Thread by @LizSpecht, We're seeing one of the ugliest inefficiencies of animal agriculture rearing its [...]

We& #39;re seeing one of the ugliest inefficiencies of animal agriculture rearing its head: it& #39;s tragically inept at responding in real time to volatility in demand, prices, or production capacity.

Slaughterhouse closures have ghastly implications. 1/4 https://www.businessinsider.com/sick-workers-closures-hit-meat-suppliers-sparking-shortage-fears-2020-4">https://www.businessinsider.com/sick-work...

America could be 'perilously close' to meat shortages as slaughterhouses shut down and hundreds of...

A Smithfield Food plant that supplies up to 5% of the pork in the US closed indefinitely after 293 workers were diagnosed with COVID-19.

https://www.businessinsider.com/sick-workers-closures-hit-meat-suppliers-sparking-shortage-fears-2020-4

"In the animal ag industry, once the production clock starts ticking, it can’t be stopped. You can’t put a barn full of chickens on pause at five weeks of age until the price of chicken rebounds, and you can’t ask your hens to temporarily stop laying." 2/4 https://www.wired.com/story/alt-meat-trounces-animal-meats-massive-inefficiencies/">https://www.wired.com/story/alt...

Alt-Meat Trounces Animal Meat's Massive Inefficiencies

Opinion: Animal meat production is slow, rigid, and wasteful. Plant- and cell-based meat production is swift, nimble, and sustainable.

https://www.wired.com/story/alt-meat-trounces-animal-meats-massive-inefficiencies/

Here are two stories of many to come in the weeks and months ahead showing the implications of this system:

"Farmers say they may have to kill and discard baby pigs as slaughterhouses close and the industry faces losing $5 billion" 3/4 https://www.businessinsider.com/pork-farmers-disaster-may-kill-pigs-to-cut-losses-2020-4">https://www.businessinsider.com/pork-farm...

Farmers say they may have to kill and discard baby pigs as slaughterhouses close and the industry...

The National Pork Producers Council said the number of baby pigs that are euthanized will "soar dramatically" if the government does not intervene.

https://www.businessinsider.com/pork-farmers-disaster-may-kill-pigs-to-cut-losses-2020-4

"Staffing shortage at Delaware chicken plant forcing growers to & #39;depopulate,& #39; dispose of millions of birds: report". 4/4 https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/delaware-chicken-company-attendance-kill-chickens-coronavirus">https://www.foxnews.com/food-drin...

Staffing shortage at Delaware chicken plant forcing growers to 'depopulate,' dispose of millions of...

Allen Harim said the chickens were being “depopulated” due to coronavirus-related staffing shortages at its processing plant, which is making it impossible to “harvest the amount of birds” they were...

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/delaware-chicken-company-attendance-kill-chickens-coronavirus

Addendum: How, exactly, does one "depopulate" tens or hundreds of thousands of birds at once? All of the options are brutal. Suffocating them in fire-fighting foam and cutting off circulation until they bake alive are both approved methods. https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/25922-how-ventilation-shutdown-works-in-poultry-depopulation">https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/...

How ventilation shutdown works in poultry depopulation

One of the major problems identified in the aftermath of the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in the U.S. in 2015 was some significant delays from the time that turkey and layer flocks were...

https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/25922-how-ventilation-shutdown-works-in-poultry-depopulation

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