The Chain by Ted Genoways gives us insight into an aspect of production many of us take for granted. In our country, cheap, easy to make food is readily available and we put very little thought into its existence prior to it being on a grocery store shelf. Aside from the obvious lack of nutrition, it is so cheap because of the employees who risk injury every day to keep up with the speed of the conveyor belt. They are overworked and underpaid all in an attempt to improve their life; a pursuit that becomes rather counterproductive when they risk their health in the process.
The book is prefaced with the story of Maria Lopez, a Hormel employee whose finger was severed while working. While her blood covered the belt and Maria was rushed the hospital, they continued production. She attempted to return to Hormel, but even after several surgeries, the injury made her slower and the speed of the conveyor belt only increased. Whether it be from the injury or her rightful disgust with the company’s lack of empathy for its employees, she left her job.
However, Maria is not the only factory worker that paid the price of cheap meat. Her husband lost the end of his pinky, his friend had several of his fingers cut off and others do not even face injuries caused directly by the machines. A man referred to as Matthew Garcia worked on the production line, but never lost a limb. He spent eight hours straight in a hot room and was covered in a layer of blood until he woke up one day unable to walk. He was a young, healthy man and his legs seemed to be unexplainably paralyzed. The cause of which ended up being a severe spinal cord inflammation. One day he was working on the line with flu-like symptoms and the next he was hospitalized. All while the belt kept running.
Matthew was not an isolated incident. Richard Schindler received nearly a dozen patients who all suffered from the death of peripheral nerves. They were all young and they all worked at Quality Pork Processors near or at the head table. While doctors were able to find ways to aid the workers, the damage done to their psyche was still there.
Along with the effects of being bedridden for several weeks (as he was diagnosed with acute adjustment disorder), he endured tremendous panic when he returned to the head table. He feared his condition worsening again when he was exposed to the same mist of blood that had caused him so much pain in the first place. Although he was able to find another job, his condition was irreversible.
Hormel began as a company run by a man who made the best out of bad situations. When the economy took a downturn, George Hormel increased his importing. When his competitors flooded the market with fresh meat, he began selling smoked meat for less. The company thrived when the rest of the company was in a depression and were willing to buy cheap food. This food was cheaper in part because Jay Hormel (George's son) never raised his workers’ wages even though the company was seeing rising profits. While labor laws and organizations such as the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration have definitely improved the conditions of factory workers over the years, their health is still put at risk for the sake of profit.
Many of these workers suffering has gone unnoticed because they are a part of a larger company that sees its employees as disposable. If an employee is injured, they can easy be replaced. They are mostly immigrants living under false names who are simply trying to improve their own life and take care of their families. A noble goal that should not come at the cost of one’s health.
It’s horrific to imagine the conditions in which employees whom work for these companies face. You’re exactly correct in saying we do not even think about what goes into the process of getting those items on the shelf at the store. People who have actually worked in these conditions are probably the only ones who can really understand how terrible it really is. You’d think these conditions would improve with today’s technology, but overall, they really haven’t. I honestly thought they were referring to dates back in the 1900’s, regarding all of the injuries and work conditions. Many of the stories were referring to the late 2000’s.
ReplyDeleteIt’s disgusting to me, imagining them continuing on with production, even with bodily fluids and parts on the work area. First of all, it’s completely unethical to the injured worker, and it’s selfish to the people whom will be consuming the product. You’d think the amount of injuries they had would draw more attention to their company’s safety. I cannot fathom being under twenty years old, as Matthew Garcia was, and already be experiencing the health conditions he has. The poor man has to live with these health issues for the rest of his life, solely because Hormel wouldn’t do anything about it.
George Hormel was a smart business man. He dealt with some less than ideal situations, and made it out ahead. I initially respected his son Jay’s hard work until he began overworking his employees. All of those poor employees who were trying to make it by on his low wages, while Jay took in the profits. I really hope OSHA and the USDA can get more involved with Hormel, and make it a safer, better place to work.
-Brianna Kolman
I am interest in what your perspective is in this. How did the chapter make an impact on you. There are things like OSHA and USDA to inspect but the sad thing is that there are sometimes ways companies can find out when the inspectors are on the way and make last second repairs and tell employees that they will be fired if they talk about the problems. I don't know how this problem could be solved because if there is someone there all the time they can get close to the people and worry about acceptance from the people they are evaluating. On the other hand if they only come periodically then they may miss something.
