Farm to fork kudos
July 16, 2020
First let me begin by thanking Pam Lewison for all of her hard work. It’s people like her that have helped our country remain strong during this unprecedented period in our nation’s history.
After reading Lewison’s article “Waste” last month, I’m disappointed that the meat industry’s scarcity narrative has trickled down even to the Palouse. Although the president of Tyson Meats warned of a nationwide meat shortage and meat prices rose by 4.2% in April, publicly available U.S. Meat Export Federation data shows that beef exports actually rose by 7% and pork exports rose by 40% from January to April compared with 2019 values. According to USA Today, some critics believe that Tyson stirred fears of a shortage to gain liability protection from keeping their plants open under the Trump Administration’s executive order. Tyson is by no means the only bad actor in this crisis, nor is this the first instance of malpractice within the meat-packing industry.
Cargill, America’s largest private company, was responsible for four E. coli outbreaks and four Salmonella outbreaks in their meats over the last twenty years, was charged by Argentina in 2011 for evading $252 million in taxes, and was fined $10 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2017 for misreporting its trade values - by up to 90% - and has continued to violate its conservation targets and accelerate deforestation in the Amazon.
Should deforestation rise to just 25%, the Amazon could enter an ecological feedback loop scientists refer to as “dieback,” which would begin transforming the rest of the rainforest into savanna. The Amazon stores over 100 billion tons of carbon. For reference, every coal plant in the world released 14.5 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere in 2017.
Environmental organizations such as Mighty Earth have worked to hold companies like Cargill in check. For the reasons mentioned, Mighty Earth is petitioning Costco to change meat suppliers. With the support of former Congressman Henry A. Waxman, Mighty Earth and its partners hope to pressure companies to move away from Cargill and for Cargill to finally end its disastrous environmental practices.
Pam Lewison hit the nail on the head when she urged our community to buy local from farm to fork at this time of crisis. Now is not the time to line the pockets of greedy corporations at the expense of families, small businesses, and the environment. During a time when I have felt powerless, I take heart knowing that I still can choose where to spend my dollars. Because money talks. Like Lewison said, the supply chain is people-driven, and we should hold those people accountable. If we don’t, we may end up surviving the pandemic today, but the Amazon and the ecosystems it supports may not survive tomorrow.
Nicholas R. Smith,
Pullman
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