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Twenty workers in meat and poultry processing plants in 19 states have died, and nearly 5,000 have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released Friday.

Two former secretaries of agriculture, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, a well-known chef and restaurant owner and Consumer Reports have joined Rep. Rosa DeLauro in releasing an “action plan” addressing food and worker safety during the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump defended his actions to end a “bottleneck” in the food supply, but legal experts differed over whether an executive order aimed at ensuring meatpackers keep operating amid the coronavirus pandemic could override state and local objections or make companies immune from lawsuits.

A backed-up food supply chain and a bottlenecked legislative process await senators as they return to Washington next week, and the desires for the next round of coronavirus assistance are already piling up.

COVID-19 forced most people to start eating most meals at home and away from restaurants and food service institutions. Now, food companies of all sizes are trying to adapt to selling food in new ways.

The number of people facing hunger is on the rise around the world because of the global COVID-19 crisis, and humanitarian organizations and farm groups are pushing for the Trump administration to boost donations of rice, wheat and other commodities.

The latest challenge to California’s Proposition 12, the 2018 law that requires sows have enough space to stand up and turn around, has been dismissed.

Potato growers across the country are seeing retail sales skyrocket but food service sales plummet as COVID-19 impacts the food supply chain.

An executive order expected to be signed Tuesday at the White House would call on meatpacking plants to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic, but critics say it is forcing workers back into a dangerous environment.

The leader of the House Agriculture Committee says he wants to see more money go into USDA’s Commodity Credit Corp., but he’s willing to oppose a funding increase without conditions giving Congress more authority over how the money is spent.