Last week’s report on manufacturing. outlined elsewhere in this edition. showed Delaware’s food industry holding its own in terms of employment.
That was actually good news in a less-than-upbeat annual report from Manufacturer’s News, publisher of an annual online and print directory of the key industry in the state.
The report indicated that manufacturing employment was down more than 1 percent in the state. Figures from the Delaware Department of Labor show employment unchanged. Neither report looks that great in light of job gains outside the East Coast.
The food industry is largely comprised of poultry processing plants. This key industry in the state is seeing a resumption in growth after downturns in the industry and the overall economy.
But poultry faces its share of a challenge from increasingly strident activists who want the industry to go away. Of late, the focus has been mainly on Maryland, where an alliance is seeking a moratorium on new construction of chicken houses, citing issues related to phosphorous making its way to the Chesapeake Bay.
Runoff into the bay is a tough issue, but moratoriums are always a bad idea. As industry group Delmarva Poultry Industry noted, the number of chicken houses had actually declined, due to the economic downturn and productivity gains.
However keeping the industry competitive requires new construction that also has the benefit of reducing runoff into the bay. That has led to an upturn in construction.
In other words, a moratorium would have little impact on the phosphorus situation and would instead move the industry elsewhere. Activists reject that notion and choose (for now) not to look at other factors, such as population growth on the peninsula that leads to run-off into the bay from driveways, lawns and septic systems. Bashing business is much easier.
In Delaware, another group has gone to court in an effort stop any effort by processor Allen Harim to operate at a former pickle processing plant near Bridgeville, DE. So far, no formal plans have been announced for a production site.
Allen Harim has filed a plan for dealing with pollution coming out of the Vlasic site that is endorsed by the state. However, activists have gone to court, raising the specter of catastrophic pollution from the site. Never mind dealing with the pollution that already exists. So far, their legal efforts have been unsuccessful.
Last year, Delmarva Poultry Industry decided to end its annual festival celebrating its presence on the peninsula. The industry cited the need to focus on other matters. Given the stance of environmental activists, the industry made the right decision to focus on forces that threaten its survival.
