Neoliberal Governance and Agribusiness Influence: Public Health Policymaking and the Risk to Meatpacking Workers During COVID-19.

In this article, we examine how neoliberal governance, corporate influence and public health policy intersected during the COVID-19 pandemic in one meatpacking town we call Cattleford. We focus on two research questions: (1) In what ways did the political power of agribusiness shape local-level public health policymaking around meatpacking during COVID-19? and (2) how did neoliberalised governance mechanisms influence public health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic? Utilising 39 in-depth interviews, we found that Cattleford's public health approach was heavily influenced by pro-business, laissez-faire ideologies, which prioritised individual responsibility over collective health measures. Some local officials resisted state-level guidance, enabling JBS Foods to operate with minimal restrictions, which heightened risks for meatpacking workers. We connect these local dynamics to broader trends in deregulation and individualised public health approaches. We examine how neoliberal health policies framed illness and risk as individual responsibilities, reinforcing unequal protection for essential workers and deepening their vulnerability. Our findings show how neoliberalism and the political influence of agribusiness have important implications for public health and worker safety during significant events such as COVID-19.