Food shortages becoming more apparent.

I wok in the food distribution field. First of all, whoever was talking about the price of eggs, well, Easter just happened. Eggs always go up for Easter.

Upon the initial lockdown, it was nearly impossible to supply grocery stores with meat products. All stores were reaching out to multiple vendors to hopefully get whatever they could in stock. On my level, we were often shorted product as well. That has since leveled off, and we are keeping a good supply. The price, however has gone up tremendously. Beef used for grind is up $1.50 per lb at least at my level. So that cost trickles down.

Now we have a new issue. Pork and beef plants are shutting down due to the virus or fear of the virus. Unfortunately, even though are many farms in the USA, there are only so many providers of boxed beef. We don't do the hanging beef anymore. It's all butchered at a few locations, then boxed by ribeyes, strip loins, etc. There's still plenty of meat, just fewer places to butcher, which means prices are about to go up again. That Smithfield plant is going to drive pork prices up quite a bit. So buy now, and freeze.

Fortunately, right now, chicken breasts and wings are at an all time low, so buy chicken, and freeze it. Here's the issue with the cost of chicken. These chicken plants will be processing at a loss, because the cost is so low. Wings were hurt by no March Madness. So a plant or two may shut down due to losses, and chicken prices will skyrocket.

In other words, there's plenty of animals to butcher, but the butchering process might be the issue. So buy now if you have freezer space, because it's not going to get any better in the next few months.

originally posted by: BrianFlanders

originally posted by: Stupidsecrets
We don't have a food shortage. Farmers are throwing food away from several reports. Go buy some dry beans, canned goods, rice and frozen vegetables. If it gets really bad dig up some worms, grab a rod and head to the local river or start trapping or shooting squirrels. Getting tired of this defeatism mentality. Nobody is starving to death in the US. In many regards the obesity problem in the US is a bigger problem than the virus. The virus also targets fat bodies.

People's issues are much more diverse than a post like this makes them seem. Yes. Many people are overweight at a basic level but the American way of life is also to work yourself to death so most people have no time to do anything but work all week long, such that they're exhausted by the weekend and don't want to do anything but rest and recreation.

The typical work day (while exhausting) tends to not be very exercise oriented so people are inclined to eat convenient food that tastes good. Hey! Imagine that! People who live in slavery might just turn to junk food as a coping mechanism for their misery).

Yeah. People should live in abject misery and eat like rabbits to preserve their walking corpses long enough to squeeze a few more years of pure profit and labor out of them.

The American ruling class is squealing and writhing in pain because for the first time in the lives of the people who own and run it, they get the feeling that it might end soon.

But let's go back to blaming the plebs for being fat pigs and latching onto any form of comfort and pleasure they can get their paws on.

Leftists routinely show a profound lack of perspective.

Isn’t it strange that every year, millions of people risk their lives and spend every cent they have just for the chance to live in America? We have at least four times more immigrants than second-place Germany. That’s what’s known as voting with your feet.

And your definition of slavery is different from mine. Most slaves don’t have refrigerator-freezers, dishwashing machines, stovetop ovens, hot-and-cold running water, bathrooms, TVs and cell phones. Or consume so much food they become obese.

This is insulting to the real slaves of this world, many of them living in Africa and Islam. As for wage slaves, they’re all over the Third World, often working in factories to make stuff for you and I. Why do you think China makes so much of the world’s products? Why aren’t they made in the USA? It’s because we pay our people too much for the bottom lines of Apple and Nike.

Finally, the vast majority of people with minimum wage jobs have only themselves to blame. They didn’t take advantage of their free public schools or work part-time or full-time while attending cheap community colleges, online schools or trade schools. You can get an associate’s degree in two years from community colleges in well-paying careers like HVAC, automotive and electronics repair and welding. You can learn coding. I’m tired of hearing excuses from unmotivated, unskilled people. Do something about it if you don’t like your life!

a reply to: Scapegrace

I noticed that as the crisis goes on the food lines are increasing. The National Guard are hanging out at food Banks to help organize the deliveries. Theirs obviously a problem developing, and I don't see a solution developing to neutralize the problem.

originally posted by: whatmakesyouright
I wok in the food distribution field. First of all, whoever was talking about the price of eggs, well, Easter just happened. Eggs always go up for Easter.

