过去两周，美国人越来越担心消费者获取肉类和家禽，因为加工厂开始关闭，以应对员工中的COVID-19病例。

但是北美肉类协会(NAMI)代表了美国90%的红肉生产和70%的火鸡生产的公司，表示这种担心是不必要的。

“我们不能预见美国会有一天会没有肉吃，”NAMI公司的通信副总裁萨拉·利特尔说新闻周刊。“我们有冷藏储备，我们有世界上最丰富的牲畜供应——以至于我们出口肉类。”

据美国农业部称，冠状病毒大流行并没有导致全国范围内的食品短缺。除了食品和营养服务机构为几个州的参与者扩大其补充营养援助计划外，该部门表示正在评估食品供应链的延迟。

农业部长桑尼·濮培德在周四的一条推特上说:“多亏了我们伟大的农民，我们才有了充足的食物，我们正在努力确保这种情况在这次大流行期间和以后的几年里不会改变。”。

肉类行业的官员表示，尽管为了应对冠状病毒大流行而宣布暂时关闭工厂，但美国的肉类和家禽供应“充足”。

尽管得到了联邦官员的保证，但随着全国各地的肉类加工厂报告新冠状病毒病例激增，本周对供应链的担忧加剧。南达科塔州苏福尔斯的史密斯菲尔德食品厂在数百名员工检测出病毒呈阳性后，于周日关闭。爱荷华州州长金·雷诺兹称，该州的几十起病例可追溯到哥伦布枢纽的泰森食品厂。

史密斯菲尔德食品公司是世界上最大的肉类加工公司之一，它在美国最大的工厂之一的暂时关闭确实影响了当地的供应链。利特尔说，这一变化引发了生产的转变，因为附近的其他工厂弥补了这一不足。

“随着这些大型工厂下线，全国还有其他工厂还没有遇到任何冠状病毒问题，”利特尔对说新闻周刊。“我们有一些工厂根本没有受到影响，还有一些由于疾病或社会距离而减缓了生产。食物仍在制造；只是慢了些。”

据报道，苏福尔斯的史密斯菲尔德工厂已经在与疾病控制和预防中心讨论建立一个返回的时间表《今日美国》。利特尔称，这些时间线的波动使得预测任何受影响地区的延迟将持续多长时间变得更加困难。即便如此，“我们认为这个系统有足够的灵活性，作为消费者，你可以少吃点肉，但你可以买肉，”她说。

流行病开始在美国蔓延后，通常流向餐馆和其他食品服务行业的食物来源被转移，以满足当地市场日益增长的需求。

“我们不得不调整供应链，将产品从食品服务转向零售，”利特尔说。“我们正在迎头赶上。”

尽管美国的肉类加工业在现代还没有经历过如此广泛的危机，但去年发生在堪萨斯州霍尔科姆的一场火灾造成了一个类似的地区性局面，附近的其他工厂提高了生产水平，以弥补霍尔科姆工厂的缺口。

尽管联邦官员表达了对供应链按需适应能力的信心，但NAMI正优先考虑员工保护，以此来防止工厂被迫关闭。“我们所有的成员都在做体温检查，”利特尔说。“如果他们生病了或者知道有人生病了，他们也会接受个人健康检查。”

 

由于采取了这些和其他预防措施，官员们继续表示，他们相信美国不太可能遭遇严重短缺。

“我们有世界上最丰富的食物供应，”利特尔说。

 

OFFICIALS ASSURE AMERICANS OF 'ABUNDANT' MEAT SUPPLY IN U.S. AS CORONAVIRUS FORCES PLANT CLOSURES

A mericans have grown increasingly concerned over the last two weeks about consumer access to meat and poultry as processing plants began shuttering in response to COVID-19 cases among employees.

But the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), which represents companies responsible for 90 percent of red meat production and 70 percent of turkey production in the U.S., said that concern is unnecessary.

"We can't foresee a time when America would run out of meat," Sarah Little, vice president of communications at NAMI told Newsweek. "We have reserves in cold storage and we have the most abundant livestock supply in the world—so much so that we export meat."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there have been no nationwide food shortages as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the Food and Nutrition Service agency expanding its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for participants in several states, the department said it is assessing the food supply chain for delays.

"We have plenty of food thanks to our great farmers, and we're working to make sure that remains the case during this pandemic and for years after," Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a tweet Thursday.

      Officials working within the meat industry said the United States has an "abundant" supply of meat and poultry despite temporary plant closures that were announced in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite assurances from federal officials, concern over the supply chain mounted this week as spikes in cases of the novel coronavirus were reported at meat processing plants around the country. A Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, closed Sunday after hundreds of its employees tested positive for the virus, and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said dozens of the state's cases were traced to a Tyson Foods plant in Columbus Junction.

Smithfield Foods is one of the top meat processing companies in the world, and the temporary closure of one of its largest plants in the U.S. does impact the local supply chain. That change triggers a shift in production as other plants nearby pick up the slack, Little said.

"As these big plants go offline, there are other plants around the country that have yet to experience any coronavirus problems," Little said to Newsweek. "We have some plants that have not been affected at all, and others that have slowed production due to illness or due to social distancing. Food is still made; it's just slower."

Sioux Falls' Smithfield plant is already in discussions with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a timeline for its return, according to reports by USA Today. According to Little, the fluctuations in those timelines make it harder to predict how long delays in any affected area will last. Even so, "we think there's enough flexibility in the system where you may have less cuts available to you as a consumer, but you will be able to buy meat," she said.

Food sources that ordinarily go to restaurants and other food-service industries were diverted after the pandemic began spreading in the U.S. to accommodate increased demand at local markets.

"We had to adjust the supply chain to divert product from food service to retail," Little said. "We're catching back up there."

Though the meat processing industry in the U.S. hasn't seen a crisis this widespread modern times, a fire that damaged a Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Holcomb, Kansas last year created a comparable situation at the regional level in which other plants nearby increased production levels to make up for the gaps at the Holcomb plant.

While federal officials convey confidence in the supply chain's ability to adapt as needed, NAMI is prioritizing employee protection as a way to prevent plants from having to close. "All of our members are doing temperature checks," Little said. "If they're sick or know someone that's sick, they also get a personal health screening."

Due to these and other preventative measures, officials continue to project confidence that the U.S. is unlikely to encounter significant shortages.

"We have the most abundant food supply in the world," Little said.