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Meatpacking Industry In Fast Food Nation

736 Words3 Pages
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock to the fast food industry. These industries hold significant value in the United States, employing more than half a million people. The meat industry holds the nations largest agricultural sector and sales of meat and exceeds over 100 billion dollars a year. The meat packing industry treats their employees with inhumane work conditions and unfair wages in the United States, most companies go to great extend to hide these truths.
The meat packing industry holds many serious safety and health hazards. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that there was an average of 12.6 injuries or illnesses per 100 full time meatpacking employees, twice as high as the average for all U.S. manufacturing jobs. This number is believed to be too low as many workers injuries go unreported due to employee misinformation or intimidation. In novel Fast Food Nation, author Eric Schlosser gives the reader a behind the scenes look at what actually goes on in meatpacking plants in the chapter labeled as “The Most Dangerous Job.” During this experiment Schlosser uncovers the truth about how many injuries truly occur and how unsanitary these plants actually are. Schlosser goes into great detail of the lengths plant mangers will go to allow unsafe working conditions such as cutting in close quarters, exposure to toxic chemicals, slippery floor
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