list of 97 disasters that have hit food production facilities in the United States
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Started by tallpine - June 16, 2022, 2:31 p.m.

Authorities are assuring us that all of these incidents are just “accidents”, and you can believe that if you want.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

But to me it definitely appears that something very strange is happening.  Recently, Zero Hedge republished a list of 97 disasters that have hit food production facilities in the United States that was originally published by the Gateway Pundit

  1.  
  2.  1/11/21 A fire that destroyed 75,000-square-foot processing plant in Fayetteville 
  3.  4/30/21 A fire ignited inside the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Monmouth, IL 
  4.  7/25/21 Three-alarm fire at Kellogg plant in Memphis, 170 emergency personnel responded to the call 
  5.  7/30/21 Firefighters on Friday battled a large fire at Tyson’s River Valley Ingredients plant in Hanceville, Alabama 
  6.  8/23/21 Fire crews were called to the Patak Meat Production company on Ewing Road in Austell 
  7.  9/13/21 A fire at the JBS beef plant in Grand Island, Neb., on Sunday night forced a halt to slaughter and fabrication lines 
  8.   10/13/21 A five-alarm fire ripped through the Darigold butter production plant in Caldwell, ID 
  9.  11/15/21 A woman is in custody following a fire at the Garrard County Food Pantry 
  10.  11/29/21 A fire broke out around 5:30 p.m. at the Maid-Rite Steak Company meat processing plant 
  11.  12/13/21 West Side food processing plant in San Antonio left with smoke damage after a fire 
  12.  1/7/22 Damage to a poultry processing plant on Hamilton’s Mountain following an overnight fire 
  13.  1/13/22 Firefighters worked for 12 hours to put a fire out at the Cargill-Nutrena plant in Lecompte, LA 
  14.  1/31/22 a fertilizer plant with 600 tons of ammonium nitrate inside caught on fire on Cherry Street in Winston-Salem 
  15.  2/3/22 A massive fire swept through Wisconsin River Meats in Mauston 
  16.  2/3/22 At least 130 cows were killed in a fire at Percy Farm in Stowe 
  17.  2/15/22 Bonanza Meat Company goes up in flames in El Paso, Texas 
  18.  2/15/22 Nearly a week after the fire destroyed most of the Shearer’s Foods plant in Hermiston 
  19.  2/16/22 A fire had broken at US largest soybean processing and biodiesel plant in Claypool, Indiana 
  20.  2/18/22 An early morning fire tore through the milk parlor at Bess View Farm 
  21.  2/19/22 Three people were injured, and one was hospitalized, after an ammonia leak at Lincoln Premium Poultry in Fremont 
  22.  2/22/22 The Shearer’s Foods plant in Hermiston caught fire after a propane boiler exploded 
  23.  2/28/22 A smoldering pile of sulfur quickly became a raging chemical fire at Nutrien Ag Solutions 
  24.  2/28/22 A man was hurt after a fire broke out at the Shadow Brook Farm and Dutch Girl Creamery 
  25.  3/4/22 294,800 chickens destroyed at farm in Stoddard, Missouri 
  26.  3/4/22 644,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, Maryland 
  27.  3/8/22 243,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in New Castle, Delaware 
  28.  3/10/22 663,400 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, MD 
  29.  3/10/22 915,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Taylor, IA 
  30.  3/14/22 The blaze at 244 Meadow Drive was discovered shortly after 5 p.m. by farm owner Wayne Hoover 
  31.  3/14/22 2,750,700 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Jefferson, Wisconsin 
  32.  3/16/22 A fire at a Walmart warehouse distribution center has cast a large plume of smoke visible throughout Indianapolis. 
  33.  3/16/22 Nestle Food Plant extensively damaged in fire and new production destroyed Jonesboro, Arkansas 
  34.  3/17/22 5,347,500 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Buena Vista, Iowa 
  35.  3/17/22 147,600 chickens destroyed at farm in Kent, Delaware 
  36.  3/18/22 315,400 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, Maryland 
  37.  3/22/22 172,000 Turkeys destroyed on farms in South Dakota 
  38.  3/22/22 570,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Butler, Nebraska 
  39.  3/24/22 Fire fighters from numerous towns are battling a major fire at the McCrum potato processing facility in Belfast. 
  40.  3/24/22 418,500 chickens destroyed at farm in Butler, Nebraska 
  41.  3/25/22 250,300 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Franklin, Iowa 
  42.  3/26/22 311,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  43.  3/27/22 126,300 Turkeys destroyed in South Dakota 
