Pandemic exposes some meat industry flaws

There’s no doubt that walking into a supermarket and seeing empty refrigerator cases where the beef, pork and chicken are normally displayed can be an alarming moment — especially if that’s what you’d been thinking about serving for dinner. Many Americans, though not all, have faced this predicament. But what’s even more alarming is thinking about what led to those empty refrigerator cases — namely the COVID-19 illnesses that are occurring at some of the nation’s largest meat packing plants.

These are difficult and challenging times for all of us. But I think this is also an opportunity to step back and think about the changes we could make in what we eat that could have positive impacts in the short term and the long term.

What’s happening

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed some troubling flaws in our food system, particularly the nation’s meat industry and distribution network. Suddenly we are seeing how the highly centralized, consolidated industry can be fractured by external events — and how that impacts the consumer marketplace. Having only a handful of meat-producing companies control approximately two-thirds of pork slaughter and more than half of beef, chicken and turkey slaughter in this country causes significant disruptions when even one of these large companies is hindered.

For most consumers, the cruelties of the meat industry are either unknown or unacknowledged. The companies often own the animals and pay farmers to raise them, which leaves farmers with little leverage. Farmers incur debt while companies profit. Large numbers of animals are packed tightly into horrid conditions. And at slaughterhouses, workers endure unsafe environments in order to process a high volume of meat products at an elevated pace with little protection. In exchange, we get lots of meat at low prices.

But what has suddenly become clear is that even this — a seemingly endless supply of cheap meat — is a fragile promise.

This pandemic is revealing something local food advocates have argued for years: a highly centralized and consolidated meat industry is not sustainable in times of crisis. Because the system is not set up to be nimble, unexpected events that impact the companies can create supply chain bottlenecks that result in empty supermarket display cases and the appearance of marketplace shortages. Right now, millions of Americans are facing a decrease in the availability of meat and higher prices due to the inability to process animals at slaughterhouses. But the reality is that there is no shortage of animals to harvest. Farmers just don’t have anywhere to send them.

What can be done

We can take steps today to help respond to, and alleviate supply disruptions of, beef, chicken and pork in local supermarkets. Now is the time to connect with your local farmers who, by nature, can adapt to changing conditions more quickly. And because they are already more closely connected to consumers, bottlenecks that prevent food from reaching consumers are less likely to occur.

In my family, we have for years bought all of the meat we eat from a trusted local farmer. You could also search online for farmers that could ship chilled packaged meat directly to your home. There are plenty of farms across the U.S. that don’t contract with large meat companies and can continue to provide beef, chicken, pork, cheese and other foods.

If you are able to afford it, this approach may be worthwhile, particularly if you consider the high external costs of producing inexpensive meat. Currently those costs include sending workers to slaughterhouses that are known COVID-19 hot spots rather than temporarily shutting down those plants to protect their lives. Other benefits to buying local include supporting the local economy and contributing toward building a resilient local food system.

Finally, reducing the amount of meat you consume is another option to consider. Especially if you’re used to eating a lot of meat, incorporating other sources of protein could lead to a healthier and more sustainable diet.

Last year, the EAT-Lancet Commission developed a model diet to show that a nutritionally optimal diet and a sustainable one could be possible. At the upper limits of meat consumption, this diet includes one serving of red meat (3.5 ounces) per week, one serving of pork (3.5 ounces) per week, and the equivalent of a whole chicken per week for a family of four. Under this model, protein needs are met with other protein-rich foods, including beans, peas, soy foods, peanuts and tree nuts, along with seafood and eggs. It is a diet that is considered optimal for human health while also reducing the environmental impacts of food production, thereby ensuring we can continue to produce healthy and nutritious foods now and in the future.

In my family, we have experimented with the “less meat” model for years, and it works! I can’t guarantee that it will work in your home, but it’s worth giving it a shot. There are lots of strategies in the kitchen to tweak dishes. For example, on Taco Tuesday, I started chopping up a package of mushrooms to blend with ground beef, and then mixed in black beans. Nobody noticed that they were consuming about half the amount of beef they were used to. I use leftovers for chili, pasta sauce or soup for another meal, further stretching the value of the meat we buy.

For chicken, rather than buy cut pieces of chicken like breasts or thighs at the supermarket, we buy whole chickens. When I use every piece of meat on the chicken, one bird easily provides two dinners for my family of four.

Maybe, out of the devastation of this pandemic, we can emerge stronger by making some small changes in our diets that have long-lasting and positive impacts on the environment and personal health.