Concerns about availability of food in grocers’ freezers have prompted an Oakwood-based poultry company to take a more direct approach.

Wayne Farms LLC has joined with The Savory Butcher, an Idaho-based meat retailer, for an online chicken sale 

“Chicken and other food products and staples have seen limited availability in local stores in the past few weeks, increasing financial pressure on families attempting to purchase affordable, healthy food,” says a press release from Wayne Farms LLC.

“With many retailers running low on nutritious proteins, the partnership will help feed local communities and offer reduced pricing for fresh chicken.”

Wayne Farms “has done these sales during the pandemic in Decatur, Ala., and Dobson, N.C., where the company operates processing facilities,” company spokesman Frank Singleton said. “Close to a million pounds of chicken has been sold aggregately.”

Food shortages are stemming from meat plants struggling nationwide to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump took executive action Tuesday to order meat processing plants to stay open, using the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure. Unions have fired back, however, saying the White House was jeopardizing lives and prioritizing cold cuts over workers' health.

Wayne Farms’ sale is taking place this week with pickups taking place Saturday, May 2, at Christ Place Church, 3428 Atlanta Highway, in Oakwood.

The pick-up location will be organized as a drive-through and chicken will be loaded from refrigerated trucks into the purchaser’s vehicle. Social distancing guidelines will be followed and Savory Butcher workers will be wearing gloves and masks as safety precautions, the news release states.

The plan is to expand the program “in the future to other communities served by Wayne Farms,” according to the company.

The next sale will be sometime in the next couple weeks in the Atlanta area, Singleton said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.