Why are farmers dumping milk, other items as Americans need food in COVID-19 pandemic?
While some Americans are desperately searching for food, farmers are dumping it down drains or letting it rot in trucks. But it’s not their fault.
The pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2 – a member of the coronavirus family – has shuttered restaurants, schools and other businesses that usually buy food products from farmers to help slow the pathogen’s spread.
But the closures have left farmers with devastating decisions to make: Should they throw the food away?
The answer is yes, farmers across the country admit.
Between 2.7 million and 3.7 million gallons of U.S. milk could be dumped per day because of the pandemic, a national milk marketing cooperative called Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), predicted, according to CNN.
Yet, 98% of food banks, which provide food for the less fortunate, have increased demand for food assistance, according to a survey conducted last week by Feeding America, a nonprofit organization that has a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks.
Food producers say costs, animals’ needs and the public’s health all play a role in their difficult decision making.
It’s just too much money
Businesses that usually purchase hundreds of trucks filled to the brim with milk every day are slowing down or completely closed until the pandemic subsides. This is leaving thousands of gallons of milk with nowhere to go.
Dairy demand is down by 10 to 15%, Andrew Novakovic, an agriculture economist at Cornell University, told Popular Science. Because of this, dumping it saves the most bucks.
Turning the milk into cheese or butter and then throwing it away is more expensive because of the complex production needed to make those products, Dennis Rodenbaugh, president of council operations for DFA, told CNN.
“It can be the least-cost option, at least in the short term,” Rodenbaugh told the outlet, although it is the last resort for dairy farms.
Even donating the surplus produce is unreasonable because food packaging and shipping can get expensive, according to the Popular Science article. Funds are also needed to pay those who pick up and distribute the food to food banks or other businesses.
One Idaho farmer is trying to do his best to reduce food waste. Ryan Cranney, CEO of Cranney Farms in Oakley, told CNN he is giving away 2 million potatoes so they don’t go to waste.
Decreased demand for food services has left Cranney with six months worth of surplus food.
“It’s been fun for me to see people thinking of others and give their time and resources to take care of other people,” Cranney told CNN.
What about the animals?
The animals living on farms also have needs that require tending.
Some cows, for example, need to be milked everyday, sometimes several times a day, so they can continue to produce it in the future. If milk is left in their udders for too long, their bodies are less likely to make it later on, and they can experience pain and acquire bacterial infections.
“Dairy is a daily crop,” Alan Bjerga, senior vice president of communications for the National Milk Producers Federation, told CNN. “When a young milk cow gets put into production, you don’t turn the production on and off. And so it’s very difficult to be quickly responsive to a crisis.”
Meat packing plants have also seen their fair share of closures and impacts from Covid-19, the disease the virus causes.
A plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota closed after nearly 300 of its 3,700 employees tested positive for the virus, the Associated Press reported. This plant produces about 5% of the daily U.S. pork supply.
As a result, cows and pigs that no longer have to go under the knife to produce this food are overcrowding barns. Now, farmers are forced to kill baby pigs, the AP reported.
Your health plays a role, too
Even if farmers were to donate their produce, doing so might put people in harm’s way.
Milk, for example, must be pasteurized before being sold to the public. This process uses heat to kill harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria that can cause food poisoning, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
However, most dairy farmers don’t pasteurize their milk on their farm, Dr. Novakovic of Cornell told Popular Science, meaning their only choice would be to donate raw milk.
From 1993 through 2012, there were 1,909 illnesses and 144 hospitalizations due to raw milk outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Raw milk is especially dangerous for children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems because of conditions such as cancer and diabetes, the FDA said.
Vegetables such as lettuce and sprouts can also carry harmful bacteria when left to rot, as is the case today. Past outbreaks have led to recalls of vegetables in grocery stores across the country.
