People and companies engaged in industrialized livestock agriculture
An industrial meat packing plant in Hungary, 2013
Themeat industry are the people and companies engaged in modernindustrialized livestockagriculture for the production,packing,preservation andmarketing ofmeat (in contrast todairy products,wool, etc.). Ineconomics, the meat industry is a fusion of primary (agriculture) and secondary (industry) activity and hard to characterize strictly in terms of either one alone. The greater part of the meat industry is themeat packing industry – the segment that handles theslaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such aspoultry,cattle,pigs,sheep and otherlivestock.
A great portion of the ever-growing[1] meat branch in thefood industry involvesintensive animal farming in which livestock are kept almost entirely indoors[2] or in restricted outdoor settings likepens. Many aspects of the raising of animals for meat have become industrialized, even many practices more associated with smallerfamily farms, e.g.gourmet foods such asfoie gras.[3][4] The production of livestock is a heavilyvertically integrated industry where the majority ofsupply chain stages are integrated and owned by one company.[5]
Climate change viagreenhouse gases generated by the meat industry is significantly greater than growing and processing fruits and vegetables. The largest agricultural methane source on the planet is livestock. Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods.[14]
American slaughterhouse workers are three times more likely to suffer serious injury than the average American worker.[20]NPR reports that pig and cattle slaughterhouse workers are nearly seven times more likely to suffer repetitive strain injuries than average.[21]The Guardian reports that, on average, there are two amputations a week involving slaughterhouse workers in theUnited States.[22] On average, one employee ofTyson Foods, the largest meat producer in America, is injured and amputates a finger or limb per month.[23] The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that over a period of six years, in theUK 78 slaughter workers lost fingers, parts of fingers or limbs, more than 800 workers had serious injuries, and at least 4,500 had to take more than three days off after accidents.[24] In a 2018 study in the Italian Journal of Food Safety, slaughterhouse workers are instructed to wear ear protectors to protect their hearing from the constant screams of animals being killed.[25] A 2004 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that "excess risks were observed for mortality from all causes, all cancers, and lung cancer" in workers employed in the New Zealand meat processing industry.[26]
The worst thing, worse than the physical danger, is the emotional toll. If you work in the stick pit [where hogs are killed] for any period of time—that let's [sic] you kill things but doesn't let you care. You may look a hog in the eye that's walking around in the blood pit with you and think, 'God, that really isn't a bad looking animal.' You may want to pet it. Pigs down on the kill floor have come up to nuzzle me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them – beat them to death with a pipe. I can't care.
The act of slaughtering animals, or of raising or transporting animals for slaughter, may engender psychological stress or trauma in the people involved.[28][29][21][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] A 2016 study inOrganization indicates, "Regression analyses of data from 10,605 Danish workers across 44 occupations suggest that slaughterhouse workers consistently experience lower physical and psychological well-being along with increased incidences of negative coping behavior."[38] A 2009 study by criminologist Amy Fitzgerald indicates, "slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparison with other industries."[38] As authors from the PTSD Journal explain, "These employees are hired to kill animals, such as pigs and cows, that are largely gentle creatures. Carrying out this action requires workers to disconnect from what they are doing and from the creature standing before them. This emotional dissonance can lead to consequences such as domestic violence, social withdrawal, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and PTSD."[39]
Slaughterhouses in the United States commonly illegally employ and exploit underage workers and illegal immigrants.[40][41] In 2010,Human Rights Watch described slaughterhouse line work in the United States as a human rights crime.[42] In a report byOxfam America, slaughterhouse workers were observed not being allowed breaks, were often required to wear diapers, and were paid below minimum wage.[43]
Cultured meat (aka "clean meat") potentially offers some advantages in terms of efficiency of resource use and animal welfare. It is, however, still at an early stage of development and its advantages are still contested.[citation needed]
A growing trend towardsvegetarian orvegan diets and theSlow Food movement are indicators of a changing consumerconscience in western countries. Producers on the other hand have reacted to consumer concerns by slowly shifting towardsecological ororganic farming. The Alternative meat industry is projected to be worth 140 billion in the next 10 years.[44]
^Eisnitz, Gail A. (1997).Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry. Prometheus Books.ISBN978-1-57392-166-4.[page needed]
^abBaran, B. E.; Rogelberg, S. G.; Clausen, T (2016). "Routinized killing of animals: Going beyond dirty work and prestige to understand the well-being of slaughterhouse workers".Organization.23 (3):351–369.doi:10.1177/1350508416629456.S2CID148368906.
Walsh, Margaret (1982). "From Pork Merchant to Meat Packer: The Midwestern Meat Industry in the Mid Nineteenth Century".Agricultural History.56 (1):127–137.JSTOR3742304.
Wrenn, J.E.; Squire, E.C. (1926),"Meat Marketing in Great Britain",United States Department of Commerce Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Trade Promotion Series No. 35, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office
