Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/tag/covid-19-and-meatpacking/)
Here are some of the important emails to know that Congress obtained during its new investigation into the meatpacking industry.
In four states with a large meatpacking footprint, production dropped 40% during outbreaks in the pandemic's first year. But overall production ended 2% higher than the year before.
The leaders of pork company Smithfield Foods and chicken producer Perdue Farms were in regular contact with government officials as the coronavirus began sweeping through their plants.
The new federal rule comes after many of the largest meatpacking plants have already vaccinated many of its employees.
A House of Representatives subcommittee reviewing the coronavirus pandemic found plants owned by five major meatpacking companies accounted for at least 59,000 COVID-19 cases and 269 deaths — much higher than any previous tally.
The analysis supports what many meatpacking workers and advocates suspected during the early months of the pandemic — working shoulder-to-shoulder coupled with high line speeds contributed to the virus’ spread.