Rough Draft

Dear Friends,

The animals are not the only victims of the food industry
I am writing to inform you that the animals are not the only victims of the food industry. Many people who are mployed by the food industry suffer a horrible lack of rights and gross mistreatment. It is a huge oversight of justice that these people are treated in such an inhumane manner. Aside from all the other atrocities provided by the food processing industry, such as the horrific abuse of animals and the vast lack of regulations concerning our overall safety as consumers, the way food service employees suffer adds more insult and more injury to the overall abuse of power and greed.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of an average processing plant worker’s daily routine is the massive risk of injury and infection. Many of us have perhaps seen images of animal carcasses being hauled by hooks through the assembly lines. However, the reality of working inside the food processing plants is much more graphic and repulsive. Every day these unfortunate workers are exposed to gargantuan levels of bodily fluids from the animal carcasses. They are splattered with blood, intestinal juices and large amounts of urine and excrement. The amount of protection provided to these workers is minimal, and many of them have infections and other health problems resulting from such high exposure to this level of filth.

Not only are the conditions incredibly unsanitary, but the employees are also treated as second-class citizens on more practical levels as well. They are overworked and underpaid, and many of these workers are living in poverty and lack the educational or financial means to find work elsewhere. The image of carcasses moving down an assembly line also represents the mentality of employment at these food processing plants. These corporations recruit impoverished people on purpose and view their workers as replaceable at any time. These workers have very little rights because they are highly dependent on these jobs due to their lack of resources. If they complain or speak up about their treatment, they are at risk of losing their jobs.
An additional psychological level to this mistreatment is that the corporations are basically totally in control of the situation. The workers are not protected at all. An example of how untouchable the corporations are is their ability to recruit workers in Mexico to come work in the USA as illegal immigrants. These same companies are not penalized for employing the illegals even though Immigration can arrest them. This is a prime example of how poor and uneducated people are taken advantage of by these food processing companies.

Despite the vast injustices committed to these hapless workers, many American are totally unaware of the dark aspects of the food processing industry. I urge you to consider not only the sad plight of animals in this system, but also the bleak reality many employees face every day. It is easy to blame all people associated with the industry for the cruelty and lack of consumer safety, but I hope that you will see that many people in this system are also victims of the corporate greed and mistreatment. Please take responsibility as a consumer and an American and educate others about the lack of rights many people experience at the hands of the food processing industry.


Sincerely,

Ben

I kind of forgot to include how the food industry directly affects my life in the last post, so here we go-

The corrupt food industry affects my life because I am young, poor, and living in New York, trying to survive on my own during these bad economic times. These industries are another example of large c0rporations getting everything they want and obscuring politics and how it relates to the average American. I, like the average American, is struggling right now, while these companies become richer and richer. The average American, like myself, is seemingly powerless (at least at an individual level) over that cast level of bureaucracy. The average American is very likely to eat meat coming from one of these processing plants and have no idea where it actually comes from, leading to a chance of food poisoning or at least a decline in overall health. I, like many Americans, am engaging in a risk every time I eat fast food just because it is filling and incredibly cheap compared to fruit and vegetables. It affects my everyday life because it shows that the government doesn't care about my personal interest, only about the interest of huge corporations.

Food Inc. Movie

I found the movie to be a huge eye-opener. Although I already knew that the food industry was incredibly corrupt, I was blown away by exactly how disgusting and dangerous this industry is both economically and in terms of health and human rights. I was aware of the horrible lives many animals lead in the food processing system, but I was most surprised by the inhumane treatment of many of the people involved in the industry. The farmers and laborers involved the the food processing field are truly victims of corporate greed and intense bullying. I did not realise that many of the farmers, who work so hard and are dependent on the cattle/poultry/crops to survive, were so horrible mistreated by the huge corporations. "Food Inc." showed us that many of the people involved in this unfair system are treated as poorly as the products they handle. I felt bad for the soy bean farmers who had to deal with Monsanto, a corporation that has practically monopolized the soybean industry with their genetically modified soy. It was appalling to see how little money the poultry farmers made yearly even though they are locked into purchasing eqipment from the poultry companies.The beef processing workers were also treated inhumanly in a more graphic level, as they are often drenched in the fluids and feces in the processing plant and seem to be grossly mistreated by the upper management. The fact that these corporations are so blatantly abusing many poor workers and not being punished is an obvious abuse of power and lack of control by government regulations. It seems the American idea of labor laws and human rights does not apply to the food industry. Of course, the movie also shows us that both political parties are paid off and supported by these companies, which is largely why we never hear about how cruel and unjust any of this actually is. It is unreal how little we know about food, the most basic and integral part of our everyday lives aside from water and the air we breathe.