"Tyson had to halt operations at its pork plant in Storm Lake, Iowa in late May - a month after the president’s order to reopen - partly because of “team member absences related to quarantine and other factors,” the company said in a statement. The plant restarted limited operations on June 3.
The company said that 591 workers, or 26% of its workforce, had tested positive. Surrounding Buena Vista county, where many workers live, has one of the nation’s highest infection rates, with 1,257 cases, a fivefold increase over the past two weeks.
Tyson warned in an earnings report last month that worker shortages were expected to contribute to more production slowdowns and plant shutdowns. The company said in a statement that it is continually working to improve safety and social-distancing protocols."
(Tangentially related: this book, about Storm Lake, Buena Vista County, and this region of Iowa, is fascinating, though a bit messy.)
"“Each tree here has a story to tell,” said Dave Goto, whose great-uncle was held at Manzanar and served as its doctor. “It’s an honor to preserve them, and really tough to lose one.”
For Goto, preserving the pear trees is part of a larger mission — of not letting the country forget how Americans of Japanese descent were deprived of their civil liberties and shipped off to camps during World War II.
"Few places are as dependent on Sin City as tiny Baker, home to the self-proclaimed “World’s Tallest Thermometer.” The town is a dot on the road between Los Angeles and Vegas, and its lifeblood is the weary or curious traveler coursing along Interstate 15.
But when Las Vegas reopened, any illusion that tourists would rush back evaporated. Like much of the U.S., the return to normal — whatever that is in the age of COVID-19 — would be slow and tentative. On Day 1, Baker was a virtual ghost town. Its parking lots were all but empty, and finding customers was like looking for the last couple of eggs after an Easter hunt."
"Michael Belben paces the wooden floor of The Eagle, trying to imagine pub life in a coronavirus world.
Chairs are stacked in a dusty jumble. A box of blue latex gloves sits on a ledge. A worn, green leather sofa, a choice seat at Sunday brunch, has been shoved aside, under a window bearing a message in jaunty script: “We’ll Be Back!” Belben, gray hair flopping, is focused on making that happen.
Tape measure in hand, he moves from bar to window to sidewalk. Must he allow a full six feet between customers or will three do? Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has promised to make the call within days, but Belben and proprietors of 47,000 other pubs in Britain are fuming about delays."
"The din of conversation and music that normally fills The Cottonmouth Club in downtown Houston fell silent last Friday when the owners shut it down for a second time during the coronavirus pandemic — a week before the Texas governor ordered all bars to follow suit amid a surge in infections.
Co-owner Michael Neff — questioning what he saw as a rush to reopen by the state and wondering if his industry was making things worse as some bars flouted rules on occupancy limits — said he felt he could no longer provide a safe environment for his staff or customers at the neighborhood bar with a rock ‘n’ roll vibe.
He and his staff had started hearing of workers at other bars getting sick.
“Texas was a terrible, terrible experiment because it experimented with people’s lives and this is where we are,” Neff said."
Peanuts are certainly a “classic stadium food,” but pump-cheese nachos were first served at a Texas Rangers game in 1976, Dippin’ Dots were invented in 1988, and garlic fries were introduced at Candlestick Park in 1994.
Reminds me of the potatoes that are only bought to be cut and frozen for fast-food french fries. If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, we might never have heard of these massive crops with a single narrow market. I wonder if businesses will consider changing to become more resilient.
I’m still waiting to see if counties that let restaurants seat diners only outside are having a spike in infections.
Given what’s happened in places where they let restaurants seat people inside, that’s obviously the bad idea I assumed it was.
Unti I’m vaccinated, I’m not sitting in any building other than my house unless there’s enough cross-ventilation of fresh air that it’s equivalent to being outside.
"L.A. is a city of street vendors. Bacon-wrapped hot dogs, mulitas, freshly sliced fruits, raspados and corn on the cob are just a few of the tasty delights they sell. But valuable and ubiquitous as they are, street vendors like Rios are also one of the most vulnerable populations in the food community. They are subject to harassment, and many are living in the country illegally. COVID-19 has added another stressor to their livelihoods.
“ Pónganse sus máscaras, por favor ,” manager Norma Barahona prompts the men wheeling the ice box into the humble, musty warehouse. “Put on your masks, please.” Framed photos of La Virgen de Guadalupe hang on the walls. So do reminders of the disease lurking all about. “Keep your distance,” one sign says in English and Spanish."
Behind a paywall? Short version: need for food bank services is dramatically growing.
If you have money for takeout/delivery, please consider skipping a meal, or ordering less, and making a cash donation to a local organization that provides life-saving essentials to our neighbors dealing with food insecurity in the midst of the pandemic and unpredictable economy. Thank you.