Today was the first day I went into town and didn’t stop in any store. I went to post office, picked up my mail, and returned home.
This was a direct result of observing other people’s responses to taking precautions against coronavirus.
At the very time when we need accurate information, it has disappeared. Wikipedia reported the number of infections in Rio Arriba County had increased to 24 on May 2. There have been no updates since. I checked its entry for Michigan, and it still was being updated after May 2. [1]
The New York Times published an analysis of excessive deaths by state. The logic is simple. If an average of ten people have died in an area each of the last five years, and the number jumps to fifteen then something must be happening.
Closer analysis of data in New York City has shown people who have the virus simply don’t get help and die at home. People who are having other medical problems, like heart attacks, don’t call for help because they’re afraid of getting sick if they do. And, as doctors become better acquainted with the evolving disease, they’ve discovered some of the heart failures, in fact, were caused by the stress on bodies fighting off coronavirus.
All these deaths are related to the pandemic, though some are indirect.
The Times story did not include New Mexico, because these is "no reliable data since March 15." [2]
So, just when some businesses are beginning to reopen, we are more in the dark about the dangers.
I had been buying things for future use, and today decided I had enough to last the summer. I didn’t need to add to the stockpile, and so wouldn’t go to the grocery unless I had to shop for something else.
Other people’s recklessness led in my greater caution.
Stockpiling turned out to be wiser than I expected. I tried to order white popcorn on Amazon today and found the brand I prefer was delisted. No expected delivery date means nothing is available until this year’s crop is harvested.
I found through experience my body has problems with yellow popcorn, but not with white. Unfortunately, stores usually carry the yellow. The cheapest brands don’t pop well. So, I had begun relying on Amazon.
This is not as serious a problem as the organic brown rice. The local grocery had an acceptable brand, that I began buying. Now, of course, it’s gone. Amazon still had it, and a number of other choices.
At least I’m don’t eat meat. Not because I’m against aspects of the cattle and pork industry, but because I’m allergic to penicillin, and the antibiotic is in the feed. Over time, I’ve became so sensitive through constant exposure, that I had to stop eating meat, except when I’m in restaurants.
Problems with the meat supply have been building for years. During the 1970s, meat packers closed their plants in union states and moved them to rural areas with right-to-labor laws. Wages went down, and union workers were replaced with immigrants who were kept in order through fear. [3]
Then, the industry begin consolidating. Today, four companies control 75% of the beef supply. [4] National Beef and JBS are owned by Brazilians. [5] A Hong Kong conglomerate controls Smithfield. [6]
Whenever ownership is not local, managers are less concerned about workers because they are not their neighbors. When the owners are in another country, we are reduced to colonial status with no rights.
Problems were flagged at various times. The Trump administration okayed the National Beef purchase in 2018. [7]
Then, when things shut down mismatches appeared in the food supply. Farmers and ranchers who supplied restaurants were begging the Department of Agriculture to buy their products. It didn’t. [8]
People pointed out the fact that the surplus meat stored in freezers for the restaruants couldn’t be diverted to retail stores because meat processing plants that cater to restaurants have been slow to respond to a changes in demand. [9]
Now that coronavirus has caused meatpacking plants to close, the head of Health and Human Services is saying it’s the workers fault they’re sick. Their living conditions are poor. [10] Never mind the fact that people who make low wages are forced to share housing.
People in the Española area still are sharing housing from the 2008 economic downturn. Some are adult children who’ve returned to live with their parents, some are people who’ve taken in boarders, and some are families sharing trailers. [11]
Donald Trump is saying meatpacking plants must stay open, [12] and governors of the states are saying they won’t collect data on illness in them. [13]
If people stop eating meat, it won’t be because they can’t afford it or it’s not available in the local stores. When people are kept ignorant, they act out of fear.
By the way, I got another taped phone call from another politician who was using coronavirus as a campaign issue in the June 2 primary.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico" and "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in Michigan." Updated daily.
2. Josh Katz, Denise Lu, and Margot Sanger-Katz. "What Is the Real Coronavirus Toll in Each State?" The New York Times website. 5 May 2020.
3. "Hispanics in Iowa Meatpacking." Rural Migration News. October 1995. University of California at Davis website.
"History." The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. 2016.
4. More Foreign Ownership of U.S. Beef Processors Raises Food Safety Concerns." Investigate Midwest website. 18 December 2019.
5. Investigate Midwest.
6. Isis Almeida and Matt Day. "U.S. ‘Perilously Close’ to Meat Shortage After Major Plant Closes Over Coronavirus." Time website. 13 April 2020.
7. Investigate Midwest.
8. Helena Bottemiller Evich. "USDA Let Millions of Pounds of Food Rot While Food-Bank Demand Soared." Politico website 26 April 2020. "‘It’s frustrating,’ said Nikki Fried, commissioner of agriculture in Florida. Fried, who is a Democrat, and much of the Florida congressional delegation asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue nearly a month ago to use his broad authority and funding to get more Florida farmers plugged into federal food purchasing and distribution programs as the food service market collapsed. ‘Unfortunately, USDA didn’t move until [last week]’."
9. Rachel Rabkin Peachman. "Amid Meat Supply Disruptions, Consumers Have Options." Consumer Reports website. 30 April 2020.
10. Adam Cancryn and Laura Barrón-López. "Azar Faulted Workers’ ‘Home and Social’ Conditions for Meatpacking Outbreaks. Politico website. 7 May 2020.
11. You can tell densities have increased from the number of parked cars. I have a friend who lives in a middle-class neighborhood in Santa Fé who says street parking has become a problem because so many still are renting out rooms.
12. Liz Crampton and Gabby Orr. "Trump to Order Meat Plants to Stay Open as Worker Deaths Rise." Politico website. 28 April 2020.
13. Allison Quinn. "Nebraska Won’t Track COVID Cases at Meat Plants, Governor Says." The Daily Beast website. 7 May 2020.
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