“ As an industry , we ’ re doing everything we can to provide as sanitized an environment as possible ,” Sullivan wrote to other industry executives in early April . “ But , we ’ re not asking for N-95 masks or anything like that . The ask is for the President , as well as all levels of government , to make more explicitly clear that food and agriculture workers are front line workers fighting the pandemic . The industry needs help , straight from the bully pulpit , to reinforce our patriotic duty to produce food for the country .”
Even after it was clear that dozens of workers were dying , an executive from Koch Foods said in late May 2020 that he thought the only safety measure the chicken industry should be using was to take temperatures . Ashley Peterson , a lobbyist for the National Chicken Council , said she agreed .
“ Now to get rid of those pesky health departments !” she replied .
Despite the toll , meatpacking companies have faced little consequence . Several key executives , including Sullivan and White , have either retired or remain in key leadership roles . The companies faced only small workplace safety fines and have used Trump ’ s executive order to fight lawsuits from workers ’ families . The profit margins of four of the largest meatpackers have grown more than 300 % since the start of the pandemic , according to the Biden administration .
“ The meatpacking industry ’ s efforts — aided extensively by Trump ’ s USDA and White House officials — led to policies , guidance , and an executive order that , individually and altogether , forced meatpacking workers to continue working despite health risks and allowed companies to avoid taking precautions to protect workers from the coronavirus ,” the subcommittee concluded .
The meatpacking industry on Thursday pushed back on
the subcommittee ’ s findings , saying it distorted the record and ignored the billions of dollars that meatpackers spent on safety measures .
“ The Committee could have tried to learn what the industry did to stop the spread of COVID among meat and poultry workers ,” Julie Anna Potts , president of the North American Meat Institute , said in a statement . “ Instead , the Committee uses 20 / 20 hindsight and cherry picks data to support a narrative that is completely unrepresentative of the early days of an unprecedented national emergency .”
The National Chicken Council did not address lobbyist Peterson ’ s comments but said in a statement that processors “ did everything they could to keep their workers safe .” Tyson and Smithfield emphasized that the unique challenges of the pandemic necessitated that they work closely with top government officials .
“ This collaboration is crucial to ensuring the essential work of the U . S . food supply chain and our continued efforts to keep team members safe ,” Tyson spokesperson Gary Mickelson said , noting that the Biden administration supported the company ’ s effort last year to have one of the first fully vaccinated workforces in the U . S . Mickelson did not address the lawsuit allegations .
Said Smithfield spokesperson Jim Monroe , “ Did we make every effort to share with government officials our perspective on the pandemic and how it was impacting the food production system ? Absolutely .” Foster Farms did not respond to a request for comment . While most of the previous reporting on the meatpacking industry ’ s response to COVID-19 relied on documents obtained under public records laws , the subcommittee ’ s report is based on 151,000 pages of documents that include an