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Coronavirus In Minnesota: Food Supply Becomes Vulnerable As Processing Plants Close

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Agriculture industry leaders say the nation's food supply has rarely been so stressed, amid the spread of COVID-19 at processing plants.

Three major meatpacking companies, Tyson Foods, Smithfield and JBS, have closed facilities because cases of Covid-19 spread among plant workers.

As production stalls, farmers are facing tough decisions on what to do with the livestock destined for those now-closed plants.

Minnesota house lawmakers have proposed expanding grants for farmers affected, while discussing ways to diversify who producers can sell meat to.

Minnesota food bank, Second Harvest Heartland has received some of the excess, predominantly bacon and ham, from suppliers. It is otherwise working on ways to get creative with its sourcing, as food shelf demand increases and grocery options become limited.

"We are problem-solving every single minute of every single day, and this is another one that's testing us right now," Second Harvest Heartland's Allison O'Toole said. "We will continue to look forward, to try to fill those gaps, to buy more food. Our sourcers are some of the best in this network."

Industry experts have not noticed a significant change in meat and dairy prices, but predict less of a selection and potentially higher prices as meat processing continues to stall.

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