To Stanch COVID-19 Meat Crisis, Let Small Farmers Sell Meat to Local Grocers, Top White House officials buried guidance on safely re-opening then

he ability of Americans to buy meat in grocery stores is at risk due to serious supply-chain issues caused by COVID-19. Though President Donald Trump just issued an executive order last week requiring meat plants to remain open, there are likely too many sick plant workers for the order to prop up the nation's dwindling meat supply.

The nation's small farmers and ranchers stand ready to help address these supply shortages. But unless Congress moves quickly to amend, suspend, or repeal a burdensome and ineffective federal law, red tape will prevent that meat from ever reaching grocers—or you.

Last month, Smithfield, the nation's largest pork processor, announced it was closing its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant "indefinitely" due to a massive outbreak of coronavirus among its thousands of plant workers there. That facility had been processing 4 to 5 percent of the pork Americans consume every day. Since then, competitors in several states have also been forced to shutter or reduce output at facilities in several states.

These massive plants, where livestock are slaughtered and broken down into commercial portions, were created to maximize worker output and efficiency. They were not designed with COVID-19 distancing guidelines in mind. Plant employees often work "shoulder-to-shoulder" and at breakneck speeds—processing more than 1,000 pig carcasses an hour, for example.

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