Stop USDA's new rule for faster pig slaughter
Smithfield Foods (left) and JBS (right)
USDA to speed up slaughter line, decrease federal inspection
USDA chooses profit over protection.
The agency that's supposed to protect consumers, workers, and environment, is once again acting in the financial interest of the meat industry. Their proposal will allow pig factories to increase slaughter speeds on the kill floor, while replacing USDA inspectors with factory employees, meaning the factory will get to run its own inspections.
Recently, the poultry industry tried pulling a similar stunt by requesting faster kill lines. But due in large part to the 100,000 plus comments received from consumers, the USDA rejected their proposal.
While other certifying agencies, like AWA, are raising the bar for higher standards in animal and environmental welfare, USDA is willing to jeopardize the integrity of its own "USDA-Certified" label that consumers have come to trust.
Reject USDA's rule by sending your comment. Here's a sample.
Comments are due by May 2, 2018. Please help share and inform others.
By helping to stop this rule, you are protecting the health and safety of countless workers, animals, and consumers.
You can find additional info at Food and Water Watch, National Employment Law Project, The Guardian, ASPCA, and other organizations.
This plan ignores existing issues.
Factory workers are already overworked.
Slaughterhouse workers have to endure some of the most stressful and dangerous working conditions. Here's a current job opening at JBS. Notice it doesn't list any required qualifications.
Since the majority of injuries go unreported, numerous warnings have been published by protection agencies, including Human Rights Watch, US Government Accountability Office (GAO), OSHA (agriculture operations and meatpacking), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Pigs are already suffering.
Most factories employ extreme confinement devices known as gestation crates, which act like solitary cells for mother pigs. So far, only 9 states have banned their use. The industry claims that crates prevent pigs and piglets from injuring themselves, which only makes sense when given that the pigs are kept in tight and overcrowded pens. See my short blog on Smithfield.
Tail docking is a common factory practice, due to tail biting, since factory animals are more susceptible to stress and aggression. Studies have shown pigs to be mentally and socially similar to dogs and other intelligent animals.
Factories are already polluted.
Pig factories and CAFOs use outdoor basins, known as lagoons, to store pig manure in liquid form. When lagoons reach capacity, the untreated liquid is sprayed over nearby fields. I'm not making this up. This method is commonly used by factories, including the thousands in North Carolina. To add insult to injury, the state just passed a new bill limiting compensation to residents for damages caused by factories, thanks to the industry's $272,000 in campaign contributions.
In North Carolina alone, lagoon contamination is so severe, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) created an interactive map allowing residents to see how close they live to CAFOs or lagoons.
Public health is already at risk.
Out of all antibiotics sold in the U.S., an estimated 80% are used on animals. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published new guidelines (infographic version) urging the food industry to stop using antibiotics routinely. CDC recently launched a new campaign to improve antibiotic use and combat antibiotic resistance.
Consumers are subject to frequent meat recalls from USDA. The most recent recalls made just this past week are for beef and pork products due to potential E. Coli and Listeria. CDC estimates that "each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases."
Feel free to use these sample comments, but personalize it! Duplicate comments won't pass.
I oppose the USDA's Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection Rule for the following reason(s):
The proposal would jeopardize the welfare of over 100 million pigs each year. Standard, non-HIMP plants already handle 1,100 pigs per hour, a speed that severely threatens animal welfare. Pigs weigh hundreds of pounds each and are not easy to handle, further threatening the safety of workers who already endure exceedingly harsh working conditions.
There is no evidence that increased line speeds can ensure public health, worker safety or animal welfare. Any increase in line speeds will more likely result in an already hazardous working environment becoming more hazardous, increasing the risk of serious injuries and illnesses to workers.
With fewer government inspectors onsite, there will be fewer trained workers watching out for consumer safety. Faster line speeds will make it harder for the limited number of remaining meat inspectors and plant workers to do their jobs properly. And the proposed rule does not require any training for the plant employees who will take over trained FSIS inspector duties.
A faster slaughter line means more chances of improper stunning. Pigs may never lose consciousness, or may regain it during slaughter. Improper stunning can ultimately cause animals to be slaughtered while conscious, violating the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act. Faster line speeds may leave plant workers unable to detect signs of consciousness, or unable to stop the line in time to intervene.
The lack of trained inspectors will make it easier for workers to fail strict regulatory requirements under the Federal Meat Inspection Act. And workers forced to move faster allows for accidents and negligence to occur, leading to hazards such as carcass contamination and potential transmission of pathogens, further threatening the health and safety of workers and consumers.