COVID-19: Agribusiness Reaches New Lows

Andrew Chuma 😎doctorchuma.com
“Eat well, Move more, Love more & Stress less” Dean Ornish MD
“Do the best you can, until you know better. Then when you know better, do better” Maya Angelou

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From: Sentient Media <newsletter@sentientmedia.org>
Date: May 19, 2020 at 8:44:39 AM EDT
To: andrewchuma@gmail.com
Subject: COVID-19: Agribusiness Reaches New Lows
Reply-To: Sentient Media <newsletter@sentientmedia.org>



COVID-19: Agribusiness Reaches New LowsAs our food system shuts down, workers and animals continue to suffer.

Jo-Anne McArthur / WeAnimals COVID-19 Revealing Inherent Cruelty of Agribusiness Reading Time: 3 minutes “I know many industries are experiencing hardship right now. This is just the story of ours,” Ryan Elbe shares as he watches milk gush from a pipe at his Wisconsin dairy farm. Elbe is one of many farmers across the U.S. and Canada who started dumping thousands of gallons of milk in early April as a consequence of COVID-19 closures. According to the USDA, processed milk products make up the majority of dairy consumption in the United States, with cheese accounting for over half of milk fat consumption in 2018. But as consumers trade restaurant dining for eating at home, the demand for dairy products has dropped drastically. Food banks across the U.S. are reporting supply shortages due to the spike in unemployment. Some argue that the excess milk could be donated to food pantries, but processing milk for human consumption would significantly cut into the dairy industry’s profits. Instead, it is more cost-effective for farmers to dump the raw product. As dairy farms continue to operate despite decreased demand, many farm owners are bracing themselves for the repercussions of dwindling milk prices. As the food supply suffers, so do millions of animals stuck within the meat and dairy industries. COVID-19 closures have already resulted in the culling of millions of animals within the meat and dairy industries in the U.S. and Canada. Inside the dairy industry, cows are kept in confined, unsanitary spaces where they are hooked up to machines and milked multiple times per day. In modern dairy, calves are removed from their mothers so cows will produce more milk for human consumption. Only now, the their suffering is in vain as their milk is being flushed down the drain. The Reality of Agribusiness Victims of the dairy industry are not the only ones suffering as a result of COVID-19: Multiple Smithfield meat-packing plants have become hotspots for COVID-19 due to authority figures taking inadequate measures to protect their workers. One worker at the Smithfield plant in Milan, MO. is suing for putting their life in jeopardy—along with the lives of the Milan community. Farmers are “depopulating” their flocks and herds due to the closures of dairy and meat-packing processors. Millions of animals have already been killed by CO2 gassing, blunt-force trauma, and ventilation shutdown, among other “acceptable” forms of destruction, and the fate of millions more is uncertain. President Trump has signed an Executive Order forcing meat-packing plants to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic; the Order protects plant owners from legal liability if their workers get infected, but contains no provisions to protect the workers themselves. The current crisis within the milk and meat industries starkly contrasts with the image agribusiness has attempted to create for itself. On the outside, the dairy industry paints a bucolic picture of rolling hills and happy cows, but recent investigations have unveiled immense cruelty shuttered behind closed doors. The meat industry paints a similar picture, only with the addition of rugged, intrepid ranchers. Countless investigations have shown that the promises on the outside of the package are often far from reality—that 99 percent of farmed animals in America reside within factory farms. The meat and dairy industries are largely controlled by major corporations prioritizing profit over the health and safety of workers and animals. Workers within the meat and dairy industries have little control over their working conditions. Hundreds have fallen ill after showing up to work in fear of losing their jobs during this uncertain time. As COVID-19 continues to surge through processing plants, some workers are striking in hopes of inciting change within our current food system’s procedures. COVID-19 has the potential to spark significant changes in the agricultural industry, giving citizens an opportunity to influence its direction. Animal rights advocates and concerned voters can lobby elected officials to limit the use of government funds to support industries that engage in animal cruelty and mistreat their employees. Read the full story Covering COVID-19 With the worst global pandemic we’ve seen in over a century, it’s more important than ever to make sure the truth is reported in its entirety, not just what’s convenient. Help us share the facts during these uncertain times and make sure the world knows our species cannot survive if we continue our exploitation of the planet and nonhuman animals.

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