Articles Tagged with ''frontline''

This week on our From the Cold Corner podcast, I spoke with Josh Knott, president of the Refrigerated Foods Association (RFA) and Knott's Fine Foods in Paris, Tennessee. We discussed worker safety, supply chain slowdowns due to COVID-19 precautions, and how panic buying and fear of perceived food shortages by consumers can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

To date, three plants have experienced at least one confirmed positive COVID-19 case among their teams. At each of the affected plants, George's immediately implemented COVID-19 response plan actions, making sure that all health, safety, and sanitation measures were implemented, including deep cleaning procedures and notification of any coworkers who had possible close contact with these individuals. The approach, and the practices  adopted, follow the guidance issued by the CDC and utilize the hierarchy of controls.

Cooper Farms is working to provide food and resources to their fellow Ohioans. The farm and food company, located in western Ohio, has made several donations over the past month, providing over 21,000 protein-rich meals, including nearly 6,000 pounds of turkey and 27,000 dozen eggs to the Ohio Association of Food Banks in a series of deliveries from the turkey, pork and egg company. An additional 1,100 pounds of turkey burgers were donated to area groups providing socially distanced serving of hot lunches for children and meals after virtual church services.

Smithfield Foods expressed its support for the activation of the Defense Production Act which safeguards the country’s food supply that provides sustenance to hundreds of millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also protects the livelihoods of millions of American family farmers who produce bountiful livestock supplies but rely on meat processing facilities to convert that abundance into food. Grocers and restaurants are dependent on farmers, processors and distributors to supply protein to the country. This action helps ensure the American people will not experience protein shortages.

Golden West Food Group (GWFG) is donating $2 million worth of meats to the City of Hope Hospital, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Unified School District, Salvation Army, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and others in need, to support the relief efforts associated with COVID-19 pandemic. GWFG is headquartered in Los Angeles County, California.

Brookshire Grocery (BGC) is giving its nearly 14,000 retail employees an additional bonus installment that equals up to a half-week’s pay. This second discretionary bonus complements the first bonus given in March for a total of one-week’s pay, and comes after a temporary pay increase of $1 per hour through May 1, 2020. The company also provided its staff with a supply of face masks to wear while working.  

Farm Rich donated over 1,700 pounds of product--approximately 24,000 mozzarella cheese sticks--to five local food banks and organizations providing food to residents in need. The donations were made to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia (Brunswick, Georgia, located near Farm Rich HQ), Cincinnati Area Senior Services, and The Healing Center (both in Cincinnati, Ohio), and the Mid-South Food Bank (Memphis, Tennessee).

Smithfield Foods will close its Cudahy, Wisconsin, and Martin City, Missouri, facilities later this week. Its Cudahy dry sausage and bacon plant will shutter for two weeks. Its Martin City plant, which employs over 400 people and produces spiral and smoked hams, receives raw material from the company’s Sioux Falls, South Dakota facility, which is closed indefinitely. Without these raw materials, the facility cannot continue to run. Smithfield will resume operations in Sioux Falls once it receives further direction from local, state and federal officials. This will also allow the company to bring its Martin City facility back online.

Smithfield Foods announced that its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facility will remain closed until further notice. The plant is one of the largest pork processing facilities in the U.S., representing four to five percent of U.S. pork production. It supplies nearly 130 million servings of food per week, or about 18 million servings per day, and employs 3,700 people. More than 550 independent family farmers supply the plant.