Social media posts claim food plant fires are an attempt to starve US

Quite a few false posts on social media declare that current fires at meals processing crops within the US have been deliberately orchestrated as a way to create a nationwide meals provide scarcity. Euronews has fact-checked these claims. 

Even politicians have gotten concerned, reminiscent of Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who added gasoline to the hearth by tweeting that these incidents have been maybe not so unintended.

One Fb put up even means that Invoice Gates is the one behind all of those fires. Nonetheless, there may be presently no proof that any of those fires have been premeditated as a way to create a meals scarcity within the nation.

Lots of the fires talked about have been unintended, reminiscent of this one from Maine in March 2022. Solely 3 current fires are nonetheless underneath investigation in line with FactCheck.

No alarming enhance of fires in 2022

However has there been an alarming enhance in these incidents this 12 months? In line with a 2019 report from the US Division of Agriculture (USDA), there are over 36,000 meals processing crops within the nation.

In line with the Nationwide Fireplace Safety Affiliation (NFPA), the annual common of fires at meals services from 2015 to 2019 was 5,308. Subsequently, it is extra frequent that we may suppose. 

Within the first 4 months of 2022, there have been roughly 20 fires at meals crops in line with a NFPA spokesperson who talked to FactCheck. 

So these numbers usually are not significantly alarming. And operations on the majority of those services have been solely quickly suspended, which might not trigger a nationwide meals disaster.

Regardless of employee shortages and provide chain points because of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the USDA mentioned that there are presently no meals shortages or disruptions.