Essay by Eric Worrall
Next time Californians wonder why their supermarket shelves are empty, perhaps they should consider the road miles California’s insane green energy policies are adding to deliveries.
Smithfield Foods to shutter California meat-packing plant
Meat-packing giant Smithfield Foods says it will close its only California plant next year, citing the escalating cost of doing business in the state
By The Associated Press
June 12, 2022, 8:02 AMVERNON, Calif. — Meat-packing giant Smithfield Foods said Friday it will close its only California plant next year, citing the escalating cost of doing business in the state.
The Farmer John meat-packing plant in Vernon, an industrial suburb south of Los Angeles, will shut down in February, with its 1,800 employees receiving severance and job placement support along with bonuses for those who choose to stay on the job until the closure, said Jim Monroe, vice president of corporate affairs.
…
Monroe said operating costs in California are much higher than in other areas of the country, including taxes and the price of water, electricity and natural gas.
“Our utility costs in California are 3 1/2 times higher per head than our other locations where they do the same type of work,” he said.
The shutdown is not expected to reduce supply or increase costs on products, and Farmer John Products will still be sold in California, Monroe said.
“There won’t be any impact on our customers,” he said.
…
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/smithfield-foods-shutter-california-meat-packing-plant-85321387
The article mentions Smithfield received a $60,000 fine for exposing their workers to Covid.
Jim Monroe, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, has promised there will be no impact on availability or price.
I’m sure Jim means what he says, and the much lower costs at their out of state plant will obviously help. But if that meat has to be trucked in from another state, instead of being sourced and processed in California, fuel bills and compliance with California’s harsh road transport environmental laws might add to costs.
There is another potential problem.
The UN is predicting an imminent global food crisis, because of disruption caused by Russia’s war with Ukraine. I’m not trying to be alarmists, for now it appears the impact on the USA should be minimal. But if the situation deteriorates, the last place I would want to be is at the end of a very long supply chain.
In my opinion this closure effectively moves Californians further towards the back of the queue when it comes to distributing food supplies, if the coming food crisis unexpectedly impacts food availability in the USA.
[Note from Charles]
Eric, based down-under, will sometimes miss the broader backstory to US news. Utility costs are a convenient politically neutral issue for Smithfield Foods on which to blame their plant closure. Another reason for their exodus, and probably the primary one, from California is described in this article.
https://www.cagw.org/thewastewatcher/california-declares-war-pork
In 2018, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 12, the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative. Under the law, no business owner in California may sell meat from “a covered animal who was confined in a cruel manner, or is the meat of immediate offspring of a covered animal who was confined in a cruel manner.” The statute requires that each pig must have at least 24 square feet of space to avoid qualification as a covered animal from confinement in a “cruel manner.” Although the law applies to veal calves and hen-laying chickens as well and many producers in those industries have taken steps to conform, compliance places the greatest burden on pork producers.
The law took effect this past January.
[/Note]
“because of disruption caused by Russia’s war with Ukraine.“
Russia Russia Russia you would think good policies could fix things😉
The law also applied to all meat sold in California, a matter under some dispute. If decided in favor of the California law, all meats brought into the state must also be certified to be compliant.
The food animal living standards seem higher than those provided to some California citizens. Thus we go from 1984 to Animal Farm.
The autocratic command and control method is always a recipe for disaster. Ultimately California will probably have the first and longest bread lines.
Is this what they mean by Californication?
Californy sounds familiar-
Big electricity consumers in Queensland cut use to help avoid blackouts as NSW faces shortage (msn.com)
Welcome to third world power grids when traditionally it’s summer peak demand with aircon-
Australia’s east coast faces blackouts TONIGHT sparking urgent warning to turn down heaters (msn.com)
“Russia Russia Russia you would think good policies could fix thingshttps:”
Have you noticed that all of these crises afflicting the country today seem to have obvious solutions, yet the admin. does not seem to see them?. They don’t want to…It’s part of The Plan. Cf- Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals.
So now stock will have to be trucked out of state to be processed decreasing returns to ranchers another step towards collapse of the Californian economy,and it’s not just the energy cost it’s the risk of power cuts and the waste that will bring.
At least Smithfield makes something…..
EV start-up Electric Last Mile Solutions to declare bankruptcy (cnbc.com)
California is also looking at diverting water away from agriculture to cope with the draught.
Shortages of food, water AND energy!
Bidenfornia here we come….
[Note to Charles] Yes, that idiotic law is certainly part of the problem. But probably not the major part.
I saw reported elsewhere that they are also closing down their hog farming operations in Arizona and Utah – which made no sense to me, until I remembered that fuel for north and west Arizona, and Utah, is sourced in California. The insane California State fuel taxes don’t apply, but the wholesale price is still much, much higher.
At one time California was on my short list of states I’d like to move to. That was a long time ago. But now I have no interest in living in a third world country.
“The UN is predicting an imminent global food crisis, because of disruption caused by Russia’s war with Ukraine”
I predicted a famine, shuttered industry (loss of jobs) and a major hike in dea@ths from cold in EU-UK almost a year ago when they turned down gas contracts with Russia at about $2/MBTU because it had “bad optics” for ‘climate change!! The EU even chastised Hungary and Serbia for signing up for Russian gas at the time.
I did not know, of course, that Russia would go to war with Ukraine. This means, if a geologist/mining engineer knew what the consequences of European doctrinaire stupidity would be, they certainly new they were putting their citizens at great risk. Blaming Russia for their own goal problems is pathetic and hopefully this is recognized by the people put at risk by their uncaring governments.
They need to pull out of Mexico also…..
Mexican president slams NATO policy in Ukraine – ABC News (go.com)
I surely don’t want to eat slaughtered pork that’s been stressed in any way … as in stressed by the supermajority hardcore leftist Democrat legislature and gov.
Smithfield is a Chinese company, and California is too dictatorial for them.
I’m no Greenie, but confining a pig to 24 square feet is disgusting and immoral. Imagine spending your life in a cage 6 foot by 4. . . .
These is beauty of United States system. If a particular state decides to destroy business through bad laws, the businesses will move to other states. I see Caterpillar moving headquarters to Texas from Illinois.