If you had told me two weeks ago what life would look like today, I am not sure I would have believed you.

Grocery stores are being emptied faster than they can restock. Restaurants have had to close their doors. All of the travel events on my calendar through mid-May have been canceled — this will be the longest stretch of time I stay in one place in the past six years. The Alliance has even made the move to take our 2020 Stakeholders Summit, set for May 7-8, virtual.

All of these shifts feel seismic, but they are a small price to pay to do our part in responding to the current crisis and helping minimize negative impacts on public health. The least I can do is stay at home to help limit the risks to the people who are responsible for keeping us safe, healthy and fed — medical personnel, first responders, restaurant and retail establishment employees, food processors, farmers, ranchers, veterinarians and the like.

While most of us are thankful for a food chain that is rising to the challenge of unanticipated demand, there are a few groups out there that want to use this time to continually attempt to disrupt our access to safe and affordable choices. Animal rights activist campaigns will never miss a chance to attempt to exploit something for their own gain, even a global public health crisis. Groups like Direct Action Everywhere, The Save Movement and PETA are trying to make an inaccurate connection between eating meat and risks of the disease in order to take advantage of the public’s fears. With their usual in-person protests and disruptions not an option at the moment, we’re seeing additional online tactics behind the call to “#CancelAnimalAg.”

If the difficulty I’ve had over the past few weeks tracking down ground beef and chicken breast is any indication, consumers are not falling for it. While I believe these efforts only make activist groups look worse and even less credible and that we should not dignify them with a response, I do think all of us should be prepared for an increase in online activism. These groups will try to take advantage of a stressed system and you may see an uptick in requests for information or even employment applications from people with hidden agendas.

In these incredibly difficult and busy times, we still need to be cautious and thoughtful about the potential for activists to benefit from a bad situation.

I’m proud to be part of an industry that is stepping up to the plate to keep us supplied with meat and poultry as we hunker down and ride this out. The meat industry is truly essential and all of your efforts to keep the system moving in times of uncertainty are noticed and deeply appreciated by everyone at the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

As usual, activist groups attempt to exploit a crisis

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