By Michelle Zeh

Are you feeling the painful pinch of inflation as your grocery bills soar relative to how many bags you carry out of the store? Yeah, me too. I haven’t seen too many empty shelves in my neck of the woods yet, though there are definitely more than I’ve ever seen before. My jaw drops regularly at the prices as I notice the increases monthly and sometimes weekly. During a presser on March 31, Justin Trudeau said “We’ve seen… disruptions of supply chains around the world, which is resulting in higher prices for consumers and democracies, like ours, and resulting in significant shortages and projected shortages of food, of energy in places around the world. This is going to be a difficult time because of the war, because of the recovery from the pandemic,” US President Joe Biden mumbled something similar the week before. So, whether you believe the war between Russia and Ukraine which only started in late February is one of two stated contributing factors for price hikes on groceries, we’ve been told to expect food shortages by the powers that be. And what about the fires?

In recent months, the internet has been abuzz with stories of numerous fires and explosions at food processing plants, animal feed processing plants, fertilizer production facilities, food distribution hubs, dairy, egg, poultry and cattle farms, and meat packers across the US, with a couple of notable incidents in Canada, and totaling more than 35 such incidents just since January of this year.

Though fact checkers and government funded mainstream media talking heads are out in full force to debunk any claims that this could be a manufactured crisis, there are just too many incidents for the critical thinkers to ignore. A quick internet search will yield many independent media stories about the fires, alongside those fact checks of course. Even the FBI put out a warning in April about increased cyber attack threats on agricultural institutions. In their press release, they specifically noted ransomware attacks in 2021 and early 2022 could disrupt the planting season by affecting the supply of seeds and fertilizer: “A significant disruption of grain production could impact the entire food chain since grain is not only consumed by humans but also used for animal feed. In addition, a significant disruption of grain and corn production could impact commodities trading and stocks.”

What amounts to a manufactured health crisis in my opinion, that’s been pushed onto us for the last 2+ years has most certainly contributed to a lack of overall housekeeping and equipment maintenance through lockdowns, labour shortages and lack of parts, but the number of fires does seem extreme to me. Could this be a deliberate attempt to sabotage our food supply? I’ve laid out a timeline for you below and further details can be obtained through your search engine.

2021

• Jan 12, Fayetteville, IL – Deli Star meat packers
• Apr 11, Robards, KY- Tyson poultry processor
• Jul 26, Memphis, TN, – Kellogg cereal plant
• Aug 2, Handel, AL – Tyson animal feed plant
• Aug 24, Comcast, GA – Patak meat products
• Sep 13, Grand Island NE, – JBS beef processing plant.
• Oct 13 – Caldwell ID – Darigold butter production plant
• Nov 29, Scott Twp PA, Maid Rite Steak Co.
• Dec 12, San Antonio, TX – West Side food processing plant.
• Dec 13, Collins MS – Sanderson Animal Feed processing

Moving on to 2022, you’ll notice the uptick in frequency of occurrences.

