Tyson Foods Chairman Warns Meat Could Disappear From Supermarkets: The ‘Supply Chain is Breaking’

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John Tyson, the board chairman of Tyson Foods — one of the biggest meat processors in the United States — warned on Sunday that the “food supply chain is breaking” and could result in the disappearance of meat from store shelves.

“As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain,” declared Tyson in a full-page advertisement which was placed in several newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. “As a result, there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed.”

“In addition to meat shortages, this is a serious food waste issue. Farmers across the nation simply will not have anywhere to sell their livestock to be processed, when they could have fed the nation,” Tyson continued, adding, “Millions of animals – chickens, pigs and cattle – will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities.”

Tyson went on to warn, “The food supply chain is breaking,” before concluding, “We have a responsibility to feed our country. It is as essential as healthcare. This is a challenge that should not be ignored. Our plants must remain operational so that we can supply food to our families in America.”

The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent panic buying has already affected the pasta supply chain, and Wired warned this month that the global food supply chain “may never recover.”