A more pronounced disruption occurred over a year ago when Covid outbreaks forced many meatpacking plants, food processing plants, and farms to close for several weeks and months. The Food and Environment Reporting Network reports that as of June 21, 2021, at least 91,140 workers have tested positive for Covid-19; at least 464 workers have died. In addition to these tragedies, the pandemic forced farmers to euthanize animals and dump milk because while production continued, meat and milk processing did not.
The meat industry, like other agricultural sectors, has become increasingly consolidated over the past four decades. Four giant companies, including JBS, control more than 80% of the U.S. beef supply. Poultry, pork, dairy, and field crop operations have experienced similar consolidation. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that there were 2.02 million U.S. farms in 2020, down from 2.20 million in 2007, and 6.8 million farms in 1935, with the largest farms accounting for more than 70% of the cropland in the United States. The number of Black farmers has decreased to just under 50,000 in 2017 from its peak of 1 million in 1920.
Industrialized farming operations grew out of a need to accommodate these large-scale corporate processors. Bolstered by discriminatory USDA programs, monoculture farms and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have displaced traditional farming operations. Prioritizing productivity and profits, these industrialized operations use techniques that harm farmworkers, impact public health, degrade the environment, and perpetuate inequality.
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