The meat and poultry industry praised the using of the Defense Production Act to order food processing plants to stay open.
The National Chicken Council (NCC), which represents about 95 percent of the chicken produced in the U.S., including Tyson Foods, Perdue and Sanderson Farms, said the industry was “grateful” for the decision.
“While doing everything we can to keep employees safe and healthy, the biggest challenge has been inconsistencies among the states and many localities in enforcing CDC guidelines in plants that add to confusion and can lead to unnecessary shutdowns. This patchwork approach is posing grave risk to the supply chain and threatening great disruption to NCC member companies,” President Brown said in a statement, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He added: “There must be a uniform approach across all states and we are hopeful that today’s announcement is a good first step in achieving that goal.”
The Pres. decision comes after the chairman of Tyson Foods warned that the nation's food supply was "breaking" as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The company said following the executive order that it appreciates the administration’s efforts to help the food supply chain. “We remain committed to protecting the safety of our team members as we continue our efforts to keep feeding American families. The safety of our team members will remain our top priority as we work with the USDA on next steps,” a company spokesman said, referring to the Department of Agriculture.
He added that Tyson Foods has been screening worker temperatures, requiring protective face coverings, conducting additional cleaning and sanitizing, and implementing social distancing measures.
The North American Meat Institute also said that the executive order will help “avert hardship” for producers and keep U.S. families fed.
“The safety of the heroic men and women working in the meat and poultry industry is the first priority. And as it is assured, facilities should be allowed to re-open. We are grateful to the Pres. for acting to protect our nation’s food supply chain,” CEO Julie Anna Potts said in a statement following the order.
The NCC and the Meat Institute stressed that their industries are following CDC and Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance for workers and are taking additional measures to keep workers safe. And the National Pork Producers Council said the industry is “thankful” for the order. “As we all work together to protect workers and the nation's food supply, we need uniform and consistent solutions and all available resources to address this unprecedented crisis."
~thehill
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