MEAT-FREE MAY

Costco Rations Meat as Supply Chain Falters

A presidential order to keep meat factories open has done little to stem the industry’s supply crunch as facilities are among hardest hit by COVID-19 cases.

Major U.S. food outlets are warning about meat supplies and Costco has started rationing amid fears that supplies are running low as the industry struggles to cope with coronavirus-related shutdowns of slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants nationwide. Costco said it will be limiting customers to just three packages of meat per shopper, while Kroger supermarkets posted an alert on the meat section of its website warning that it may have limited inventory “due to high demand.” Tyson Foods, which had closed a number of plants last month after employees had become ill with the coronavirus, said the pandemic will disrupt the meat supply chain for many more months despite an executive order from President Trump to keep processing plants open. Virus trackers showed this week that six of the nation’s worst pandemic hot spots were in locations with meat-processing facilities.