White House: Meat supply ‘back up and running’ soon
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 6, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:37 PM PT — Wednesday, May 6, 2020
The nation’s meat supply could be back up and running in a week. On Wednesday, President Trump and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds met at the White House to discuss what’s ahead for industry after several facilities were forced to close during the ongoing pandemic.
This meeting came amid raised concerns over a potential protein shortage in the country.
The governor confirmed the workforce should be returning sooner rather than later.
“We’ll have most of our facilities up and going. As we continue to keep them up and processing, bring more back on line and continue to exceed the capacity, we’re going to hopefully prevent what could have been, you know, a really sorry situation, where we were euthanizing some of our protein supply and really impacting the food supply not only across the country, but throughout the world. This is critical infrastructure, it’s an essential workforce. The executive order, I think, maybe prevented what could have been a really serious situation.” – Kim Reynolds, Governor of Iowa
President Trump met with @IAGovernor in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/5bn71eTbvl
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 6, 2020
Meat is packaged on carts in a refrigerator at a Homeland grocery store in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
According to the Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue, there will be no shortages of meat due to COVID shutdowns. He announced Wednesday that all meat processing plants will be back up and running within a week or ten days.
He reiterated the USDA has designated meat packing plants as essential businesses and provided the necessary safety guidelines to allow their unrestricted operation.
Democrats and mainstream media outlets recently attempted to fuel panic by claiming meat factories are spreading coronavirus. However, President Trump has said his recent executive order has minimized the risk at meat packing plants.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump for helping ensure America’s meat and poultry processors are able to continue operations while keeping our heroic workers safe. https://t.co/EEGL5t1CKV
— Sec. Sonny Perdue (@SecretarySonny) April 30, 2020
MORE NEWS: Dept. Of Labor, CDC Cracks Down On Virus Protocols For Meatpacking, Processing Workers