“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt

One year ago I was facing the most difficult time of my life along with many members of the meat and poultry industry. Plants were closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the food production capacity was plummeting. A crisis situation was emerging and it had to be diverted. It became evident very quickly that food availability, something we all take for granted in the USA, is indeed a matter of national security.

The President issued an executive order to keep meat and poultry plants open and delegated his authority to Secretary Purdue. The Secretary worked closely with me and other Under Secretaries to facilitate this. The Executive Order was never needed due to cooperation of the industry with the government. There was a strong cooperative effort among the local, state and federal government entities and the industry to not only keep the food supply chain flowing to provide food to the nation but also to protect public health. This is the story that hasn’t been told in mainstream media.

The situation was challenging because we were operating with little precedent and every action set forth a new “policy.” Keep in mind, when the meat industry began shutting down it was very early in the pandemic with little information to guide us. It was even prior to the time when CDC recommended the use of face coverings. We all had to make the best decision we could given the information available. I was fortunate that the Secretary was/is wise and a strong leader. We were dropped “in the arena” with the rest of the food industry with an enormous weight to carry. People were going crazy over toilet paper, can you imagine what they would do if we ran short on food??

The outcome was good — food on the tables during a time of crisis. How did this happen?

1) The food/meat industry was proactive in implementing mitigation strategies for prevention of the spread of COVID-19. The CDC put out guidelines in late April, and we (USDA) dispatched CDC teams to the facilities to help improve safety, but the industry already had mitigations in place before the guidelines came out.

2) The industry was willing to adjust operations based on the situation allowing employees to be protected from COVID risks with a reduced workforce. The production may have been limited initially and the diversity of final products was reduced, but there was food being produced.

3) The FSIS inspectors were amazing and selfless. Our employees at FSIS were incredible in stepping up to the plate to ensure that food was inspected. It is important to note that we allowed any inspector for any reason to step off of the line if they felt that they were high risk, getting paid for two months with full benefits. Staffing the facilities wasn’t an easy task, but no facility ever closed due to a lack of inspection.

The times were tough, however, this industry was resilient and provided a basic need to the country — food. The workers of this industry stepped up and continue to work hard on the frontlines with little recognition. I can never express enough gratitude to our food industry workers and inspectors for rising to the occasion. They were and continue to be the heroes, feeding America and preventing a national security crisis. Thank you for staying “in the arena” when it mattered the most.

In the arena…

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