In an unprecedented time of confusion and fear in the United States and around the world, President Donald Trump unfathomably signed an executive order on Tuesday for slaughterhouses to remain open for business. Equally unconscionable, the measure aims to try to protect slaughterhouses from legal liability.
This, despite the fact that more than 6,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 while working at slaughterhouses, and an estimated 20 people have died thus far. Sadly, millions of innocent animals were killed at these slaughterhouses during the same time period.
The move follows a warning issued by Tyson Foods on Sunday stating that “the food supply chain is breaking” and plant closings are resulting in shortages of meat.
As per The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment, Trump noted in the order that “such closures threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain, undermining critical infrastructure during the national emergency.”
Critical Infrastructure?
While the main issue seems to be protecting the people who work there, and reopening businesses regardless of the risks, it is another stark reminder of the horror that these innocent animals live and die by for their meat; all while there are a plethora of plant-based meat and alternatives to choose from.
“Sending workers back to meat-processing plants without proper protection is tantamount to a death sentence,” Scott Faber, EWG Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, said in a statement. “These workers have been on the front lines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, risking their lives to feed the rest of us. President Trump should order OSHA to issue immediate, urgent standards to protect them.”
The fact is that the plant-based movement is continuing to grow at an accelerated rate. Slaughterhouses are an archaic model and the new norm is a healthy lifestyle full of nutritious plant-based foods.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), America’s largest meatpacking union with 250,000 members across the industry, called on President Trump to take immediate action to support his new order that all meatpacking plants remain open during the coronavirus outbreak; noting in a statement that “to protect the food supply and ensure these safety standards for workers are enforced, these plants must be constantly monitored by federal inspectors and workers must have access to representation to ensure their rights are not violated.”
The reopening of slaughterhouses is wrong on so many levels, we need to be promoting a healthy, plant-based lifestyle, instead of eating more dead animals which got us in this mess in the first place.
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