Reports of the deliberate destruction of dozens of food processing plants in the last year are being refuted by fact-checkers and mainstream media (MSM) news outlets. .The Western Standard in April published an exclusive story looking into nearly two-dozen destroyed food processing facilities across Canada and the US in just more than a year, and how the incidents could be contributing to food shortages and rising prices at the grocery stores. Several more incidents of the destruction of food plants were found globally, as well. .As quickly as the reports circulated on social media — fueling discussions around whether the destruction of food plants has been deliberate or nefarious in nature — fact-checkers and MSM worked to debunk them as conspiracy. .National Review, a US conservative-based editorial magazine and website, on Friday highlighted several recent fires and two plane crashes at US food plants, but concluded there has been "no evidence of foul play" and said supply chain issues have people "paying much closer attention" to these stories as of late leading people "to start looking for a pattern." .Reuters published a story Wednesday claiming the plant fires "are not part of a conspiracy to trigger US food shortages." .FactCheck.org also published a story on Wednesday quoting a statement from the National Fire Protection Association. .“There have been approximately 20 fires in US food processing facilities in the first four months of 2022, which is not extreme at all and does not signal anything out of the ordinary,” NFPA spokeswoman Susan McKelvey told the fact-checking website. .The Associated Press on Tuesday said reports on the recent fires are fueling a "conspiracy theory" that suggest fires are deliberately being set to "undermine the US food supply." .The fact-checking website Snopes also said claims there have been an "abnormal number of fires" at food processing plants in 2022 are false. .The site said they "found no example of suspected arson" in the incidents and said they "found that such fires are relatively commonplace" after searching news stories about food processing plant fires from 2019 to 2021. .Two fires within the last week have added flames to the conspiracies. .Last Saturday, Perdue Farms in Chesapeake, Va., caught fire, although the plant manager said the damage would have minimum impact on their operations, as reported by WTKR News. .Chesapeake Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Steven Bradley said the fire was accidental, attributing it to an equipment malfunction. .Another fire broke out on Monday at a food processing plant in Fresno, Calif. Although several employees had to be evacuated, no one was injured in the blaze, as reported by a local news affiliate of ABC.