  44.  3/28/22 1,460,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Guthrie, Iowa 
  45.  3/29/22 A massive fire burned 40,000 pounds of food meant to feed people in a food desert near Maricopa 
  46.  3/31/22 A structure fire caused significant damage to a large portion of key fresh onion packing facilities in south Texas 
  47.  3/31/22 76,400 Turkeys destroyed in Osceola, Iowa 
  48.  3/31/22 5,011,700 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Osceola, Iowa 
  49.  4/6/22 281,600 chickens destroyed at farm in Wayne, North Carolina 
  50.  4/9/22 76,400 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  51.  4/9/22 208,900 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  52.  4/12/22 89,700 chickens destroyed at farm in Wayne, North Carolina 
  53.  4/12/22 1,746,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Dixon, Nebraska 
  54.  4/12/22 259,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Minnesota 
  55.  4/13/22 fire destroys East Conway Beef & Pork Meat Market in Conway, New Hampshire 
  56.  4/13/22 Plane crashes into Gem State Processing, Idaho potato and food processing plant 
  57.  4/13/22 77,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  58.  4/14/22 Taylor Farms Food Processing plant burns down Salinas, California. 
  59.  4/14/22 99,600 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  60.  4/15/22 1,380,500 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Lancaster, Minnesota 
  61.  4/19/22 Azure Standard nation’s premier independent distributor of organic and healthy food, was destroyed by fire in Dufur, Oregon 
  62.  4/19/22 339,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  63.  4/19/22 58,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Montrose, Color 
  64.  4/20/22 2,000,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Minnesota 
  65.  4/21/22 A small plane crashed in the lot of a General Mills plant in Georgia 
  66.  4/22/22 197,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  67.  4/23/22 200,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota 
  68.  4/25/22 1,501,200 chickens destroyed at egg farm Cache, Utah 
  69.  4/26/22 307,400 chickens destroyed at farm Lancaster Pennsylvania 
  70.  4/27/22 2,118,000 chickens destroyed at farm Knox, Nebraska 
  71.  4/28/22 Egg-laying facility in Iowa kills 5.3 million chickens, fires 200-plus workers 
  72.  4/28/22 Allen Harim Foods processing plant killed nearly 2M chickens in Delaware 
  73.  4/2822 110,700 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin 
  74.  4/29/22 1,366,200 chickens destroyed at farm Weld Colorado 
  75.  4/30/22 13,800 chickens destroyed at farm Sequoia Oklahoma 
  76.  5/3/22 58,000 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin 
  77.  5/3/22 118,900 Turkeys destroyed Beadle S Dakota 
  78.  5/3/22 114,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania 
  79.  5/3/22 118,900 Turkeys destroyed Lyon Minnesota 
  80.  5/7/22 20,100 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin 
  81.  5/10/22 72,300 chickens destroyed at farm Lancaster Pennsylvania 
  82.  5/10/22 61,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania 
  83.  5/10/22 35,100 Turkeys destroyed Muskegon, Michigan 
  84.  5/13/22 10,500 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin 
  85.  5/14/22 83,400 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania 
  86.  5/17/22 79,00 chickens destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania 
  87.  5/18/22 7,200 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania 
  88.  5/19/22 Train carrying limestone derailed Jensen Beach FL 
  89.  5/21/22 57,000 Turkeys destroyed on farm in Dakota Minnesota 
  90.  5/23/22 4,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania 
  91.  5/29/22 A Saturday night fire destroyed a poultry building at Forsman Farms 
  92.  5/31/22 3,000,000 chickens destroyed by fire at Forsman facility in Stockholm Township, Minnesota 
  93.  6/2/22 30,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania 
  94.  6/7/22 A fire occurred Tuesday evening at the JBS meat packing plant in Green Bay. 
  95.  6/8/22 Firefighters from Tangipahoa Fire District 1 respond to a fire at the Purina Feed Mill in Arcola 
  96.  6/9/22 Irrigation water was canceled in California (the #1 producer of food in the US) and storage water flushed directly out to the delta. 
  97.  6/12/22 Largest Pork Company in the US Shuts Down California Plant Due to High Costs 
  98.  6/13/22 Fire Breaks Out at a Food Processing Plant West of Waupaca County in Wisconsin