• Jan 2, Momence IL – Van Drunen Farms Tuthill plant
• Jan 7, Hamilton, ON – Unnamed poultry processing plant
• Jan 8, Fresno CA – Raw Far Creamery
• Jan 14, Lecompte LA – Cargill-Nutrena feed mill.
• Jan 20, Warden WA – Washington Potato Co.
• Jan 31, Winston Salem NC – Wiston Weaver Fertilizer
• Feb 3, Stowe VT – Percy Dairy Farm
• Feb 3, Mauston WI, Wisconsin River Meats
• Feb 4, Live Oak CA – Diamond Walnut Growers
• Feb 15, El Paso TX, Bonnza Meat Co.
• Feb 16, Claypool, IN – Louis Dreyfus Co. soybean processing and biodiesel plant.
• Feb 18, Panton VT – Bess View Dairy Farm
• Feb 22, Hermiston OR – Shearer’s Foods Potato Plant
• Feb 28, Lincoln NB – Shadow Brook Farm & Dutch Girl Creamery
• Feb 28, Sunnyside WA – Nutrien Ag Solutions Fertilizer Plant
• Mar 14, Longswamp Twp PA – Unnamed Dairy farm
• Mar 17, Jonesboro AK, Nestle prepared foods.
• Mar 18, Plainfield, IN – Walmart Distribution Centre including food.
• Mar 23, Piscataway NJ – Pepsi Food Processing Plant
• March 23, Sherbrooke QC – Center de Valorisation de l’Ailment de l’Estrie
• Mar 24, Belfast ME – Penobscot McCrum Potato Processing plant.
• Mar 29, Maricopa AZ – Maricopa Food Pantry
• Mar 31, San Juan TX – Rio Fresh Onion Packing Facility
• Apr 11, Conway NH – East Conway Beef and Pork
• Apr 13, Salinas CA – Taylor Farms Food Processing
• Apr 13, Heyburn ID – Gem State Potato & Food Processing Plant
• Apr 18, Dufur OR – Azure Standard – Largest US Organic Food Distributor
• Apr 20, Leoti KS – Nutrient Ag Solutions fertilizer plant.
• Apr 21, Covington, GA – General Mills Cereal plant
• Apr 24, Cedar Rapids IA – General Mills Manufacturing Site
• Apr 25, Suffolk VA – Hormel Foods
• Apr 28, Kalona IA – Agriway Partners
• Apr 30, Chesapeake WV – Perdue Farms plant
• May 1, Fresno CA – Saladino’s Food Processing Plant
• May 7, Green Bay WI – JBS Meat Packing Plant
• May 29, Howard Lake, MN – Forsman Farms
• May 31, Wadena, MN – Minnestoa Valley Irrigation (equipment used in farming)
• June 8, Arcola LA – Purina Feed Mill
• Jun 13, Belmont WI – Festive Foods
• Jul 13, East Lubbock TX – Purina Feed Mill

An article from the US based National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Journal, even though they admittedly don’t keep data specific to fires that occur in food processing plants, claims there’s nothing to see here. Birgitte Messerschmidt, the NFPA Research Director says 2019 was a particularly bad year for industrial fires. There were over 5,300 — nearly 15 a day — but I can only find 10 such incidents relating to food processing facilities for that year. (Source https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/ thread/376412951/#376) Not even 7 full months into 2022 and there have already been 37 incidents at food processing plants in the US alone. Also, it’s the NFPA article that the fact checkers keep referencing so I haven’t got much faith in those fact checkers.

Something else to consider is the cap of fertilizer shipments announced by Union Pacific Railway in April. Majority shares totaling 15.58% of UPR are held by none other than Vanguard Group and Blackrock Inc. Alongside the 2 fertilizer plant fires, a backlog of shipments over the last 2+ years and now the caps, the result is farmers are receiving less fertilizer, which also has to be contributing to lower yield and higher prices.

Fertilizer however, isn’t in the only product affected by the caps.

Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), required by newer diesel engines is also among the delivery caps. As if diesel users haven’t been feeling the pinch already with the soaring fuel prices, it’s now more difficult for them to get DEF. It makes operating the newer diesel vehicles impossible if the DEF tank is empty, unless owners disable the emission cutting component of their exhaust systems. I’ve also read about a diesel oil additive shortage. According to Mike Adams of Natural News, Chevron (US) and Lubrizol (Italy) are the sole producers of the additives which make up to 25% of engine oil and they haven’t been producing ‘for a while now’, with no plans to start again until some time in 2023, citing maintenance issues. Most trucks, trains, ships, farm and industrial equipment use diesel fuel and require 10W40 or 15W40 oil to lubricate their engines, so I don’t know about you, but I can see where this is headed. I wonder if we can go back to using canola oil instead?

Remind me again why both the Biden and Trudeau governments shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline? Oh right, so we can push electric everything onto humanity, while using gas and oil to operate the mining equipment while destroying large swathes of the environment to find that precious lithium and cobalt for those non recyclable batteries. Insanity!

