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I understand that the meat packing plants have been hit hard by covid because of nature of the work, immigrant labor not following precautions, etc. etc.
This illness doesn't last forever and I would expect that most of the workers are on the younger side and probably not getting really bad symptoms. So what am I missing on the dire reports of our future meat supply? Isn't this just going to be a blip in supply and then right back in full supply. Full disclosure- I know nothing about the industry. It just seems like there will be a short term loss for the industry and then it will pick back up.

If the meat plants shut down then there will be no market for the hogs, cattle, sheep, chickens, etc. With no markets for their livestock many of the livestock producers may well have to dump the carcasses of those animals and bulldoze them under. Many simply can't afford to continue feeding them when there is no market to sell to to recover their cost of production.
With no producers producing livestock the feed markets will collapse. Feed markets collapse then there's drastically reduced demand for the farmers crops. restricted or no markets for crops then there's drastically reduced demand for seeds to plant. Many farmers/ranchers may be forced out of business.
On and on and on. The food chain collapses and the shelves in the local super market could get pretty bare.
And that, my friend, means it could take a loooong time to recover. and you may well get pretty hungry.

I've got lots of venison

Was listening to Rush's show yesterday w/ Mark Steyn ,and a caller from SD stated that we are still importing alot of meat ?
Haven't taken the time to research this yet.
Anyone know if this true (or why)?

It was stupid to close the whole damn country down on media hype.

Would have been much, much better for everyone to remove the infected individual and isolate him/her, and keep the other 1000 employees working and producing.

We would not have had anywhere NEAR the economic disaster we have now.

But the media did it's best. It worked.

Aawww - HELL, we'll just turn all the grain into ethanol - we don't need no stinkin' gasoline, anyway! (Tongue-in-cheek icon, here) !

Not only are we importing meat... But they relaxed the labeling requirements when you buy it. You aren't told it's imported meat.

Meat slaughtered here for sale in the US is USDA inspected.

Who knows what goes on with processing on foreign meat?


This has been a problem for some time now. It's just now getting attention because of the meat shortage due to processing plant closures here in the US.

Canada produces lots of pigs an$ have virtually no slaughter factories. It’s comes across the border non stop here in North Dakota headed for South Dakota and Iowa. Ed k

That was his other point,Country of Origin not being marked.

They nature of the work had nothing to do with immigrants following precautions.
It's like a labor camp. Bunk houses and buses running all day back and forth.
Keep thinking slavery is dead.