Upon the initial lockdown, it was nearly impossible to supply grocery stores with meat products. All stores were reaching out to multiple vendors to hopefully get whatever they could in stock. On my level, we were often shorted product as well. That has since leveled off, and we are keeping a good supply. The price, however has gone up tremendously. Beef used for grind is up $1.50 per lb at least at my level. So that cost trickles down.

Now we have a new issue. Pork and beef plants are shutting down due to the virus or fear of the virus. Unfortunately, even though are many farms in the USA, there are only so many providers of boxed beef. We don't do the hanging beef anymore. It's all butchered at a few locations, then boxed by ribeyes, strip loins, etc. There's still plenty of meat, just fewer places to butcher, which means prices are about to go up again. That Smithfield plant is going to drive pork prices up quite a bit. So buy now, and freeze.

Fortunately, right now, chicken breasts and wings are at an all time low, so buy chicken, and freeze it. Here's the issue with the cost of chicken. These chicken plants will be processing at a loss, because the cost is so low. Wings were hurt by no March Madness. So a plant or two may shut down due to losses, and chicken prices will skyrocket.

In other words, there's plenty of animals to butcher, but the butchering process might be the issue. So buy now if you have freezer space, because it's not going to get any better in the next few months.

I second this.

In the meat processing facilities I worked at they don't slaughter on location anymore.

It's all done in Texas if I remember correctly and then the different meats are shipped in refrigerated units where they are then moved into cooled spaces until they are ready to go through the grinders and then portioned.

The entire process is actually pretty sanitary. It's the people that are employed that are dirty SOBs.

a reply to: AutomateThis1

There are quite a few facilities that do their own slaughter. Both Smithfield and JBS slaughter on site then ship. It's the smaller companies that usually ship to slaughter then processing. There are a couple places that the unused parts get shipped to, where they get turned into paste before being shipped south to Mexico to become pet food. That's fun to ship. Giant boxes, weighing about a ton each, filled with paste wrapped in plastic. God I used to hate those loads.

a reply to: Scapegrace

I agree with you about peoples choice's and amount of effort they are willing to put into something.

But we have to remember participation trophies taught kids they will get the same trophy as the one that worked harder and put more effort in.

So now they think it is the same thing in adult life.
I'm always amazed at the people complaining at a poor life with tattoo's, smokes and booze.
I've worked the 18 hour 2 jobs a day done 250 days of 12 hour shifts 7-7 1 week nights 1 week days.
Raised 4 kids got a degree and currently enjoying week 30 of a 38 week paid vacation.

If it wasn't for the poor I wouldn't be rich but if it wassn't for the rich I wouldn't know how not to be poor.

It's their life and they live it, all we can do is be grateful that not everyone is the same.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I gotcha. I can only speak from experience from working with Cargill.

But yeah, I used to hang out with the truckers in the smoke pit, and they had some gnarly stories about the meat that gets turned into pet food.

That's why I only eat meat that's been killed and butchered locally, and my dog doesn't eat that crap either.

a reply to: AutomateThis1

Between getting in and out of Fort Smith, and the pain of pulling 44,000 pounds to Laredo, which involved long stretches of back roads, those were some of my least favorite loads. We had one that got to the forwarder in Laredo, and when they pulled the pallets out one box had an acidic smell. We had to call the shipping OSD office to see what they wanted done, because the entire load was rejected. They made us take it all back to Fort Smith, where we got to turn around and do it again.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Whew. I've smelled a few bad bins myself. Don't want to imagine what a whole trailer load would smell like. Thanks for doing what you do though. You're really part of the backbone in America.

a reply to: AutomateThis1

My truck does mostly dry freight, like FedEx now, but the company does mostly food. We've pulled some interesting loads. The load of 2200 pound bags of onions was fun to open when we got to the receiver. My personal favorite though was bulk carrots for Campbell's. They shoot them loose into the trailer with ice. At the other end you drop the trailer onto a platform with the doors open, and they raise it to 45 degrees and dump everything out into the building.