WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2021 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Wilsack announced today that the new Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) grant program will provide 700 700 million in funding to help farm and meat packing workers with health and safety costs related to epidemic diseases. . . The announcement was made in a press call with Diana Telefonson Torres, executive director of the United Farm Workers Foundation, and Mark Peron, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International. . . The grant program will help U.S. farm and meat packing workers at risk for or already suffering from H1N1 influenza, food poisoning, anthrax, and other infectious diseases. . . “Farm and meat packing workers are under the greatest threat from disease outbreaks,” said Secretary Wilsack. “The new funding will help ensure that they have the financial means to protect their health and safety.” . . “Our primary concern is the economic impact the epidemic could have on food production,” said Mark Peron, President, United Food and Commercial Workers International. “There is still a major shortage of workers in this country, particularly the most vulnerable – migrant workers. . . . We need to ensure there is adequate safety and health protection for all workers on farms and meat processing plants.” . . “The epidemic will hit the meat and poultry packing industries, as well as large and small farms, because they rely on hundreds or thousands of workers on their payrolls,” said Diana Telefonson Torres, executive director, United Farm Workers Foundation. “Our new grant program will provide immediate relief to workers who already are at risk.”
The new outbreak will not disrupt the world’s food supply, USDA Secretary Ed Schafer told reporters. Food imports are covered, though food production will have to be maintained, he added.
"It's just a precaution, to let the people on the ground know what to do and what not to do,” said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, a medical officer in the USDA's Office of Preparedness and Response.
The news of the outbreak was greeted with concern by farm groups.
"We are concerned about the possibility that this virus may have contaminated large-scale chicken and turkey farming operations," Mike Shelton, senior vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement. "The safety and security of our nation's food supply is our top priority.”
He added, "It is critical that we work together to prevent a major disruption to the production of agricultural products."
“The food system of the United States is not safe at this time,” said American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall in a statement. “To prevent a mass outbreak of an avian influenza virus, all chicken, turkey, and swine producers must remain vigilant and vigilant with their supply chain partners and ensure that our nation’s food supply continues to flow.”
But USDA Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the country’s food supply is “not a concern.” “We have an ample supply of food and we are working to prevent a disruption,” he said, adding, “we have a pretty good idea of the nature of the problem.”
“The USDA is making arrangements to get food to the people who need it.”
A USDA spokesman said the agency would not be able to comment on specifics of the outbreak. “We will be in the dark until we figure it out,” he said.
He also said the department had no information on which facilities the infected birds originated from or on the size of the shipment that ended up there.
The U.S. has a supply of chicken ready for market that will meet domestic needs, said David A. Saelens, acting deputy administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. “We have adequate supplies of poultry to meet domestic demand at this time,” he said.
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