’s food supply could be threatened as processing plants are closed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
In full-page ads in The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday, Tyson board chairman John Tyson wrote that “the food supply chain is breaking,” saying farmers will be left without anywhere to sell livestock and “millions of animals — chickens, pigs and cattle — will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities.”
“There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed,” he added.
Tyson closed facilities in Logansport, Ind., and Waterloo, Iowa, where 182 employees tested positive for the virus. In addition, Smithfield Foods has closed a facility in Sioux Falls, S.D., where at least one worker has died from the virus, a JBS facility in Worthington, Minn., and a facility in St. Charles, Ill. The Waterloo, Worthington and Sioux Falls facilities comprise about 15 percent of pork production in the U.S.
Gov. Tate Reeves mentioned the outbreaks in his news conference Monday, and State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said that no Mississippi food processing plants have been closed due to the outbreak. Dobbs added that the plants have been receptive and even innovative to ensure the safety of their employees.
Reeves said that some of the outbreaks have been linked more to communal housing of some employees than to conditions on the factory floors. Nonetheless, the governor indicated that the closures are becoming worrisome.
“We could find ourselves in America and across the country with inadequate food supply, particularly meat products,” Reeves said, adding, “We, as a country, have to be very cognizant of the fact that we cannot find ourselves in a situation in which livestock or other things that we depend on as part of the nation’s food supply are rotting while we are running out of food across the country. We’re not there, yet. But there are beginning to be people having those conversations and putting up warnings that we’ve got to be very, very careful in putting ourselves at risk.”
In a statement posted on its website, Tyson reiterated the points made in its ads.
“In small communities around the country where we employ over 100,000 hard-working men and women, we’re being forced to shutter our doors. This means one thing – the food supply chain is vulnerable,” the CEO wrote. “As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain. As a result, there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed.”
“In addition to meat shortages, this is a serious food waste issue. Farmers across the nation simply will not have anywhere to sell their livestock to be processed, when they could have fed the nation. Millions of animals – chickens, pigs and cattle – will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities. The food supply chain is breaking.
“We have a responsibility to feed our country. It is as essential as healthcare. This is a challenge that should not be ignored. Our plants must remain operational so that we can supply food to our families in America. This is a delicate balance because Tyson Foods places team member safety as our top priority.”
