Temple Grandin, Colorado State University animal science professor and autism advocate, weighs in on the current state of meat processing, the overwhelmed supply chain and possible animal welfare effects. Big operations are extremely cost efficient. That’s why they’ve been built this way, she says. The downside is the fragility of the supply chains, as Covid-19 proves.
This pandemic is going to be a wakeup call and I expect many to become a lot more interested in more distributed local supply chains.” – Temple Grandin, PhD
Source: Forbes, May 3, 2020. Link. There will always be a tradeoff. Big suppliers are low cost, efficient and fragile. More numerous local producers are more expensive, but the entire supply is more robust.
INSIGHTS: Animal health pros often get quizzed about meat production and supply. This is an excellent resource to share with those in your network without the background to understand why meat supplies are challenged.