The Chain

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A powerful and important work of investigative journalism that explores the runaway growth of the American meatpacking industry and its dangerous consequencesOn the production line in American packinghouses, there is one cardinal rule the chain never slows Every year, the chain conveyors that set the pace of slaughter have continually accelerated to keep up with America s growing appetite for processed meat Acclaimed journalist Ted Genoways uses the story of Hormel Foods and soaring recession era demand for its most famous product, Spam, to probe the state of the meatpacking industry, including the expansion of agribusiness and the effects of immigrant labor on Middle America Genoways interviewed scores of industry line workers, union leaders, hog farmers, and local politicians and activists He reveals an industry pushed to its breaking point and exposes alarming new trends sick or permanently disabled workers, abused animals, water and soil pollution, and mounting conflict between small towns and immigrant workers.The narrative moves across the heartland, from Minnesota, to witness the cut and kill operation to Iowa, to observe breeding and farrowing in massive hog barns to Nebraska, to see the tense town hall meetings and broken windows caused by the arrival of Hispanic workers and back to Minnesota, where political refugees from Burma give the workforce the power it needs to fight back A work of brilliant reporting, The Chain is a mesmerizing story and an urgent warning about the hidden cost of the food we eat. Best Read The Chain author Ted Genoways For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Disclaimer I was sent a copy of this book for review on our blog, and am opting not to do that out of respect for Genoways journalistic work Why Because animal advocates can t help but notice a glaring omission the entire book contains only a few scant paragraphs about the treatment of animals in the modern agricultural system Having said that, at least he does not make the naive mistake of suggesting that agribusiness caresabout their units of production than their workers or member Disclaimer I was sent a copy of this book for review on our blog, and am opting not to do that out of respect for Genoways journalistic work Why Because animal advocates can t help but notice a glaring omission the entire book contains only a few scant paragraphs about the treatment of animals i...A thorough examination of a thoroughly depressing subject The power that a corporation like Hormel has to make deleterious decisions that negatively impact individuals, animals, citizens, rivers, wildlife, and everything in between is shameful For profit For Spam.I m not sure that Ted Genoways s The Chain Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food was the best book I could have chosen to start winter break with Probably should have started with something a little lighter Anyway, this was certainly an informative read Genoways s book examines multiple chains connected to the hog slaughtering industry There is, of course, the chain of workers at the meatpacking factories, where hogs are literally deconstructed Then there s the chain inside that chai I m not sure that Ted Genoways s The Chain Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food was the best book I could have chosen to start winter break with Probably should have started with something a little lighter Anyway, this was certainly an informative read Genoways s boo...I expected this book would explore the social justice issues around Big Meat, and I was hoping that would include justice for non human animals Halfway through, I seemed to have already passed the chapters dealing with inhumane treatment, and it became pretty clear that this author is only appalled by a factory killing 13,000 pigs a day in that it is unsafe for workers and consumers as long as no one is actually beating or sodomizing the pigs, he seemsor less OK with the pigs themselves I expected this book would explore the social justice issues around Big Meat, and I was hoping that would include justice...You know that quote of Upton Sinclair s, when The Jungle caused an uproar about safety of the nation s food supplyI aimed for the public s heartand hit it in the stomach The lax regulations at the time that allowed diseased meat to be packaged for human consumption was only part of Sinclair s story The other part was the treatment of the workers of the meatpacking industry America didn t care about that.We still don t.I ve seen reviews of this book dissing it for not concentrating on the You know that quote of Upton Sinclair s, when The Jungle caused an uproar about safety of the nation s food supplyI aimed for the public s heartand hit it in the stomach The lax regulations at the time that allowed diseased meat to be packaged for human consumption was only part ...a really important book a commendable book hard to read for the obvious reasons i picked it up and put it down a few times, and this made it also hard to read because one needs to remember acronyms and the names of the players Context helps to place them, but a little glossary of the names and people wouldn t hurt.Pig meat was one of the few meats I ...Well, if I weren t already a plant based eater, I d make sure that I never bought any meat from a factory I mean, I knew that already But now I know it And I learned that Hormel with the accent on the end was a corporate move The original Hormel guy pronounced his name to ...I don t think I want to eat SPAM any , or any Hormel products Processing 19,000 hogs a day is definitely too many for food safety Yuck Good narratives about the people who work in the plants too.The Chain picks up where The Jungle leaves offThe Chain Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food, by Ted Genoways, is an important work of reporting Based on years of interviews and tireless research, the book spans the length of our food system, focused largely on Hormel Foods, the makers of Spam It covers the tragically interconnected plight of the workers and of the animals.Genoways cites The Jungle throughout this book, and for good reason We d certainly like to believe The Jungle brought The Chain picks up where The Jungle leaves offThe Chain Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food, by Ted Genoways, is an important work of reporting Based on years of interviews and tireless research, the book spans the length of our food system, focused largely on Hormel Foods, the makers of Spam It covers the tragically interconnected plight of the workers and of the animals.Genoways cites The Jungle throughout this book, and for good reason We d certainly like to believe The Jungle brought attention to issues that have since been solved.But these problems have not been solved If anything they are worse.Worse because there are somany animals being kille...This is a solid coverage of several intertwining strains the meatpacking world in general, and very much, and specifically, Hormel labor in that world cutting of federal regulatory oversight, which led to line speedups andunsafe work, as well asunsafe food illegal immigrant labor to do this cost cut, unsafe work and Big Ag to provide a new flood of hogs to meet the ravenous maw of Hormel, even as it worked to get hog farmers to standardize hog size through selective breeding, t This is a solid coverage of several intertwining strains the meatpacking world in general, and very much, and specifically, Hormel labor in that world cutting of federal regulatory oversight, which led to line speedups andunsafe work, as well asunsafe food illegal immigrant labor to do this cost cut, unsafe work and Big Ag to provide a new flood of hogs to meet the ravenous maw of Hormel, even as it worked to get hog farmers to standardize hog size through selective breeding, to make its lines run even faster.Of course, Hormel s No 1 product is Spam, which is a barometer of some sort of overall middle and lower class economic health in America Sales remain booming, after the theoretical end of the Great Recession, and those engineered hogs are so lean that Hormel has to buy scraps from other packers to meet but n...

The Chain
  • 08 February 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 320 pages
  • 006228875X
  • Ted Genoways
  • The Chain