Coronavirus in rural America (Part CLXIX): On meatpacking plants, race and mental health in rural and urban Iowa

Natalie Krebs reports today for National Public Radio out of Des Moines.  The headline is "COVID cases in meatpacking plants impacted workers and their rural communities."  Here's an excerpt:  

KREBS: Meatpacking plants were some of the first places to experience large-scale COVID-19 outbreaks. The virus tore through production lines, where workers, who are frequently first-generation immigrants, stand shoulder to shoulder, working long hours on fast-paced lines. What's clear is the aftermath of those outbreaks had a profound impact both on workers and on the rural meatpacking communities they live in. David Peters is a sociology professor at Iowa State University and conducted a survey on the pandemic's effect on Iowa's rural communities. He says residents in meatpacking communities were hit the hardest.

PETERS: They suffered, in particular economically by having reduced working hours, wage cuts, benefit losses, losing the jobs. And, of course, health impacts - much more of them were hospitalized.

The story doesn't deliver as much information as I'd like about the consequences for rural communities with meatpacking plants versus rural communities without them. I assume that part of the meatpacking county vulnerability is the lack of economic diversification.  

A more detailed report of the Peters survey, this one in the Cedar Rapids Gazette is here.   This story highlights what the Peters survey found about the pandemic's effects on Iowans' mental health.  Here are some key findings: 

A new survey found that while Iowans in the smallest towns have experienced a steep toll on their mental health throughout the pandemic, those living in larger communities were more likely to experience economic challenges and strains to their physical health.

Researchers from Iowa State University and the University of Iowa asked thousands of residents in 73 communities across the state to gauge how the pandemic effected various aspects of their lives, including their overall well-being and their financial situation. The collaborative survey effort was funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation, an independent agency within the federal government.

“We wanted an idea of how rural areas were being impacted,” said David Peters, a rural sociologist at Iowa State University who led the research.

More than 5,000 Iowans responded to the survey, which was mailed to more than 13,500 households between December 2020 and February.

And regarding the impact on meat packing towns, the Gazette story by Michaela Ramm reports:

The survey also measured the impact of the pandemic in four cities with meatpacking plants — Columbus Junction, Storm Lake, West Liberty and Denison. All of these communities have minority populations that exceed 60 percent of the total community population

Researchers found the impact of the pandemic often was worse in those communities. Peters said these residents — who often were people of color or immigrants and tended to be lower incomes — faced increased risk of negative health outcomes and financial challenges because of their jobs.

Rural Iowans of color had higher COVID-19 positivity rates and were hospitalized for the virus more frequently than residents outside of meatpacking cities.

Mental health worsened in smallest communities

Peters said one of the more concerning findings was that the mental health of rural Iowans has taken a major hit during the pandemic.

Particularly in Iowa’s smallest communities, worsening mental health poses long-lasting problems. If it’s not addressed, Peters said, it could lead to other issues including more substance use disorders and domestic violence.

Another Peters study about the effects of coronavirus across Iowa's counties is here.