Amid elevated concerns about supply chain interruptions and food shortages, one Walmart warehouse in Indiana has been closed as a result of a destructive fire.
This report is the latest in a string of disasters that have impacted food processing plants and distributors.
A fire broke out at the Avon facility in March and experts now say the damage is too severe to reopen any time soon.
According to WLWT:
The closure will impact 1,132 associates, the company said.
Since the fire, Walmart has been working to find those associates alternative roles in the area, including a job fair, conducting associate training and providing financial support.
The company said 957 employees have accepted new roles within the company.
The 1,132 associates who did not accept a new role were notified that the fulfillment center will close on April 1.
Although the mainstream media has sought to downplay stories related to damaged food plants, many Americans are clearly concerned.
Lots of food processing plants have been catching fire around the country. What’s going on here?
— George Papadopoulos (@GeorgePapa19) May 2, 2022
Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that almost 20 food plants have recently caught fire. More people should be talking about this!
— Tim Swain (@_TimSwain_) May 1, 2022
Bill Gates bought LOTS of farmland. Ukraine happened. Now food processing plants are catching fire. What is going on? Who knew what and when? Kinda shady!
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) May 2, 2022
Just another fire at a food processing plant, but nothing to see here. https://t.co/s1VTUcjtPS
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) May 1, 2022
Food processing plants don’t just “accidentally” burn down at this rate and they certainly don’t “coincidentally” become landing pads for plane crashes at the rate they are.
Our food supply is under attack in America. The question is—by who?
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 29, 2022
Various conspiracies have circulated online regarding a possible attempt to manufacture a crisis by targeting such facilities.
Joe Biden didn’t help matters when he warned Americans in March that they should be prepared for food shortages.
As Bloomberg reported at the time:
President Joe Biden said that the world will experience food shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and production increases were a subject of discussions at a Group of Seven meeting on Thursday.
“It’s going to be real,” Biden said at a news conference in Brussels. “The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.”
Public concern has reached the point that even Reuters felt the need to issue a so-called “fact check” on the matter.
The USDA told Reuters via email that the claims saying these fires were caused by arsons are false.
Senior Vice President of Communications at the National Chicken Council Tom Super told Reuters via email that the claims seemed to be “fake news.”
“I can only speak for chicken, but like any manufacturing plant/industry, there are generally a few fires that occur each year across the country. The majority of them are accidental and are contained rather quickly. And certainly not enough to affect the chicken supply,” Super said.
A representative for General Mills, one of the companies named in the posts being shared, told Reuters via email that the company has not “experienced any arson at our manufacturing facilities.”
These reassurances are not enough to convince many skeptical Americans, however.
Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson recently dedicated a segment of his program to exploring the issue.
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