Chinese Shut Down Largest US Pork Plant Causing Shortage
Note: Picture is completely intended to be racist and intentionally uses tropes and stereotypes – TOWARDS the CCP, not Asians or Chinese in general.
It is rare you can toss a pebble down a mountain and see it turn into a full fledged avalanche. Although I like to think Jeremy and I instigated it, the incredible reporting of the Epoch Times deserves all the credit.
The story unfolded like this. A Washington Post article came out roasting the South Dakota Governor for not locking down the entire state. The articles point was South Dakota was crippled with widespread infection. The article made the inference without citing numbers. I called Jeremy with Birddown Lodge in South Dakota, tongue in cheek, to let him know his state was rife with CCP virus.
Thus, started a chain of serendipitous events that created its own news cycle…. Below is the email sent to a major US publication.
Dear ************
I am a subscriber to Epoch (david@seftontaxconsulting.net) my phone is 214-924-5674
I’m a very serious person, and I don’t waste time on social media, and I am not writing this email lightly.
Backstory:
I talked with a club member in South Dakota late last week and he commented there were very few Corona cases in South Dakota. By comparison, here in Austin where I live there has been 642 cases and 7 deaths.
As a joke about how hysterical the media has gotten tongue in cheek I sent him the Google headlines. What shows up on my Google headlines will be hugely different than his.
This is what I sent him. The focus of article was the Governor not cracking down on Corona created a hot spot in South Dakota. The headline makes the whole state seem like it is the hot spot.
See Google Headline
Okay... his response was jaw dropping, and I attach it....
"I like how media twists things. They had an outbreak in a pork slaughter plant (Smithfield Farms) in which the [company] was paying bonuses to employees to show up for work even if they didn’t feel good. Had a huge outbreak from that plant. Guess who owns Smithfield Farms?? (China)"
.. This is a huge company that owns most of the famous brands of pork. Bacon, sausage hot dogs including Nathan's. etc.. .
I could not believe this is a Chinese company. Look who owns Smithfield...
To Recap a Chinese company owns one of the largest pork providers in US in fact the world. They pay bonuses in middle of pandemic for workers to work overtime in middle of epidemic, once they reasonably expect the first worker has corona, they pay bonuses for "anyone who feels bad" to come in anyway.. .. and then close the plant when there is a shortage of meat across country.
How does this remotely have anything to do with Governors policy of no lock down when food production is an essential service in all 50 states?
How many of these food companies that have closed are owned by the Chinese ? Why are other essential industries open, yet the one most critical vital companies – food production - is shut down?
How is it possible that meat is sold out in stores...? yet farmers are getting in difficult position because they can't sell their animals.. in fact, the price of beef on the hoof is falling.... AND
the production companies happen to be shutting down ? Especially from self-induced worker policies that encourage infection...
Why isn't anyone reporting this ?
If this isn't your area of reporting .. could you forward to the reporter that would most likely find this important.
I greatly admire your writing and what you do. I understand the personal risk and hazards you take in reporting the truth. I admire your courage.
David Sefton
214 924 5674
This email started an investigation. The newspaper wrote the day after the story broke, and included a link to a follow up story. Shockingly a Chinese executive traveled to the Sioux Falls plant AFTER President’s Trump travel ban from China. The subsequent investigations have turned up additional Chinese owned food production companies that have been closed exacerbating the problem of food shortages