Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is warning Americans that a very serious food shortage could hit the country within weeks, not months.
Massie released a tweet on Monday linking to an interview he did with the Tom Roten Morning Show.
“We are weeks, not months, away from farmers euthanizing animals that would have been sold for meat/food,” he wrote. “Also, fruits and vegetables are going to rot in the fields. A drastic change in policy this week could ameliorate this inevitability.”
Listen to the interview by clicking the link below:
We are weeks, not months, away from farmers euthanizing animals that would have been sold for meat/food. Also, fruits and vegetables are going to rot in the fields. A drastic change in policy this week could ameliorate this inevitability.
Listen here:https://t.co/bCzTX763r1
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 13, 2020
“You have people running the government that have no clue about how the economy works and how their food gets to the table,” Massie said to kick the interview off.
“The shocking thing is that farmers are watching the value of their hogs and steers, cows, go down. In fact, they’re going to some of the lowest levels ever,” he continued. “So the question is: Why is the price of meat going up in the supermarkets and the price of cattle going down at the auction ring? It’s because our supply line is brittle.”
Explaining why the supply line is so fragile, Massie said, “You have to take cattle, steer, beef, whatever, hogs, to a processing plant. And these processing plants, like much of industrial America right now, are shutting down because of absentees, which has been exacerbated by the unemployment program the federal government has instituted — plus the $1,200 checks that are about to hit, plus some of the regulations that the states have put in place.”
At least six giant meat processing plants around the country have shut down and many others could do the same in the near future.
Just one of those plants would process around 1,900 heads of cattle per-day.
Predicting what the next step might be for farmers, Massie warned, “I’m afraid you’re going to see… cattle and hogs being euthanized or incinerated and buried while we have shortages at the supermarket. And you talk about civil unrest when you start seeing that. And it’s all because of the brittle food supply chain.”
The Kentucky Republican has introduced a bill called the PRIME Act to try and help meat packers sell individual cuts of meat instead of only being allowed to sell a quarter or half a cow.
Massie noted that most people can’t afford to purchase half a cow or a quarter of a cow and don’t have the freezer space to store that much meat.
“The appliances aren’t getting manufactured,” he said. “You’re not gonna be able to go out and buy a freezer here in a month or two. They will have sold all the supply.”
Some may recognize Massie as the politician who attempted to force a vote on the $6 trillion coronavirus bailout package the U.S. government passed in March.
The GOP Rep. made an appearance on Glenn Beck on Friday to discuss food shortages, the latest relief bill working its way through Congress and much more.
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