We can debate why this is happening until we are blue in the face.

But what everyone should be able to agree on is that we should all be getting prepared for what is ahead.

Are you ready for much higher food prices and widespread shortages?


Comments
By metmike - June 16, 2022, 2:56 p.m.
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Thanks a ton tallpine.

I’ll try to check into this. That’s a lot of fires.

Arson  is responsible for many wildfires out West, some are climate activists, so judging by activist behavior in other realms, featuring extreme, very harmful  actions in the name of their cause……this is a good place to look.

Looking and finding actual evidence are 2 different things though.

By metmike - June 17, 2022, 12:55 a.m.
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I'm about halfway thru the list and there's  only 1 of these fires that was found to be the result of an arsonist:


9.  11/15/21 A woman is in custody following a fire at the Garrard County Food Pantry 


All the other ones that really happened had explanations that made sense or were under investigation at the time of the articles.


The most concerning finding, however  is that just over half of the incidents either did not happen or were greatly exaggerated...........which is almost all the ones with no links. 

Not sure why they even mentioned this one below (other than to try to exaggerate and make the list look more impressive) because the derailed cars were completely empty.

88. 5/19/22 Train carrying limestone derailed Jensen Beach FL


There doesn't appear to be a major problem, other than Zero Hedge pushing another one of it's many conspiracy theories. 

At this point, whether the legit ones(less than half) are more than usual or not in an 18 month period is less important than the fact that the source, intentionally created massive DISinformation to push a conspiracy theory which obliterates any credibility that source has on this topic.


By metmike - June 17, 2022, 1:12 a.m.
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A little more detective work and we have our definitive answer about this being total DISinformation, conspiracy theory stuff.

FACT FOCUS: Food Plant Fires Fuel Conspiracy Theory

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-05-03/fact-focus-food-plant-fires-fuel-conspiracy-theory

On Monday, the National Fire Protection Association pushed back on the rumors in a story in its magazine titled “Nothing to See Here.”

Susan McKelvey, an NFPA spokesperson, noted in an email that national data show the country averaged more than 5,000 fires annually at manufacturing and processing facilities, not just food plants, between 2015 and 2019. She estimated that there have “been approximately 20 fires in U.S. food processing facilities in the first 4 months of 2022, which is not extreme at all and does not signal anything out of the ordinary.”

“The recent inquiries around these fires appears to be a case of people suddenly paying attention to them and being surprised about how often they do occur,” McKelvey said.

Lisa Fazio, an associate professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University, said most Americans wouldn’t know the frequency of such industrial accidents — which “means that it’s relatively easy to create a panic over the issue.”

With actual food shortages caused by the war, “everything they hear gets filtered through that lens and people start noticing things that they hadn’t paid attention to before,” Fazio said in an email.

Food industry experts don’t view the accidents as a crisis for Americans, either.

