Think twice the next time you order high-quality meat for a too-good-to-be-true price. As food prices escalate, meat theft is becoming common to rip off supermarkets and offer lower-than-the-market meat sales to restaurants. In Texas, police recently enacted “Operation Meat Locker” to stop the growing trend of meat theft from supermarket retailers. They’ve already arrested six men for stealing meat and reselling it to local restaurants, and are searching for additional burglars stealing from meat lockers, cattle pens and 18-wheelers. While this certainly is a law enforcement issue, it’s also raising sanitary concerns for locals.
Texan Sergeant David Socha, who participated in the “Operation Meat Locker” investigation, told USA TODAY, “[Supermarkets are] watching these guys with this stuff in their pants, and besides being nasty, what’s the temperature of the meat?”
It’s not exactly comforting to consider that your meat might’ve been near someone’s genitals before it ended up on your plate, or kept at an unsafe temperature. Nevertheless, GOOD magazine raises an interesting alternative suggesting that more people adopt plant-based diets since the meat industry continues to have a ton of drama. The production of fruits and vegetables certainly aren’t perfect, but it’s not hard to admit that you rarely hear about a bacteria infection sweeping across that industry versus the constant meat e.coli recalls that plague the United States.
How do you feel about the growing popularity of meat burglaries? Are you concerned about the origins of your meat? Weigh in.