Since the start of the pandemic and the quarantine, people have been stocking up on items such as toilet paper, alcohol, and food. People keep buying things and buying things not realizing that these things are not in unlimited supply. People are constantly asking about how the quarantine is affecting businesses and other organizations and most of them are shutting down, including meat processing companies, milk processing plants, and other agricultural businesses. Many people don’t understand how this can affect them or why it is important to know about them. But the agricultural businesses that are shut down can lead to big problems in the near future. 

As the quarantine continues people still need food to feed themselves and their families but the problem is those ag businesses are still shut down and are not producing anything. This is putting a strain on our food source, businesses, and farmers. Since processing plants are shut down what happens to the farmers who provide animals and other supplies for those plants? Well, it’s simple, they are losing money. What’s happening to the animals that aren’t being harvested for food? They are getting euthanized. What is happening to the food supply? It is diminishing. Should people be worried about the food supply? Not at this point in time but here in the near future, we will be consuming more and more while none is being produced. This is the problem. 

Meat processing businesses such as Tyson, Cargill, Smithfield, Hormel, and Sysco Corp. have shut down all their processing plants to make sure that the spread of the virus is not transmitted to the people who work in the facilities that process food for the country. If someone works in one of these plants contracts the Coronavirus it could be a problem for the other people in the plant, for the animals, and for the people who consume the meat from the plant. Places who process milk are also shut down and thousands of gallons of milk are being dumped out. But we need milk and meat now more than ever. But soon we won’t be able to get any unless these businesses open back up. But there is still the concern of the people who work in these places and the animals and products that go through them as well. 

Should people go out and buy all the meat they can get? No. That would put more stress on the businesses that are trying to open back up to prevent this from happening. Should people worry about their food supply? Not at this specific moment. What is being done to help the situation? President Trump is trying to ensure that our food source will not fail and numerous companies that are closed are trying to get back into business.