Food Crisis: Accidental Or Orchestrated?

The food crisis: Accidental or orchestrated?

Patrice Lewis

OK, this has got to be said.

I'm certain most of you have heard about the curious and alarming string of fires, explosions and accidents hitting food-processing and fertilizer plants across the nation. Here is a partial list:

• Fayetteville, Illinois, 1/15/21: Deli Star deals with the aftermath of devastating fire

• Hanceville, Alabama, 7/30/21: Tyson poultry meal plant suffered total loss in large fire

• Scott Township, Pennsylvania, 11/29/21: 17 Departments Fight Fire at Maid-Rite Steak Co. Meat Processing Plant

• Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 1/31/22: Thousands flee homes near Winston-Salem fertilizer plant fire

• Mauston, Wisconsin, 2/3/22: Portion of Wisconsin River Meats a "total loss" in overnight fire

• Claypool, Indiana, 2/16/22: Louis Dreyfus reports fire at largest U.S. soy processing plant

• Hermiston, Oregon, 2/22/22: Seven injured in explosion as fire engulfs Shearer's foods plant

• Lincoln, Nebraska, 3/1/22: Shadow Brook Farm and Dutch Girl Creamery cheesemaking facility gutted by fire

• Sunnyside, Washington, 3/1/22: Washington fertilizer plant fire forces evacuations

• Plainfield, Indiana, 3/18/22: ATF begins on-site investigation into Walmart facility fire in Plainfield

• Jonesboro, Arkansas, 3/22/22: Nestle Hot Pockets plant remains shuttered following fire

• Belfast, Maine, 3/24/22: Crews respond to fire at Belfast potato processing plant

• Maricopa, Arizona, 3/29/22: 50,000 lbs. of food destroyed after fire ripped through Maricopa food pantry

• San Juan, Texas, 3/31/22: Rio Fresh's onion warehouse damaged in fire

• Conway, New Hampshire, 4/12/22: Crews battled fire for 16 hours at East Conway Beef and Pork

• Heyburn, Idaho, 4/14/22: Plane crashes into Idaho potato and food processing plant, killing the pilot

• Salinas, California, 4/14/22: Taylor Farms building is a "total loss" after large fire

• Dufur, Oregon 4/19/22: Fire destroys Azure Standard headquarter facility

• Leoti, Kansas, 4/19/22: Fertilizer plant fire causes evacuations in western Kansas

• Covington, Georgia, 4/22/22: Investigators comb through plane crash wreckage at General Mills plant in Covington

• Cedar Rapids, Iowa 4/23/22: Firefighters attack overnight flames at General Mills from the roof

• Lecompte, Louisiana, 4/26/22: Explosion and rire reported at Cargill-Nutrena feed mill

Most of these are not paltry fires, but catastrophic infernos with flames visible from satellites and which often require thousands of nearby residents to evacuate. The losses are not being measured in the millions, but billions of dollars, and they all put more of America's food supply under strain.

One such accident is a tragedy. Two is an oddity. Three is a coincidence. But dozens? That starts to sound deliberate.

Of course industrial accidents are nothing unusual. What is capturing peoples' attention is the scope and frequency of fires, crashes and explosions. According to this link, eight massive industrial accidents happened in 2017. In 2018, it was six. In 2019, it was eight. In 2021, it was 11. But in just the first four months of 2022, there have been at least 17 events that have specifically destroyed food processing or fertilizer facilities.

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