The Dangers of the Concrete Jungle

Upton Sinclair brilliantly shed light on the meatpacking industry through a fictional story of immigrant workers at a meatpacking factory in an attempt to attain the American Dream. A family from Lithuania immigrates to the United States and is faced with many adversaries that prevent their economic success. Despite his expectations for his new life in Chicago when he as a “shoveler of guts,” the main character, Jurgis Rudkis quickly realizes the unfair treatment given to the workers. Workers were paid less than what they worked for, and often sustained injuries or illnesses resulting from long working hours and conditions of the factory. The novel highlights the inhumane treatment of the workers at the factory, and the unsanitary practices of meatpacking. 

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Sinclair successfully brought attention to the dark side of the meatpacking industry in America, though at the time, readers were more infuriated with the unhygienic ways that meat was prepared for markets than the unjust treatment of the workers. After the book was published, the public called for a change in the meatpacking industry. President Theodore Roosevelt then pushed for the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 which expanded the regulations and laws to check any meat before entering the markets. The publication of The Jungle also led to the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is still in operation today. 

 

Even though one of the problems exposed by Sinclair has been solved, there still leads the human rights of workers in the meatpacking industry. Contrary to popular belief, workers still receive little benefits from the private meatpacking industries and are paid unfairly. In fact, the recent COVID-19 pandemic revealed just how difficult modern meatpacking workers live. 

 

As COVID outbreaks persist throughout the U.S., big meatpacking companies insisted on keeping their factories open. John Tyson, the chairman of Tyson Foods, argued that keeping the factories running is “as essential as healthcare.” Following the next months, many workers of the factories died of COVID. A clear message was sent that the cost of America’s meat consumption was the lives of economically deprived workers. 

 

Many workers reportedly complained to the companies and labor department agencies about their current conditions, but workers were still forced to come into work even with COVID symptoms and no social distancing. In the end, labor department agencies could only fine large conglomerates and have little protection for the workers in need. 

 

Americans, on average, eat approximately 271 pounds of meat per person per year; the U.S. is the second most meat-consuming country in the world. However, with the concerns of the inhumane treatments of workers in the meatpacking industry, can we truly eat our steaks with a clean conscience?

 

 

Sources 

Barclay, Eliza. “A Nation of Meat Eaters: See How It All Adds Up.” NPR, NPR, 27 June 2012, https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/06/27/155527365/visualizing-a-nation-of-meat-eaters. 

“Bria 24 1 b Upton Sinclairs the Jungle: Muckraking the Meat-Packing Industry.” Constitutional Rights Foundation, Constitutional Rights Foundation, https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-24-1-b-upton-sinclairs-the-jungle-muckraking-the-meat-packing-industry.html. 

Krumel, Thomas, and John Pender. “The Meatpacking Industry in Rural America during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” USDA ERS - The Meatpacking Industry in Rural America During the COVID-19 Pandemic, https://www.ers.usda.gov/covid-19/rural-america/meatpacking-industry/. 

“The Pandemic Exposed the Human Cost of the Meatpacking Industry's Power: 'It's Enormously Frightening'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 16 Nov. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/16/meatpacking-industry-covid-outbreaks-workers.