ReplyDeleteNice summary, Tabby. All the while reading this portion of the book I had a lot of thoughts flooding my mind, and like Brianna, was astonished to find out how recent the dates were. The whole concept of a head table really disgusts me. However, I am a bit torn about it. On one hand, I respect that, for as many hogs they seem to harvest, not much (if at any of it at all) goes to waste. On the other hand, just picturing the hot room with the steam/air blowing out the animals brain all over the room and the employees is an absolutely revolting image. Not to mention all of the "discards" that were then turned into quick and ready breakfast sausages. And I thought I had some pretty crappy jobs in the past! I think that one of the worst things we read about this week was the fact that the employees didn't know exactly what was going on - it was all so hush hush and they could have gotten fired if they spoke up or even asked a question regarding their health working on the line. Some of those affected didn't even find out about the whole thing until they went to the doctor and the waiting room was filled with their coworkers who had the same symptoms. That is such a disgrace. Additionally, most of these workers (I want to say it was around 74%) were immigrants and I can't help but wonder if that fact alone had anything to do with the mistreatment. As if, because they weren't born in America, their lives weren't as important. Another thing that was disgusting was the fact that, when Genoways went to talk to them as a journalist for the first time, it was immediately apparent to him that none of the employees wore ANY kind of protection of the disgusting elements they were surrounded in for hours on end. No plastic slippers, smocks, gloves, or even eye goggles. This was all very mind boggling to me. However, I am intrigued to find out where part two and the rest of the books takes the investigation.
ReplyDelete- Heather
I would agree with you. They were producing their product so fast and didn't care how many injuries were happening. So many people were getting hurt and the belt kept running. The factory did not slow down for hurt people because it would hurt their production. I had not realized how recent the dates actually were, but it disgusts me even more that it is more recent. Today, lots of things are ran more efficiently, which should help the number of injuries go down. Overall, this book opens our eyes to the working/factory world. Showing us of what actually happens in today's world.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we do take for granted all we have in today's economy without acknowledging the repercussions of our actions. Even though the meat may seem cheap, based on all the individuals risking life and limb for less than minimum wage prove that despite how cheap we can buy meat at the supermarket, that price cost comes at a cost. Unfortunately, we consumers don't often think about where our meat came from and who may have suffered in the process. Sadly, in the process of figuring out how to make cheap meat we had to decide who's life was more important than another. The workers that produce the low priced processed food are not valued; this is apparent in how little they are payed, how easily they are replaced by the employer and how little the care for the health of the worker is. Yet despite it all nothing seems to change. Except maybe the removal of a brain scrambler, but even once the machine was removed there was no regard for their lives that were painfully affected by the bosses push for more output. Regardless of the background of the workers, if all lives truly matter then we must treat them as such. Who are we to judge who's life is more important? Workers like Maria deserve safe working conditions and fair pay for their work. So yes, you are correct our country takes for granted the amount of food we can get and for relatively cheap. I would, however, appreciate further analysis on the book thus far, as there was much to consider.
ReplyDelete- Emma Schmidt
Great summary, Tabatha! Wow, this book really has been interesting from the first chapter. I found it very interesting when they mentioned that Matthew Garcia wasn't the man's actual name. That for most of the employees, they did not have their real names on file. This sure is quite and eye opener and makes me look at the processed food industry very differently even from the first part that we have read.
ReplyDeleteIt was really heartbreaking to read that the workers were at a point that they were beginning to feel scared to even say anything and that the company was threatening them that a worker would lose their job if they commented on the disease, until the company would put out a public statement.
I am curious to get more into the story. To know that this stuff goes one behind closed doors, and until something leaks the rest of us wouldn't know about these horrible work conditions that many suffer from while working in the factory industry.
Thank you for sharing your post, it is a great post!
-Hannah Sorenson
You’re definitely right about the fact that we really don’t put much thought into what goes into our cheap meats. The speed of the process creates a huge risk for injury and contamination. And of course, many of the workers can’t afford that risk. I think it’s highly irresponsible of Hormel to create a work environment that increases the possibility of losing fingers on the blades, which was what happened to Maria Lopez and many others. Despite all of these injuries, the company still wanted to increase the line speed. Like you said, Hormel really had no empathy for their employees. Since the employees were paid very low, the company thinks of them as disposable.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the workers are very dependent on that many, as low as it is. Even when an employee is sick, they really can’t afford to miss a day of work. So they come into work with their sickness which then infects the meat they handle. Another way the meat is contaminated is when someone losses a finger, blood gets on the machinery, and then the processing lines continues immediately afterward. The workers suffer greatly under these conditions. In addition, the consumers of this meat suffer as well because they will then eat this tainted meat.
