5@5: Push to legalize 'essential' coronavirus workers | What Americans are drinking in quarantine

If they're 'essential' they can't be 'illegal'

While Americans can agree that preventing more food supply chain disruptions is of paramount importance right now, there is a stark lack of protections available for the largely undocumented farmworkers that make it all happen. Legalizing current workers and offering legalization as an incentive to bring new agricultural workers into the country will help keep the U.S. food system secure. Read more at The New York Times…

What Americans are drinking during quarantine

U.S. consumers are spending the money they'd otherwise be forking over to restaurants or bars on ready-to-drink cocktails, gin and tequila according to new data from Nielsen. Nielsen also noted a spike in alcoholic drinks that can be easily mixed with coffee, including Amarettos and Apertifs. Read more at Quartz…

How local and national organizations are connecting farms to the food insecure

Programs that connect food pantries with surplus food from farmers are still rare, and the government has been slow to act in terms of preventing the massive food waste incurred after restaurants and foodservice operations shut down; this has translated into millions of pounds of lost produce. But a network of community organizations are mobilizing at an impressive rate, garnering support from local residents and small farmers alike and highlighting the value of a localized food system. Read more at FoodPrint…

58% of workers at Tyson meat factory in Iowa test positive for coronavirus

Over 700 employees at a Tyson Foods meat processing plant in Perry, Iowa, have tested positive for COVID-19. The news follows a report from last week that another Tyson Foods plant in Indiana had 900 confirmed cases. Apparent Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said of America's meatpackers that they are designating their employees "as essential workers and then [treating] them as disposable." Read more at NBC…

Justice department approves DFA purchase of Dean Foods' assets

Dairy Farmers of America will need to divest three Dean Foods plants, as mandated by the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division. The bankruptcy sale of Dean Foods to DFA was highly criticized for bringing "the country's largest milk processor under the biggest dairy cooperative in the U.S." Read more at Food Dive…