The food industry, and animal breeders in particular, are no doubt delighted that our focus on vaccines averts our gaze from industry practices that will usher in the next pandemic.
AS THE CURTAIN RISES …
You may recall that in April 2020, meatpacking plants were hotspots for the corona virus, and thousands of workers were sent home as local health officials closed plants. When a major meat-industry executive published ads projecting meat shortages, Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act requiring them to reopen. Thousands returned to work infected by the virus, which was tantamount to promoting COVID-19.
Now turn the spotlight on another player in the drama: pharmaceutical companies, who have an unprecedented opportunity to “beta test” millions with vaccines (I do not begrudge them this chance). Given the extreme urgency for developing vaccines, the jury is still out as regards their long-term efficacy, but vaccination has clearly helped stem the tide. To my mind, the best is that vaccinated people are less fearful, and anything that reduces fear is beneficial. So we are well on our way to recovery, from this virus. Meanwhile, both players profit while food-industry conditions remain unchanged, thus breeding grounds for viral mutations.
You may be thinking, “What about the way we eliminated smallpox with a vaccine?” The world of the 1950s was not so unbalanced as today, and a smallpox vaccine might be completely helpless, crushed into ineffectiveness in our current environment. I speak with no scientific authority, but the question is worth posing, and partially answered below.
VIRUSES ARE NOT THE VILLAIN
Our planet depends on viruses, inter alia, and our very bodies are home to bacteria, fungi, and viruses (the last being most numerous). Viruses enable certain environmental processes, and if they suddenly disappeared, the effect on the planet (particularly oxygen) would be disastrous. For the curious, there is plenty of information about this. That’s why God created search engines.
At one time, we thought that all bacteria were the “bad guys,” but these days we are happy to make a place in our digestive track for friendly bacteria. We could offer the same hospitality to friendly viruses. One writer suggests that we should cease making war on viruses, because we won’t win. Better we should make peace with them. We could certainly save a lot of time and money if we didn’t have to constantly develop new vaccines.
CAFOs: BACKSTAGE
You know those bucolic images of happy cows and other animals that adorn food cartons? Most of those creatures live miserable lives in Confined Animal Feeding Operations. Scarcely known in the 1950s, by the 1970s agribusiness was industrialized, and animals bred for food began to experience life crammed into tight quarters, doing nothing more than stand in one place all day ingesting food and expelling manure.
Even if we choose to ignore this inhumanity to our fellow mammals, the fact is that food animals thus confined are home to many viruses, which are then thrilled to travel to the nearest human. And there’s more to this picture. Your tap water might not stink, but manure from open ponds at CAFOs is quietly seeping into the ground, untreated. Experts in this area are studying the consequences as you read this post.
And there’s even more: in order to increase production, CAFO animals are often injected with non-therapeutic antibiotics, which then lurk in the meat we buy. If horror movies give you pleasure, you could dive into the documentation on workplace conditions in meatpacking plants. Researchers far more knowledgeable than I will reveal data you wish you hadn’t seen.
A SAD SUBPLOT
We know that a disproportionate number of COVID victims are persons of color and/or poor, and that poor health and obesity contribute to susceptibility to disease. Many people live in “food deserts,” where herculean efforts are required if one is to have a healthy diet. Food banks are a sorry solution, a reminder of people standing on bread lines during the Great Depression of the 1930s. No need to read history books about that era; just look for the nearest food bank.
The conventional thinking is that grocery stores in certain neighborhoods are not profitable, but unless we want to repeat the 1930s, the titans of industry could devise a better arrangement. Some billionaires have more than they can spend in fifty lifetimes, so the money is there for healthy diets. Tech execs pat themselves on the back when they give computers to those so deprived. Why not good food?
CLOSING SCENE
One writer suggests that if vaccination is a duty, so is abstaining from meat. I hope he would except local suppliers, e.g., farmers’ markets, where I buy my meat. We could also choose to eat less meat, and not every day. We could reverse some dinings priorities. Sacred in homes and restaurants is that meat is “king of the meal.” Doesn’t it usually take up the most space on the plate, while vegetables stand humbly to the side, hoping for a modicum of appreciation from the eater? I myself have switched this, so that a small piece of meat occupies a tiny section of my dinner plate, making vegetables the star of my meal.
Who knows how this tiny adjustment will affect the rest of the world? What is certain is that our food-supply chain is a major player in the pandemic drama. We’re just waiting for the next act, and the play assumes audience participation.
My family is on a road trip travelling through several states in the Southwest. We have passed a handful of dairy farms, and each one has had hundreds of cows in crowded conditions with no green grass in sight. My husband grew up in Wisconsin and said that the present dairy farms are much bigger than what he was used to growing up. A large dairy farm back then had 50 cows. Most had less.
On a positive note, a doctor in Austin, realizing the connection between nutritious food and good health, started a food bank during the pandemic to provide rice, frozen vegetables, and beans to those in need. It is called Flora's Whole Pantry, and more information is available at floramedicalclinic.com.