When the company first started, George Hormel took big risks that really paid off for his company. This created new jobs for many people. It was a noble beginning, but slowly, as production increased, the amount of injuries also increased and the company also started to take advantage of cheap immigrant labor. All of this for the sake of profits. I agree with every point you have made. Sacrificing employees health should not be tolerated as a business practice.
It's crazy that working conditions like these are still around, especially in the United States. You would think that by now we would have better control over these kinds of situations. You have to wonder about how many other people's health are being put at risk outside of the factory from eating that meat... with the contamination (like the woman's blood being sprayed all over the place) and/or the fact that people were getting sick and dying just from working there... Not only are these companies putting their employees at risk but their customers as well, just so a handful of people can get rich.
ReplyDelete- Halle Martin
Tabby,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a good understanding of the book and what has happened so far. Your summary clearly showed this. I was a bit shocked when I began reading and discovered that the first thing mentioned was a story of a Hormel employee who had her finger severely cut while working the conveyor belt. But that was a good strategy on the author’s part to gain my attention. What shocked me about it was the fact that production continued even though there was blood covering the belt where food was being processed. Although I did have prior knowledge to situations like this happening, it was still shocking to read.
The incidents of employees who had been hospitalized due to limb loss, unexplained paralysis, and nerve damage was astounding. Not only did horrible accidents like this happen, but the effects were also lasting and irreversible. Knowing more statistics dealing with injuries occurring in meat and food processing jobs would be interesting. It surprises me that anyone would want to work in such harsh conditions. Especially since workers received low pay that didn’t go up as profits tremendously increased. This was a bit unfair to the employees for the owner to do.
It is sad that the conditions in which the workers were put under went unnoticed. No one should be seen as ‘disposable’ or ‘easily replaceable.’ Also, profit shouldn’t be more important than an individual’s health and safety. Unsafe conditions like this are simply not acceptable and should never be tolerated.
While some terrible injuries did happen in the factory, many were hard to prevent or only visible in hindsight. What are the owners supposed to do? Should they tell them not to put their hands into the blades? The chance could be lowered by reducing the belt speed, but a blade is still dangerous. And with nerve damages at the head table, nobody knew that was going to happen. Even the doctors had trouble figuring that one out. However, I do agree that some of the activities including absurdly low wages and treating employees as disposable were bad choices at the hands of the executives.
ReplyDelete-Billy Strzyz
I think this book is very interesting also. I wonder though that even if people learn what the conditions are like will there be any real changes. It sounds like even after people getting hurt the lines still run just as fast. It is more I think about getting the product and enough of the product out. I think as long as there are people who are willing to do the work the companies will not do much to improve working conditions or raise wages. The part of the book where it talked about people from Mexico being able to make so much money here that after a few years they would have enough money for 15 years in Mexico. However, people living in the United States can't even afford a decent living on what is being paid. So these big companies can continue to offer low wages because they know there are people out there, even if they are not here legally, that will take the jobs. I'm looking forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty thorough summary of the first section, but what are your impressions? Where do you see places that challenge your assumptions about food, or reinforce ideas that you've had that perhaps you weren't too sure about? Is there other research you've read that supports what's happened thus far in The Chain? Deepen your blog posts so that they invite further discussion of the topic. We all read the chapter with you; what do you know about it that we don't?
ReplyDeleteTHE CHAIN is about eagerness. It is more about individuals than about pigs. Its more about cutting edge meatpacking, than about the meat itself. It is about benefit crushing that pushes people - from the corporate people on to the floor - to do terrible things for cash. Obviously Hormel at $8B and checking is itself a tad player in a monetary framework that qualities cash most importantly.
ReplyDeletePrivate enterprise and free markets should convey the best products at the most reduced cost to society, yet take a gander at the confirmation in nourishment, human services, and so on. Hormel conveys unfortunate items at a shabby cost to progressively wiped out buyers, at high physical cost to its floor specialists, at a high good cost to its administrative laborers, and at a high shrouded cost to common laborers citizens of its organization towns