Glynn Tonsor -- The Meat of the Matter
Pork Sausage and pancakes for breakfast; turkey and swiss on sourdough for lunch; beef and broccoli stir-fry for dinner. At most meals, on most American tables, you'll find some form of meat. This abundance of power-packed protein is the result of a livestock production, processing and delivery chain that, in terms of safety, speed and efficiency, is unmatched anywhere else on Earth. But this year the strength and flexibility of that chain, like many other things, has been tested by the lurching, chaotic unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic. Glynn Tonsor, a livestock market economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, guides us through some of the memorable incidents of the last 7 or 8 months, and explains how consumer choice, domestic markets, and global trade can strengthen and stabilize that system to keep producers profitable, and keep meat on the table.