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The Real Price of Food
In the report, The Most Dangerous Job by Eric Schlosser, Schlosser takes a tour in
one of the largest slaughterhouses in the U.S. By Schlosser’s account, the employees pay
an extraordinary high price, working under unremitting pressure and handling dangerous
equipment that often leaves them injured or maimed. To support his claim, he interviews
former employees who have had unspeakable experiences working in the slaughterhouse.
A slaughterhouse, or abattoir, is a facility where animals are slaughtered for consumption
as food for humans; the slaughterhouse emerged as a coherent institution in the
nineteenth century. A combination of health and social concerns, exacerbated by the rapid
urbanisation experienced during the Industrial Revolution, led social reformers to call for
the isolation, sequester, and regulation of animal slaughter. As well as the concerns raised
regarding hygiene and disease, there were also criticisms of the effect that slaughtering
had on both butchers and animals.
Schlosser was one of many authors who wrote on the topic of the mistreatment of
employees in the meat-packing industry, other authors who have written on this topic are
Upton Sinclair and Gail Eisnitz. Sinclair wrote her novel, The Jungle, to portray the hard
conditions in facilities and the exploited lives of immigrants in the U.S. Though Sinclair’s
novel is relevant to worker safety, it is still a fictional novel written about an immigrant
who is mistreated by his work place only to quit after several injuries who then continues
his life. Since the novel is fictional, it will not be included in this essay. Eisnitz’s book,
Slaughterhouse, examines the physical price paid by employees working in one of
America’s most dangerous industries.
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Throughout the decades, many solutions have been thoroughly examined and
installed; some of these solutions include new processes, the OSH Act, and Workers’
Compensation Acts. OSHA created a process that protects workers from harsh chemicals,
PHA (Process Hazard Analysis) is a careful review of what could go wrong and what
safeguards must be implemented to prevent releases of hazardous chemicals. The OSH’s
(Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970) main goal is to ensure that employers
provide employees with an environment free from recognized hazards, such as exposure
to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or
unsanitary conditions. Lastly, the Workers’ Compensation Act establishes liability of
employers for injuries to workers while on the job or illnesses due to the employment,
and requiring insurance to protect the workers.
Workers deserve the right to safety and compensation when needed.
Slaughterhouses are the only types of facilities to quickly produce packaged meat for
human consumption at a cheap price; however, most of society is unaware of the price
that actually goes into the meat they consume. Through numerous evidence, books, and
texts, authors have began spreading awareness of the harsh realities that workers must
withstand in order to produce consumable meat. After plenty of research, it should be
mandatory that all workers, including immigrants, have priority and the right to a safe
environment no matter what circumstance. According the Schlosser, thousands of
workers are injured every year in slaughterhouses which proves that this is indeed the
most dangerous job. His claim, that working in a slaughterhouse is the most dangerous
job, is valid because of the proven casualties and deaths due to lack of safety, training,
and surveillance.
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Since The Most Dangerous Job was written in 2002, much has changed with the
safety of workers as well as the treatment of animals. Worker Safety in The Meat and
Poultry Industry, written by the American Institute in 2012, statistically proves that
conditions have changed through graphs and percentages. The American Institute
disagrees with the claim that worker safety is not a huge issue anymore, they support
their claims with statistics and laws that have been passed within the last decades. While
the meat and poultry industry remains relatively labor intensive, workers currently enjoy
significantly improved safety conditions, with a steady trend of continuous improvement.
The U.S. meat industry, together with OSHA and the United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW) union, developed Voluntary Ergonomic Guidelines for the Meat
Packing Industry—guidelines that OSHA called a “model” for other industries. These
guidelines significantly reduced levels of injuries and illnesses, continues efforts to
eliminate ergonomic risks and hazards in the workplace, consistently produces programs
and process improvements tailored to individual plant situations, and develops an array of
new tools, equipment, methods, and production processes. A decision was made by the
AMI Board of Directors, comprised of safety managers and related personnel from all
member companies, to make workplace safety a non-competitive issue, and encouraging
their respective company staffs to share information on safety practices. This decision
enabled the AMI Worker Safety Committee to pursue a number of safety improvements,
including the annual AMIF Conference on Worker Safety and Human Resources which
has taken place ever since. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data indicate that the actual
incidence of injuries and illnesses reported in the Meat Industry for 2012 (the most recent
year for which data is available) are the lowest since BLS began recording this data in the
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early 1970s. Over the last 20 years, injury/illness rates in the U.S. meat industry have
improved by nearly 80 percent, as efforts to enhance workplace safety have taken effect.
The American Institute believes that the industry remains steadfast in efforts to develop
and implement continuous safety improvements. Through this stance, the disadvantage is
that people will lighten their concern for this issue even though it is still a continuous
problem. Positivity and acknowledgement of improvement is good, however, this
shouldn’t halt safety advancements; there is always room for improvement.
Disagreeing with the American Institute and agreeing with Schlosser, University
of Massachusetts Lowell students, Molly M. Jacobs, David Kriebel, and Joel Tickner,
wrote an article that includes interviews from former poultry workers as well as solutions
that promise to improve worker safety and health. The students include a time line of
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