Unlike at the turn of the 20th century when the Big Five controlled virtually the entire industry, today, just four companies dominate Americas meat productionTyson, Cargill, National Beef, and JBS control more than 85% of Americas beef supply. 1 (Spring, 2008), pp. The skin would split and open, sometimes all the way to the bone. However, the date of retrieval is often important. . Workers' attempts to make unions were met with intimidation. They were built and operated to process as much meat as quickly as possible, which led to ghastly conditions that were unsanitary and unsafe for animals and workers alike. storytelling. Chicago's meat packing industry was especially bad for this, and many departments preferred to employ children because they did not need as much pay, and had hands and bodies better suited to the work. It was also an extension of the control the meat packers had over their workers. Arguably, the job with the highest risk of death belonged to the men working in the massive carcass coolers. When war broke out between the North and South in 1861, Texas ranchers left their farms to fight for the Confederacy. It was about making money. The FTC issued a report stating that five companiesWilson, Swift, Morris, Cudahy, and Armourcontrolled virtually the entire industry and acted as a monopoly. By the mid-1800s, small family farms could no longer meet the demand. In the meat packing business things were supposed to be done quick. Making profits initially relied upon two major things cheap labor, and the absence of any type of regulation. In 1990, Kansas passed the Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act, which made it a crime to trespass on animal-processing plants for the purpose of recording or otherwise documenting animal abuse and other violations. On the very first day, sales totaled $59not bad for a time when cuts of pork sold for between eight and 12 cents per pound. Dakota City, Nebraska 68731 Also contributing significantly to the broad public response was the larger movement made by muckraking journalists and Progressive activists who called for reform in government regulation of industry. In doing so, youre agreeing to the below guidelines. in History and Political Science from the same university and wrote his senior thesis on the history of radical right-wing movements in the United States. The coronavirus crisis revealed just how vulnerable Americas food supply chain is to disruption and just how dangerously consolidated the meat industry has become. Where was the Meat Inspection Act passed? In 2010, the USDA and U.S. Justice Department heard testimony about a massive and widespread consolidation in the meat industrydetractors called it a conspiratorial monopolizationthat witnessed countless small farms and ranches gobbled up by just a few industry giants. Cut up by the two-thousand-revolutions-a-minute flyers, and mixed with half a ton of other meat, no odor that ever was in a ham could make any difference. Have a correction or comment about this article? (402) 494-2061 To that end, most Stacker stories are freely available to During that time, the portion of supermarket prices that ranchers and farmers received was cut in halfin 1980, a hog farmer took a 50% cut from pork sold at market but by 2010, the same farmer received just 25%. The not so lucky ones died. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. These concerns were in addition to the health problems posed by the packaging of substandard or condemned meat products. The rise of fast-food culture would forever change the way animals were raised, killed, and processed, giving rise to the modern factory farm. In addition to being handled by unclean workers in an unsanitary environment, large volumes of meat were not always refrigerated. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. Imagine working 10 to 15 hours a day dragging animal carcasses in and out of warm air into refrigerated cooler units, and doing this for days, weeks. In 1779, the Spanisheager to drive their British rivals out of the New Worldjoined the American Revolution. At the turn of the last century, the bosses of the meatpacking industry viewed workers as totally replaceable, expendable, and with only limited value to them. Injuries in the meatpacking business were five times the national average. Progressives wanted to fix. Your email address will not be published. On the very same day that Roosevelt signed FMIA, he also signed the Pure Food and Drug Act, a series of significant consumer protections that banned the sale or transport of any goodsincluding meatthat were mislabeled or impure. By 1800, Smithonce considered a friend of the poor and an enemy of the privileges of the richwas already being refashioned into a icon of conservatism. Today, the Oscar Mayer company does more than $5 billion in annual sales and represents one of the most famous names in American meat. What were the meatpacking factories like in the early 1900's? It also mandated strict inspections for all imported meat. Meatpackers suffered from the following: Meatpackers were not the only ones impacted by the poor conditions in their facility. Why did David Clark lead a successful campaign to keep kids working in the early 20th century? Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. There was money to be made both at home, as well as overseas. Workers worked long hours for little pay. Detail 4 Cheap Equipment To save money, the companies would often buy old and rusty machinery that would often break down. Sometimes as many as seven familes used one outdoor bathroom. By 1916, new data had led to the discovery that food contained vitamins, and the lack of "vital amines" could cause disease. ." This technological change brought railroads, factories, and new machines. Human beings are no exception. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a Congressional act that created the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). So why did it all go back downhill? the meat-packing industry is dominated by immigrant workers. Roosevelt's New Deal granted greater rights and better working conditions to workers. The bridge between those living, feeling animals and the shrink-wrapped steaks and drive-thru cheeseburgers that Americans gobble up by the ton is the meat-processing industry. What was Meatpacking in the Twentieth Century United States? Encyclopedia.com. They organized to demand higher pay, better working conditions, and job security. Encyclopedia.com. Dictionary of American History. Because of the low wages, immigrant families, like many other familes, were forced to live on a family wage. In 1905, Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), a young socialist journalist and novelist, received a $500 advance to write a novel about abuses in the meat processing industry and spent seven weeks investigating the subject in Chicago. And, in the 1990s and 2000s, meatpacking companies began aggressively recruiting Latin American immigrants, using the unequal legal status of these workers as a point of leverage. Incorporated:, All land plants have evolved from aquatic ancestors. What were the Working Conditions of the 1900s US Meatpacking Industry? There are a few guidelines and In the days before health inspections, notwithstanding any regulations related to the quality control of both animals and the processing of meat, a number of different bacterias infected the meat. By the turn of the 20th century, meatpacking was Americas biggest industry by far. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. More than 120 years later, the NCBA is still the most prominent organization representing Americas cattle ranchers. The broadest public attention to the Chicago packinghouses came with the work of Upton Sinclair. Can the conditions that produced the fast-growing economies of the Four TigersHong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwanbe replicated? So, it really wasnt about the meat packers doing the right thing to make the world and their employees safe. The industry supported certain political parties. Chicago livestock trader Joseph McCoy wanted to position himself as the dominant middleman in the American meat industry and worked to bring cattle from Texas to his operation in Chicago for processing and distribution to the East. Sadly, it would be the last time they would see him alive. The biggest concern, however, was whether or not the live cow or hog was diseased before it went to the processing plant. We publish articles grounded in peer-reviewed research and provide free access to that research for all of our readers. The beef industry struggled during World War II as the government regulated virtually every aspect of the industry. In 1865, Union Stock Yards opened in Chicago. 2020 reporting from ProPublica and other organizations revealed a concerted campaign from the highest levels of the industry to downplay the crisis, stymie testing efforts, resist reforms and safety measures, and misreport infection rates. The 1905 story about the Chicago meatpacking industry that inspired Upton Sinclair's . Asked by sidney b #832622 on 10/20/2018 1:38 AM Last updated by jill d #170087 on 10/20/2018 2:26 AM Answers 1 Add Yours. That year, cattle ranchers countered by forming the National Live Stock Growers Association, which would later become the National Cattlemens Beef Association (NCBA). (February 22, 2023). Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Pickled hands? Small- and medium-sized family farms tasked with feeding a few thousand colonists transformed over the centuries into a juggernaut of billion-dollar corporations that wring profits out of factory farms that farmers a few generations ago wouldnt even recognize as being farms at all. That year, the Spanish governor of Louisiana asked neighboring Texas to send cattle to feed his troops fighting on the front. After reading it, President Theodore Roosevelt sponsored the Neill-Reynolds report, which confirmed Sinclairs charges. What Book Exposed Abuses in the 1900s US Meatpacking Industry? Create your account. Children as young as three were often employed and forced to work long hours (sometimes 12-15 hour days) for very little pay. The big boys could simply increase their prices to cover the cost of the new regulations. In 1867 in Abilene, McCoy transported Americas first shipment of cattle by railroadand his ambitious and expensive gamble paid off. With demand soaring in Americas ever-expanding cities, enormous slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants emerged in Midwestern hubs