Rising meat costs will punish the poor

How is it that the head of a company specialising in pork products should go into bat on behalf of the poultry sector as a meat supply crisis engulfs our country?

It sounds odd, but as Eskort CEO Arnold Prinsloo explains it, you can see the logic.

The government has banned the importation of chickens from Brazil, because of the outbreak of avian flu in certain parts of that country.

What that means is that we are no longer importing the estimated 19 000 tons of mechanically deboned meat (MDM), which is a vital component of processed meats such as polony, of which Eskort is one of a number of suppliers.

The ban on imports comes as two other blows have hit meat supplies.

First, there was a crisis at Daybreak Foods, one of South Africa’s largest integrated poultry producers, which has entered business rescue after being forced to cull 350 000 starving chicks.

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Then came the news this week that foot-and-mouth disease had been detected at a Gauteng feedlot owned by Karan Beef.

Prinsloo reckons all of this combined can lead to hikes in the price of meat across all categories and, because the cheaper processed meats rely on MDM, it could be the poor who are hardest hit.

The meat industry, along with farmers’ groups, are upset at the government, specifically for its inaction.

The concern among farmer’s organisations is that the authorities did not act quickly enough to contain the foot-and-mouth outbreak, with the result that many cattle farmers could face financial ruin as they will be banned from moving or selling their stock.

The meat industry wants the government to immediately amend the Brazilian import ban so that it applies to only those areas in that country actually affected by bird flu.

Unless urgent action is taken, we face a cold, hungry winter.

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