Pru Elliott
Coronavirus hotspots are cropping up in meat factories around the world. Why?
Imagine if newspaper factories were found to be dangerous hot-spots for coronavirus.
What if the people who worked there were vulnerable to a dramatically increased risk of infection, and once they got it, in large numbers, they risked spreading it out to the communities where the newspaper factories were based. What would society do? We’d say - shut down the newspaper factories until they are safe. Of course, the news is important but there are other, safer ways we can get it. We’d expect the Government to shut down the factories to keep us, the workers, and other businesses safe, and we’d get our news online, from the TV or radio or in magazines instead.
But would we apply the same logic to another non-essential product, meat, in the same scenario? Would society be willing to abstain from meat and instead get their calories and nutrients from plants in order to protect us from the spread of coronavirus? After all, according to the World Resources Institute people in developed countries like the UK already eat far more protein than is recommended.
Right now, as restrictions begin to lift and society returns to some form of normal, significant coronavirus hotspots are emerging at slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants across the UK and in the wider world. Media outlets are reporting factory after factory being hit by the virus, with hundreds of staff testing positive, and some even dying.
And, it’s no surprise. These factories are the ideal environment for viruses to spread rapidly. They’re cold and wet with workers - who are often on zero-hour contracts - pushed to the extreme, working side-by-side in noisy environments where they have to shout to communicate, thereby spreading more virus. Not only that, but these are places where some of the most vulnerable in our society work, who may often have no other income options available.
A quick look at job review websites reveals what staff face:
No social distancing or PPE, do not put your life at risk to pack chicken. Freezing environment, non-stop fast-paced work
(People’s) body and skin getting injured because factory save money and do not give quality overalls
No necessary PPE for this corona situation
HR told staff at the beginning of the Covid 19 crisis that it was all a bunch of nonsense and no sick pay would be paid
Hygiene standards are very poor
The question on my lips today is - how will we ever get on top of this virus if we allow businesses that are non-essential, and critically dangerous, to stay open? What does it say about us as a society, and about our ability to ignore hard truths about where our food comes from, if we are willing to put peoples’ lives and whole communities at risk for the sake of a chicken nugget?
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