like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Kansas City that were situated between the vast cattle ranches in the West and the densely populated cities that generated demand in the East. The impact on humans who ingested this meat was the passing of tuberculosis bacteria, a deadly lung infection. These problems persist to a lesser degree today. Open Document. It doesnt take a big stretch of the imagination to realize that these workers would suffer, and did, a much higher rate of cardiovascular, respiratory, and many other illnesses. The novel was an instant international best seller and prompted massive public outrage at the contamination and sanitation issues raised in the work, even though Sinclairs primary intent in writing the story was to promote socialism. In the 1900s, the food and labor industry were far from perfect. They had worn him out, with their speedin-up and their carelessness, and Hair, Dirt, Dust, OH MY If you cant understand them, make them work harder! The rise of industrialized poultry farming in the 1920s, however, was linked to several major outbreaks of disease, as disease is a natural byproduct of unnatural factory farming conditions. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. Instead, they staffed factories with new immigrants from Europe. the economics of the industry only encourage faster line speeds. Since many ate the meat produced in these factories, unsanitary conditions brought illness to consumers. During this times people were often made sick and died either from working conditions or poor food quality. The animal industry produces 52 billion pounds of meat and 48 billion pounds of poultry every year. Help us keep publishing stories that provide scholarly context to the news. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/conditions-meatpacking-plants-1906-upton-sinclair, Muckrakers, The: Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell. On Aug. 11, 1919, two former high school football rivals named Earl Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun organized a football team of their own. Roosevelt, who served in Cuba as a colonel, testified in 1899 that he would have eaten his old hat as soon as eat what he called embalmed beef.. Since those workers controlled the pace of production, that gave unions an important source of power. The explosive growth of American industry in the late nineteenth century caused a similar expansion in the work force. In 1897, the American Federation of Labor chartered the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, a combined union of several meatpacker unions in Chicago. It was only when the whole ham was spoiled that it came into the department of Elzbieta. The Meat Industry In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle 926 Words | 4 Pages New York: Doubleday, 1906. Together with the nearby housing area where the workers lived, this part of Chicago was known as Packingtown. restrictions, which you can review below. This district, owned by several railroad companies, soon became the meatpacking center of Chicago. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. The moment spawned a revolution in which academia and agriculture would merge. Support JSTOR Daily! 17, No. Large warts grew rapidly on the workers hands and split open and developed into ulcers. It seems that many small meatpacking companies were undercutting the Chicago big boys, and had been for a long time. Most common jobs in America 100 years ago, Americas first shipment of cattle by railroad, The most liberal public colleges in America, Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, 12 original companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (and what happened to them), poultry became the first factory-farmed animal, Where America sends its planes and 25 other manufacturing exports, The beef industry struggled during World War II, The most conservative public colleges in America, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1. The Big Five were shown to make competition essentially impossible for smaller companies and to systematically defraud consumers and producers alike by fixing prices, restricting the flow of food, and manipulating markets. It led more workers to organize with Amalgamated. This drove the government to pass the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, which forced meatpackers to increase sanitation, and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which applied higher standards to the food and drug industry. In 1905, Upton Sinclair (18781968), a young socialist journalist and novelist, received a $500 advance to write a novel about abuses in the meat processing industry and spent seven weeks investigating the subject in Chicago. And, if you had the misfortune of dining on cholera infected meat, (massive infection of the intestines), your chances of survival were slim. Meatpacking plants have become distinct hotspots for coronavirus outbreaks, putting a spotlight on the generally awful conditions and low wages that these plants have offered workers, even before the virus. Omissions? In 1980, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was formed and quickly grew into the countrys premier animal rights organization. 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