Gardner: Livestock industry needs designated CDC liaison to help secure food supply chain

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should designate a federal liaison to work directly with the nation’s livestock and food industries to ensure the domestic and global food supply chain remains secure, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) said earlier this week.

“This liaison would help provide valuable resources to the industry and those workers who keep food on our shelves,” Sen. Gardner wrote in an April 17 letter sent to Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of the CDC. “Companies in this industry would benefit from having a direct partner in this crisis at CDC, working together to protect the workers and keep our food supply secure.”

The senator wrote that many workers remain vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19, particularly those who work in processing and meatpacking plants.

“These outbreaks threaten not only the people who contract the virus but the food supply as a whole,” Sen. Gardner wrote, noting that nationwide, including in his home state of Colorado, meat-packing plants have closed due to continual COVID-19 outbreaks.

“While these closures are well-intentioned to limit the spread of the disease, they have the potential to create major economic disruptions,” wrote Sen. Gardner.

Designating a specific meatpacking industry liaison from the CDC could help provide valuable resources to the industry and workers, according to his letter.