Name: China-Owned Smithfield Foods Closing Plants, Threatening US Meat Supply
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China-Owned Smithfield Foods Closing Plants, Threatening US Meat Supply

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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAmerica’s meat supply might be in jeopardy as workers at slaughterhouses and meat processing plants are diagnosed with COVID-19, leading to closures across the country.The effects of such closures are complex and could have far-reaching consequences across the food supply chain, putting America’s livestock in jeopardy of going under as wholesale prices take a dive.Even more alarming is the fact that the largest provider of pork in the U.S. is owned and held by a corporation based in .Advertisement - story continues belowSmithfield Foods is the country’s largest producer of pork products, and its products are sold under the popular brands Nathan’s Famous, Farmland, Eckrich, Armour and Healthy Ones, to name a few.The longtime Virginia-based company was acquired in 2013 by Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. (now WH Group Ltd.).Trending:Smithfield, with plants across the country that employ tens of thousands of Americans, announced last week it had closed multiple locations due to COVID-19 outbreaks among its workforce.The company addressed the closures of plants in Cudahy, Wisconsin; Martin City, Missouri; and Sioux Falls, in recent news releases.Advertisement - story continues belowTraveled to Sioux Falls, SD, where this Smithfield Foods pork plant has closed indefinitely.518 employees here tested positive for .55% of ALL cases in South Dakota can be traced to this *single* plant.— Blayne Alexander (@ReporterBlayne)“The closure of our Martin City plant is part of the domino effect underway in our industry,” Smithfield CEO Kenneth M. Sullivan said in a Wednesday. “It highlights the interdependence and interconnectivity of our food supply chain.Are you bothered by America's largest pork provider being owned by a company in communist China?Yes: 98% (5319 Votes)No: 2% (90 Votes)“Our country is blessed with abundant livestock supplies, but our processing facilities are the bottleneck of our food chain.”In an April 12 on the Sioux Falls closure, Sullivan wrote, “The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply. It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running.Advertisement - story continues below“These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation’s livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals.”The company, founded in the town of Smithfield, Virginia in 1936, to Shuanghui International Holdings for $4.7 billion, according to .Related:Now it is warning of a potential meat shortage nationwide that would harm no individual more than the American farmer.The notes that the country’s farmers are ready to meet the challenge of supplying the country with food throughout the crisis.Advertisement - story continues below“Whether they’re readying the soil for spring planting, tending to crops that have already sprouted, feeding and milking their dairy cows or looking after their cattle, chickens and pigs, farmers and ranchers take very seriously their commitment to fill grocery store shelves with safe, affordable food,” the AFBF stated.Still, strict shutdowns and tumbling meat prices are putting a strain on the men and women who raise the country’s livestock.Iowa cattle farmer Brian Sampson told Des Moines-based he is “going broke” because of low prices from packing plants.“If you have cattle to sell right now, you’re losing your shirt,” he said.Advertisement - story continues belowIllinois pork farmer Thomas Titus told in Springfield that prices for his livestock have plummeted and he isn’t sure if he will make it out on the other side of the country’s battle against the pandemic.“The bottom of the barrel really doesn’t have any light in it,” Titus said. “The market is continuing to drop way below the cost of production for any hog farmer, depending on their overhead, it doesn’t matter at this point in time.”Illinois Pork Production Association Executive Director Jennifer Tirey told WICS the consequences for farmers during the crisis are “devastating.”When looking at the struggles of American farmers, it really should open some eyes as to why China — the United States’ — was allowed to get a huge stake in such a critical portion of America’s food supply chain.Advertisement - story continues belowWhile Americans are forced inside their homes by a virus born in , what is to say our meat supply isn’t vulnerable to being held hostage by China’s authoritarian regime?WH Group as “a Hong Kong-based privately held company that owns a variety of food and logistics enterprises.”But exactly how private is a privately owned Chinese company?reported in 2019 that in his first term in office, Chinese President Xi Jinping “has overseen a sea change in how the party approaches the economy, dramatically strengthening the party’s role in both government and private businesses.”Advertisement - story continues belowHave we ignored yet another potential danger from by allowing its corporations to buy and own vital American businesses and industries, especially those that relate to national supply chains?Why is such a valuable asset, such as Smithfield, in the hands of a Chinese company?What happens if China’s government uses its influence over private enterprise as a strategic tool of the state to wage an&nbsp; against the U.S.?It has become abundantly clear that China is no ally to Americans — or to American farmers.Advertisement - story continues belowThe potential power of Chinese interests over America’s farmers and food supplies is yet another reason Americans need to consider the far-reaching implications of being tethered to their country’s largest geopolitical and economic .I am reminded of late radio icon “So God Made a Farmer” to the Future Farmers of America in 1978 when considering the plight of the men and women who work to put food on our tables as they struggle with the implications of events beyond their control.Farmers play a vital role in American business and culture and provide essential food and other products to all Americans.Advertisement - story continues belowWithout a timely and safe reopening of America’s economy, a short-term meat shortage could force many of them out of business and prolong the crisis even further.This is also an appropriate time to have a discussion about why any Chinese company should have a controlling interest in the country’s food supply chain — and whether the men and women on the frontlines of American agriculture should find themselves as pawns in an international chess match between Beijing and lawmakers in Washington.Submit a Correction →We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism.Tags:, , , , , , ,AdvertisementThe Victory Baptist Church in South Los Angeles, where Martin Luther King preached, has burned; arson investigators have begun their work.Former President Donald Trump's legal team completely dismantled the Department of Justice's legal argument regarding a 'special master.'Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will not be out and about much in the coming months due to recent back surgery.When Trump exited his plane at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, leftists had their theories ready to go.The family's electric truck completely ran out of battery after the charging station they stopped at was not working.On one hand, Hillary Clinton laments that we aren't 'united' as Americans like we were on 9/11, then she attacks all who oppose her.All the supervisor did was come in contact with these pills, and he had to be hospitalized. Imagine if the kids had taken them.'When evil presents itself, it can be devastating, but we must remember there is more good than evil in our world.'These ten "levers" have potential to lengthen your life while also enhancing your quality of life, so you can keep doing what you love.Even though Stelter failed at being a journalist in his own right, Harvard has somehow decided he is qualified to teach students.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAmerica’s meat supply might be in jeopardy as workers at slaughterhouses and meat processing plants are diagnosed with COVID-19, leading to closures across the country.The effects of such closures are complex and could have far-reaching consequences across the food supply chain, putting America’s livestock in jeopardy of going under as wholesale prices take a dive.Even more alarming is the fact that the largest provider of pork in the U.S. is owned and held by a corporation based in .Advertisement - story continues belowSmithfield Foods is...

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China-Owned Smithfield Foods Closing Plants, Threatening US Meat Supply

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