Dear John,

When the COVID-19 crisis began, our long time partner, Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC), saw an opportunity to organize and help people in Missouri and across the country: 

"For us, it was a chance to increase the amount of family farm meat we could provide for people in need, buy more hogs from family farmers and support the local food infrastructure, while also highlighting the serious and vital shortfalls of the corporate model of livestock production. We are seeing that, yet again, corporate control of the livestock industry is not good for family farms, our communities and consumers, both during 'normal times' and during times of crisis."

We spoke with them about their organizing efforts and learned about a couple of surprising silver linings to the coronavirus pandemic. 

We've joined more than 120 organizations to lift up demands of poultry workers against Tyson Foods.

Nearly 40,000 food workers, a majority of whom are meat workers, have tested positive for COVID-19. At Tyson Foods, the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork, the infection rate is double that of other meat companies; more than 8,500 Tyson employees have been confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19. Tragically, more than 25 Tyson workers have died from the virus. 

The people who grow, raise and process the food we eat deserve a safe and healthy work environment!

With the spread of COVID-19, people all over the nation are trying their hand at raising backyard chickens. It’s not too surprising, since many breeds of chickens boast high egg production rates, have great personalities, and can even make fun neighbors. We talked with an expert in the field of backyard chickens to learn some more specific reasons why backyard flocks are thriving during the pandemic.