At least once in a generation, modern society faces a calamity that seems to dismantle the very underpinnings of the social contract, the economy, our government, life: 9/11. The Vietnam War. World War II, which gave us the horrors of the Holocaust and Hiroshima. The hand-to-hand butchery of the Civil War.

A deadly global pandemic certainly ranks high on anybody's list of historic calamities. Even so, there is a light at the end of this tunnel — a morning after, as "The Poseidon Adventure" put it. And in that light, there are opportunities.

So let's focus on meat processing plants, which have come to symbolize the worst of the coronavirus, and so much more: Big Meat, social inequity, the power of China, corporate ag. Some of the glare of that white-hot spotlight makes sense, as meat plants are uniquely designed to encourage the worst effects of this virus. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

Or is it?

In more than a century of industrial meat processing, the fundamentals haven't changed. Lots of people paid lower inflation-adjusted wages than their predecessors work on high-volume disassembly lines in a largely unpleasant environment. The fundamentals haven't changed because they work, making high-quality protein products available worldwide at the lowest possible price. But — the way it's always been is not the way it always will be.

If COVID-19 has changed the equation and made that model of meat processing untenable, even with the (expensive) additional protections that companies have put in place, the now is the time to rethink — perhaps redesign — the system.

Are the locations optimal? Probably, because the system gains tremendously from being nearer the livestock than the consumer; packaged meat products don't get stressed and injured in transport.

Are the buildings optimal? I see more opportunities here: smaller buildings designed from the bottom up with ventilation in mind, along with food safety, sanitation, employee comfort, and sustainability and environmental stewardship in mind.

Equipment? Oh, yeah. Time for U.S. processors to get on the digitized, computerized, automated, laser-guided train. It's expensive — but less so than the poisonous publicity meat companies have been subject to since March. And you can increase the line speeds on equipment without risking injury or food safety.

Employees? Fewer, skilled, higher-paid. Those companies and organizations (like FPSA) that have forged programs with community colleges and technical schools to train workers on the advanced equipment are ahead of the game, but anybody can play. The manpower that remains can be deployed in inspection and QA/QC.

Remaking a business model is vastly expensive, disruptive and takes time. Consumer prices would have to go up. Sometime in the next 12 months, God willing, there will be a COVID-19 vaccine and we can all take a breath. So why re-examine the system now, when waiting the virus out makes more financial sense?

Because this isn't the last deadly, fast-moving virus humans will have to contend with. In 2020, the weak links in the meat supply chain have been made apparent, and the companies that prevail are those who will act on this information. In a post-COVID world, consumers will probably once again turn their attention to humane handling concerns and product claims, but start-ups you've never heard of are already devising ways to process meat in more employee-friendly ways.

So — why not?

Ask me 'why?' I say, 'Why not?'

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