{"id":20578,"date":"2020-05-10T21:16:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T21:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=20578"},"modified":"2020-05-15T14:24:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T14:24:11","slug":"to-understand-the-danger-of-covid-19-outbreaks-in-meatpacking-plants-look-at-the-industrys-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/to-understand-the-danger-of-covid-19-outbreaks-in-meatpacking-plants-look-at-the-industrys-history\/","title":{"rendered":"To understand the danger of COVID-19 outbreaks in meatpacking plants, look at the industry’s history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Haedicke<\/a>, Drake University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Large meatpacking plants have become hotspots for coronavirus infection<\/a>, along with jails and nursing homes. As of May 1, nearly 5,000 packing plant workers in 19 states<\/a> had fallen ill, and 20 had died.<\/p>\n

Packing plants from Washington state to Iowa to Georgia have temporarily suspended operations<\/a>, although President Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act<\/a> in an effort to quickly restart these facilities.<\/p>\n

As Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds put it in a press conference, virus outbreaks in packing plants are \u201cvery difficult to contain<\/a>.\u201d But what makes these plants so dangerous? As a sociologist<\/a> who has studied food system labor issues<\/a>, I see two answers.<\/p>\n

First, working conditions experienced in meatpacking plants, which are shaped by the pressures of efficient production, contribute to the spread of COVID-19. Second, this industry has evolved since the mid-20th century in ways that make it hard for workers to advocate for safe conditions even in good times, let alone during a pandemic.<\/p>\n

Together, these factors help to explain why U.S. meatpacking plants are so dangerous now \u2013 and why this problem will be difficult to solve.<\/p>\n