Pitch
In the state of Arkansas, Hispanic/Latino residents make up 7% of the population (Census data), however are making up 15% of confirmed COVID-19 cases. To better understand how the third largest racial/ethnic group is contracting the virus at disproportionately higher rates, I propose investigating Springdale, AZ, a city which sits in the counties of Washington and Benton. Note that these counties also rank #2 and #3 in the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, after only Pulaski county. Springdale happens to have the largest population of Hispanic/Latino residents (28,600), making up 36% of the city’s population of 76 thousand. What makes this story most interesting is that the city is home to the world headquarters of Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat producing company, which has been reporting clusters of outbreaks at their US plants since April 2020. In June, the Chinese government suspended all exports from Tyson after the Springdale, AR plant experienced an outbreak.
What is interesting about this story is that media coverage revolves mostly around the general implications of the outbreaks for the company and its workforce, but does not get into the demographics of the city and/or the demographics of the workers most impacted by the outbreaks. It is important to understand the correlation between COVID-19 infection rates, Tyson foods operations and employment rates, and Hispanic/Latino population. I envision this piece to be around 800-1000 words highlighting the infection rates in meatpacking, poultry, and food processing plants in the state and how companies are taking action to remedy these malpractices. Furthermore, I will examine how the Hispanic/Latino populations are most impacted in this region by reviewing health care, PTO, and sick-time policy.
Potential Sources
Former employees of Tyson
Angela Stuesse from Washington Post who has written on this
Tyson 10K and press releases
Social media listening – scrape comments from Twitter