This is the day to honor the farm, meatpacking, slaughterhouse, grocery, and other low-wage food system workers deemed essential during the Covid-19 pandemic.
And this seems like good advice.
Enjoy the day!
The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has formed an alliance with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) to
provide NAMI’s members, workplace safety and health professionals, the meatpacking and processing workforce, and the public with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect workers by reducing and preventing exposure to Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), and understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
NAMI’s motto is “One unified voice for meat and poultry companies, large and small.” Its members are listed here.
OSHA’s stated mission
With the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.
Basically, the Alliance aims to
This looks like meat industry propaganda to me.
As quoted by Food Dive, Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, called the deal “an outrage.” His statement:
Throughout the pandemic, employers have continued to keep workers and the general public in the dark about illness in the plants while trying to shield themselves from any liability for the role they played in the loss of life. It is shocking that the Department of Labor is now giving the meat industry even more power to police itself on worker safety.
He’s not kidding. The Food and Environment Reporting Network is tracking cases. As of August 17, its figures show confirmed cases of Covid-19 in
No surprisae, workers have filed thousands of complaints with OSHA.
What has OSHA done for them? It co-issued (with CDC) guidance on what companies ought to be doing about distancing and masking.
Are companies following this guidelines? Not with much conviction.
That is why workers have had to resort to filing lawsuits against Smithfield Foods and Tyson Foods—and OSHA—as summarized by ProPublica.
According to Politico (behind a paywall, unfortunately), the lawsuits reveal that OSHA admits that it is unable to police its own safety guidelines.
Although an inspector from OSHA’s Wilkes-Barre Area Office witnessed employees working “2 to 3 feet” apart without physical barriers — which goes against the Centers for Disease Control and OSHA’s safety recommendations — the agency concluded there was no “imminent danger” at the plant, the inspector testified during a July 31 hearing.
As always, it’s hard to make up stuff like this.
The Wall Street Journal reports “More Americans Go Hungry Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Census Shows.”
As of late last month, about 12.1% of adults lived in households that didn’t have enough to eat at some point in the previous week, up from 9.8% in early May, Census figures show. And almost 20% of Americans with kids at home couldn’t afford to give their children enough food, up from almost 17% in early June.
The most shocking revelation? Try this.
What’s going on here?
If ever there was a need for policy, this is it.
I learned about this latest development in the ongoing sage of USDA’s food boxes from Maine Representative Chellie Pingree on Twitter.
The letter from members of Congress to USDA is here.
It has a list of ten questions, among them my two favorites:
5. Identify the total amount of funding expended or obligated to plan, coordinate, draft, review, provide stakeholder or public notification, and disseminate the President’s letter. Include the specific regulatory or statutory authorities associated with such funding.
7. Explain the rationale for why the letter is signed by the President on White House letterhead rather than by the Secretary of Agriculture and/or the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Politico Morning Agriculture asks (“A new front in the food box fracas,” August 17):
So what’s the upshot? Besides heightened scrutiny of the ongoing effort, the new controversy could further motivate key lawmakers who are pushing to tighten restrictions on how the department spends any future farm relief funds — assuming Congress and the White House ever agree on a new stimulus package…
Boris Johnson, the UK’s admittedly overweight prime minister, has suddenly become a champion of anti-obesity policy, following his bout with Covid-19.
As the Washington Post puts it, “Boris Johnson says ‘I was too fat’ as he launches anti-obesity campaign.”
The campaign is based on two reports, one detailing the high and growing prevalence of obesity in Great Britain and its links to Covid-19 susceptibility.
The second is a government policy report, which says it is
The UK food industry does not like this. It insists that this campaign is “a terrible missed opportunity.”
I was interested to see Hank Cardello’s comment on this (Cardello is with the conservative Hudson Institute in the US): “How A Libertarian Is Tackling Obesity And Why Big Food Should Worry.” Cardello thinks that Johnson’s efforts are the wave of the future. The food industry should stop fighting public health measures, he says. Instead, it should:
Wouldn’t that be terrific, and it’s great that he’s saying so (I keep telling him that he sounds more like me every day).
But can food companies follow his advice? Not as long as they put profits to shareholders, first, alas.
That’s what really needs to change.
Quartz Africa reports that the Coronavirus-induced cancellation of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca will lead to large losses to Somali goat and sheep traders.
Millions of livestock from Somalia have been shipped to Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca over many decades to feed some two million pilgrims from around the world. Livestock export during Hajj season is a lucrative business and is estimated to earn Somali livestock traders up to half a billion dollars a year.
But this year, Somalia’s goats and sheep will not join the pilgrimage because Hajj has effectively been cancelled by Saudi authorities due to the Covid-19 pandemic—only a limited number of locals are allowed to attend Hajj. It leaves the Somali livestock industry at a crossroads and will likely lead to tens of thousands losing their livelihoods.
It’s not just us who are suffering. The terrible effects of this pandemic run deep, globally, and locally.
In case you missed it, Kraft Mac & Cheese is now “approved for breakfast.”
Why? Blame this on Covid-19 and parents having to deal with kids at home all day under lockdown.
It’s all about the small parenting wins these days and serving Kraft Mac & Cheese as part of a balanced breakfast is a sure-fire way to start the day off with a smile. Kids are full and far less cranky, while parents can peacefully work from home, teach, and do the millions of other tasks required of them.
So for the first time, Kraft is replacing “dinner” with “breakfast” on their iconic blue box of macaroni & cheese because it’s acceptable to enjoy deliciously cheesy Kraft Mac & Cheese for breakfast – or any time of day.
When it comes to food marketing, you can’t make this stuff up.
Thanks to Tony Vassallo, “Man on a Nutrition Mission™,” for sending me this gem.
The Rockefeller Foundation has a new report out: Reset the Table: Meeting the Moment to Transform the U.S. Food System.
The report summarizes what Covid-19 has added to our dysfunctional food system. It proposes three goals:
It summarizes all this in one graphic.
The challenge, of course, is how.
I am the 2024 Joyce Lindower Wolitzer ’76 and Steven Wolitzer Seminar speaker and will be at Cornell for events connected with it. My Wolitzer talk, “Food Politics 2024: An Agenda for Action” is at 4:45 p.m. in 700 Clark Hall, followed by a book signing. No registration necessary, just come!