COVID-19 has drastically changed the meat industry. What was supposed to be a year of record setting red meat and poultry production quickly turned into one filled with paused operations of meat companies. There were a number of plants that contained sick workers, so multiple meat companies were forced to shut down amid the crisis. To combat this, President Trump signed an executive order on April 28 aiming to keep meat processing plants in operation, and meat processing companies are finding ways to screen their workers for the virus. However, even with all of these measures, trying to keep a production going with workers packed together in close quarters will be extremely difficult. Labor union United Food and Commercial Workers states that at least 20 meatpackers have already died from COVID-19, and more than 5,000 have been hospitalized or are showing symptoms. Therefore it is very unlikely that closed meat processing companies will be reopening anytime soon.
Is this a positive or negative thing for animal activists?
It is difficult to tell whether meat shortages are in favor or against animal rights. On one hand, there is an obvious lesser production of meat, meaning less butchering of animals. Also, people are already being limited to the amount of meat products that they can purchase. This means that they will be adjusting their diets to be consuming less meat and may find that they are getting used to meat-reduced meals. It is also likely that meat products are going to spike in price even after the pandemic, especially the ones with extra processing steps such as ground beef or bacon. This will cause people to search for cheaper protein alternatives like tofu or beans, considering that many are losing jobs and are looking to save money.
On the other hand, although meat production is decreasing, the number of animals kept in farms are increasing. These animals are currently packed together, simply waiting for the time to come around to be butchered. This is extremely unethical as their living conditions are uncomfortable and unsanitary. The more animals there are living on the farms, the more money farm owners need to spend to feed all of them. If they can’t budget for this, many animals will starve. At this point, forcing these animals to stay in factory farms for a prolonged amount of time may be even worse than just putting them out of their misery. Additionally, just as ground beef and bacon will increase in price, so will more ethical meats, like grass-fed and organic beef, as they require more care.
What should you do?
During a time of crisis such as this, when meat production is dropping and lines are difficult to draw, it is in the best interest of animal activists to simply avoid meat. Looking for alternatives may even be cheaper, and will be a step towards permanently damaging the meat industry. If enough money is not going into a meat processing company after this pandemic, they can be shut down forever and tightly packed animal farms will become a thing of the past.