Back to the potentially manufactured food crisis, it warrants the planting of another seed for the critical thinkers. If you’ve paid a modicum of attention to government funded legacy media, you’ll be aware that tens of millions of chickens, turkeys and ducks have been culled in the US, Canada and across the world to combat the spread of the alleged avian influenza outbreak. According to a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Q&A publication dated April 2015, people can’t catch avian flu from eating a supposedly infected chicken or egg as long as the product is cooked to the standard safe food handling internal temperature of 165º F. So why are these animals being destroyed when they could be cooked and then frozen for human or pet consumption? Are the birds actually exhibiting symptoms? I ask because the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proactively attending private and commercial farms to test their fowl.

According to a USDA fact sheet also from April 2015, APHIS is using rapid tests similar to the COVID-19 rapid tests to diagnose and subsequently determine the fate of these birds, healthy or not. I have personally tested and witnessed the COVID-19 rapid tests from two different manufacturers show positive results from swabs taken from kiwi fruit from three different growers and also from tap water. Asymptomatic, meaning HEALTHY people have been testing positive for something that also affects kiwis and tap water in my first-hand experience. It certainly makes me question the accuracy and validity of these rapid tests. What are they detecting exactly? And, given the hype over the alleged and never proven asymptomatic spread of COVID-19, is APHIS looking for any other sources such as contaminated water, feed or perhaps pesticides that could be sparking these alleged illnesses? I have my doubts.

On the method of destruction of these birds, it’s noteworthy to mention the cruelty in at least one instance at Rembrandt Foods in Iowa (owned by billionaire Glen Taylor) that occurred during March and April. One single ‘confirmed’ case of avian flu led to the inhumane destruction of 5.3 million HEALTHY egg-laying chickens. Tom Cullen of the Iowa newspaper The Storm Lake Times revealed the birds were culled using a system called ventilation shut down (VSD+) in which air is closed off to the barns and heat pumped in until the temperature rises above 104º F, thus suffocating and practically roasting the animals to death. After assisting with this reprehensible deed, 200+ workers were subsequently fired. I can’t imagine how they’re doing mentally.

Incidentally, on July 15, Canada imposed a ban on the import of live birds, raw chicken and eggs from as many as 21 states and that number will likely grow. I don’t know the statistics on how much poultry Canada imports from the US specifically, but I’ve seen many packages in the cooler section of larger grocery store chains with the USDA stamp on them. I guess we’re going to be seeing less of those.

In other related news, on June 8th the California State Water Resources Control Board announced that water diverted from rivers and streams would no longer be available to ~4500 water rights holders between Fresno County and the Oregon border, forcing them to turn to wells, stored water or groundwater if they have it. There were cutbacks last year too, however they didn’t happen until August. Less or no water means less or no crops and with California being the number one supplier of produce to the US, and Canada importing much of its produce from the US, this can’t be a good thing. (Source https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/californiadelta-water-cutbacks/)

On a positive note, if you enjoy dining on insects, London, Ontario is now home to Aspire Food Group’s cricket processing facility. According to Mohammed Ashour, co-founder of Aspire, “Crickets have this incredible ability to convert what they eat into protein biomass.” He further claims that they “can produce protein much more efficiently and with a fraction of the amount of food, water and land needed by other protein sources.” Their target harvest rate is 13 million kilograms or 9 metric tons annually. In a June 27 news release, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada revealed that they are investing as much as $8.5 million into Aspire’s facility, stating “Alternative sources of protein such as insects provide an opportunity for Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector to more sustainably meet global demand for food. Aspire’s goal to tackle global food scarcity led to its focus on edible insect protein, which can provide high volumes of nutritious food with a low environmental footprint.” Canada’s Actually Foods already sells three flavours of their cricket protein puffs to Canadian consumers but you’d need to read the label to know and, buyer beware, if you have a shellfish allergy, you will likely have a cricket protein allergy as well.

So, while food related manufacturing facilities continue to burn, regardless of the cause, poultry continues to be culled at an alarming rate, water is cut off for California farmers, fertilizer and diesel exhaust fluid shipments are capped, and grocery prices skyrocket, just remember, there’s a cheaper, creepy crawly alternative coming to a grocery store near you if it isn’t already there.

Bon appétit!