A leading poultry industry association says President Donald Trump’s order to keep meat processing facilities open is necessary.
In a statement issued April 29, 2020, the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc. (DPI) said the executive order will give needed assistance to the region’s chicken processing companies amid the on-going COVID-19 crisis.
“By resolving inconsistencies among states in enforcing (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, the order is a good first step towards a uniform standard for worker safety during this crisis in meat and chicken processing,” the statement said.
The DPI is the trade association working for the common good of the chicken industry located on the so-called Delmarva Peninsula. The region, comprising of Delaware and parts of Maryland and Virginia, is a major broiler growing and processing area.
The statement said the region’s governors recently jointly conveyed the need for additional federal support for the chicken industry and asked the White House to “identify federal resources that could help chicken companies, employees, farmers and chicken growers and to provide necessary equipment, personnel, supplies and testing materials to ensure processing plants can remain open.”
“They also asked for national, uniform guidance from the CDC and (U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration) for the meatpacking and poultry processing companies,” the statement continued. “This executive order accomplishes those goals and aids us in keeping the safe and stable chicken supply chain our country must have.”
According to the association, the chicken industry employs more than 20,000 on the peninsula and more than 1,300 broiler farmers are based in the region.
Already, the disease is exacting a toll on the chicken industry in the region. One major producer based in the area – Allen Harim Foods LLC – was reportedly forced to depopulate birds in the field because there were too few workers to process the birds due to the crisis.
View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.
