America’s Obsession With Meat Is Accelerating the Pandemic

The decision to keep meatpacking plants open has done more harm than good

A man walks past a mural on the Farmer John slaughterhouse in Vernon, CA after 153 workers tested positive for Covid-19 on May 26, 2020. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

In June, 438 employees at a South Dakota meatpacking plant tested positive for Covid-19. That’s right: 438. While that number may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to how many people are infected across the United States, it represented a massive share of the state’s infection rate: 44%. A few dozen of the 438 died. It was by far the largest Covid-19 outbreak in South Dakota, and it all took place at one meatpacking plant. Alarmingly, it’s not the only plant with a story like this.

This is What Could Make or Break the U.S. This Fall

Meatpacking employees are getting sick

According to the Investigate Midwest tracking survey, more than 26,000 Covid-19 cases have been directly tied to meatpacking plants, resulting in 95 deaths as of July. This is undoubtedly related to the fact that on April 28, President Trump signed an executive order designating meatpacking plants “critical infrastructure.” In the order, he invoked the Defense…