Trump’s order mandating food processing plants stay open is slammed by Obama-era officials

Chris White, DCNF

Two former Obama-era officials criticized President Donald Trump for ordering food processing plants to remain open as experts warn the food supply chain is breaking amid chronic shutdowns and economic lockdowns.

Trump’s executive order Tuesday mandating food processing plants stay open is dismissive toward the workers who are infected with coronavirus, according to Chris Lu, a former deputy secretary of labor in former President Barack Obama’s administration. Experts say shuttering plants amid virus concerns puts the country’s food supply at risk.

“Instead of issuing tough standards to protect workers, Trump will order the plants to stay open, likely giving liability protection to companies,” Lu told his Twitter followers Tuesday. He included in the post a link to Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs’s tweet fleshing out the president’s decision.

Thousands of meat processing employees have tested positive, including 800 at a S.D. plant

Instead of issuing tough standards to protect workers, Trump will order the plants to stay open, likely giving liability protection to companies

Nice way to honor #WorkersMemorialDay https://t.co/tqcrGLbuu4

— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) April 28, 2020

Lu noted that “thousands of meat processing employees have tested positive” for coronavirus, or COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan, China, and is reportedly responsible for killing more than 55,000 people in the United States. Lu is not the only Obama-era official to pan the move.

“FOOD IS ALREADY A CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. Trump declaring it under #defenseproductionact is a big yawn,” Juliette Kayyem, a businesswoman who served as an assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs under former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said on Tuesday.

Mayors and governors began locking down their respective economies in March after health officials warned that the virus would run rampant and kill scores of people if drastic measures are not employed.

Trump wants to use the Defense Production Act to compel the companies to stay open, calling them critical infrastructure.

Two of the largest food processing companies shut down indefinitely as their workers were infected with the virus. One of the companies — Tyson Foods — rolled out a full-page advertisement Sunday in The Washington Post warning that the country’s food supply chain is “breaking” amid continued lockdowns aimed at slowing down the coronavirus pandemic.

The company’s board chairman John Tyson wrote in the ad that farmers will be left in the dust and “millions of animals — chickens, pigs and cattle” will be taken out of the market because of the closure of Tyson processing centers due to virus-related concerns. Tyson Foods closed plants in Logansport, Indiana, and Waterloo, Iowa, where at least 182 cases of the virus originated.

Smithfield Foods also saw shutdowns amid mass infections.

Roughly 238 Smithfield Foods employees had active cases of the virus, which makes up about 55% of South Dakota’s total, according to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Noem recommended the company shutter the plant, which has about 3,700 workers, for at least two weeks. Smithfield also closed a JBS facility in Worthington, Minnesota.

Experts say the food supply industry is under severe pressure.

“Everybody is trying to replenish their stocks as quickly as possible,” Rob Handfield, a professor of supply chain management at N.C. State University, told McClatchy News. “They just don’t know how long it’s going to take to get supplies back on the shelves.”

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