“There doesn’t appear to be any evidence connecting these fires in any way, and there is absolutely no danger to the US food supply because of a series of unrelated, unfortunate accidents,” Sam Gazdziak, a spokesperson for the American Association of Meat Processors, said in an email.

Lisa Fazio, an associate professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University, said most Americans wouldn’t know the frequency of such industrial accidents — which “means that it’s relatively easy to create a panic over the issue.”

With actual food shortages caused by the war, “everything they hear gets filtered through that lens and people start noticing things that they hadn’t paid attention to before,” Fazio said in an email.

Food industry experts don’t view the accidents as a crisis for Americans, either.

“There doesn’t appear to be any evidence connecting these fires in any way, and there is absolutely no danger to the US food supply because of a series of unrelated, unfortunate accidents,” Sam Gazdziak, a spokesperson for the American Association of Meat Processors, said in an email.

Those who follow the food supply chain say while such fires can of course have an impact, they are not a major concern domestically or globally.

“The fires were definitely not at the top of my list,” said Phillip Coles, a professor of practice in supply chain management at Lehigh University.

Coles said labor shortages domestically and global issues such as the Russian war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China and shipping costs, are larger factors. He said while consumers in U.S. might not see certain items available, the issue isn't a shortage of food altogether.

David Ortega, a food economist and associate professor at Michigan State University, said it was “extremely unlikely” that the U.S. would experience food shortages from the Russia-Ukraine war.

While Russia and Ukraine are major grain suppliers, the U.S. produces enough domestically and isn't dependent on the region, Ortega said. Instead, he said, food shortages from the war would be felt in countries that depend heavily on the region for food imports, such as places in North Africa and the Middle East.

He added: “Beliefs that the U.S. will soon be low on food are simply unfounded.” ___

___

This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

By tallpine - June 17, 2022, 7:46 a.m.
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Mike thanks for looking into this article in greater depth. I am very busy at this time of the year and did not have time to research the article to see if it was true of just more bs. I am reminded of an old saying I heard a long-time ago. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

By metmike - June 17, 2022, 9:53 a.m.
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You're very welcome tallpine.

If they gave out degrees in fact checking, I would have earned my PhD by now with all the bunk going around, like with Al Gores 2006  Nobel Prize winning(2007) movie that had a dozen scientific errors in it.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/oct/11/climatechange


Maybe I should apply for a job (-:

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/fact-checker-2316052

Seriously though. Fact checking is ALWAYS a learning experience for the fact checker especially for me on this topic.

I knew almost zilch about this topic prior to yesterday and now, have a few more facts loaded in my head to fight early dementia (-:

By Jim_M - June 17, 2022, 10:10 a.m.
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By metmike - June 17, 2022, 11:02 a.m.
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Thanks much Jim!

By Jim_M - June 17, 2022, 11:55 a.m.
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And of course there is the cost disaster of trying to farm.  Farmers have been hammered by inflation and there is no end in sight (msn.com)

By metmike - June 17, 2022, 12:27 p.m.
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Producers are always at high risks because of uncertain input costs and weather that are much higher than usual in 2022.

Also using/driving some EXTREMELY powerful machinery for many hundreds of hours/year.

Top 25 most dangerous jobs in the United States

https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-united-states

8. Farmers

BLS Category: Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
Fatal injury rate: 26 per 100,000 workers
Total deaths (2018): 257
Salary: $71,160
Most common fatal accidents: Transportation incidents

Farmers are responsible for producing crops and dairy products and raising animals for food. They are responsible for the process of planting and harvesting or feeding and caring for livestock. Additionally, farmers purchase supplies for their farms and purchase and maintain farming equipment. They also sell their crops or livestock on the open market.

Crashes, including tractor crashes, were the most common fatal injury for farmers.

By cutworm - June 18, 2022, 7:07 a.m.
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By metmike - June 18, 2022, 12:39 p.m.
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Thanks for the additional contribution cutworm!