Neglecting Social Responsibility

On February 14, 2007, the FDA issued a salmonella warning regarding peanut butter produced by ConAgra dating as far back as May 2006. This infected peanut butter resulted in an outbreak spanning 39 states causing 290 to become ill with 46 hospitalized (MSN). Perhaps the most infamous and well-known food poisoning was the E. coli incident of the mid-nineties involving Jack in the Box. In this incident three children died, 144 were hospitalized, 477 people were confirmed infected, and up to 600 complained up symptoms (NY Times). Kenny Dobbins heart is permanently damaged, he coughs up blood occasionally, he has severe back pain from an unsuccessful back surgery and he is unable to hold any kind of job due his poor health (Schlosser, 190). All of these problems are the direct result of a life spent working in a Monfort meatpacking plant. Numerous other employees of meatpacking plants have died from horrific accidents such as having their head crushed, being poisoned by toxic hydrogen sulfide fumes (Schlosser, 178), and even dying in fires because exits were locked. In these kinds of circumstances, the routine cumulative trauma injury or simple amputation is minor compared to a possible death. What these stories show is not carelessness on the part of the worker or the consumer but gross negligence in the food manufacturing industry. It's a gross negligence that signifies an even greater problem, a complete lack of social responsibility among the food manufacturing industry in America. The span of the food industry is so great that it produces the majority of our food. By virtue of that fact alone the food industry's negligence is reaching nearly every one of the United States' 300 million citizens.

Kenny Dobbins' story is quintessential story of the new human market. Kenny Dobbins, the man mentioned above, has many more health problems than previously mentioned and he is only one of the hundreds of workers who are maimed, injured, or killed on the job each year while working in a meat packing plant. Normally, OSHA would be the government agency to protect these workers, but there is little OSHA can do when many of these plants regularly falsify their injury report logs. If a plant's stated injury rate is lower than the national average (Schlosser, 179), OSHA has no legal right to inspect the facility. The abundant abuses in the meatpacking industry go without notice, many times because the exploited workers speak no English. In this kind of a situation there is no way for the workers to protect themselves from any kind of abuse. Any sense of danger or feeling of discontentment is stifled by an inability to speak up.
In most industries, a union would be present to speak with a loud voice for those who could not be heard individually. However, as historian Roger Horowitz has detailed, the "IBP revolution" of the mid-1980's effectively obliterated any power the unions had. Now, unionization attempts are hit and miss. There have been cases of success such as the recent strike in Walla Walla, Washington where hundreds of workers spontaneously went on strike resulting pay raises and a strengthened union that had a "dramatic impact on the shop floor, defending the interests of individual workers while pushing for a safer, more sanitary workplace" (Olsson, 11). However, most union action attempts turn out more like strike in Amarillo, Texas. In this case, the five-hundred striking workers gained nothing and the union failed. As one worker put it, "They didn't negotiate anything, they just agreed to what the company gave them" (Olsson, 14). In any industry, worker safety and health should be a priority. However, in the food processing and manufacturing industry, a high turnover rate, and a near constant supply of immigrants ensures that the companies have no obligation to attend to the health or safety of their employees. Their workers have become completely disposable commodities in a new human market.

The workers are not the only ones the food industry is neglecting. The safety of consumers is also being grossly neglected. E. coli, salmonella, feces, and dozens of other contaminants are present in our food. This neglect is where the USDA or the FDA should be stepping in. However, current legislation is limiting on what, when, and how much the government is allowed to inspect. Not only is the legislation limiting, it's confusing. The lines between what the FDA regulates and what the USDA regulations are fuzzy and strangely drawn. For example, the FDA regulates eggs while the USDA regulates the chickens. Similarly the USDA would regulate frozen dinners with chicken in them, while the FDA would regulate frozen dinners with fish in them (Schlosser, 264; Coble, 3). With the recent salmonella scare involving Con Agra produced peanut butter, the relative consumer safety of mass produced food has come into question. Like Starbucks and McDonalds, large food producing corporations like Con Agra seek to standardize their production processes. Essentially, they want to create the most uniform products possible. If there are standard processes, wouldn't it be logical to assume that essentially, what goes on in one plant, occurs in all the other plants? If this is the case, then American consumers have much to worry about. The potential for harmful and even deadly mistakes is multiplied by the number of plants these corporations, like Con Agra, operate.

With so many obvious instances of negligence and carelessness on the part of the food industry, how have they been able to escape scrutiny and even punishment? The food industry now provides nearly all of our food. They sell to everyone from McDonalds to Wal-mart to the local Mexican restaurant down the block. Their high selling capacity means very high profits. Essentially, the industry has very deep pockets. Deep pockets mean good lawyers and an ability to pay off small-time claims while simultaneously lobbying Congress for less restrictions. A recent study published in the Miami Herald found that 58 million dollars are spent on lobbying in Florida alone (Miami Herald, A1). Much of the lobbying in question was paid for by companies smaller than Con Agra. So, imagine, if millions of dollars are being spent on lobbying in the Florida legislature alone for companies much smaller than Con Agra, how much is being spent on lobbying in Washington or the other 49 states? Money speaks with a loud voice to those seeking re-election.

In the face of so many seemingly hopeless circumstances what can be done to ensure that these major corporations fulfill their social responsibility of protecting their workers and their consumers? Consumers assume that the packaged food they buy at the store is safe. We assume that the FDA and the USDA are doing their job and keeping safe the most basic commodity of our nation, our food. Perhaps the most obvious indication of a failure on the part of the FDA and the USDA is that if they don't do their job... people die. For this reason, it is absolutely necessary that these government agencies step up to the plate and do what they were intended to do: protect the welfare of the American people. While the USDA and the FDA need to work on ensuring that the food we can consume is actually edible, OSHA needs to spend more time ensuring that the workers in the food industry are treated properly and fairly. After all, they are there to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

If ever legal action was taken against any major food producer/manufacturer, it is likely that the company would be represented as a whole rather than as individuals. Indeed, this style of prosecution and defense makes sense in a legal setting, as it would be very difficult to identify, let alone prosecute, all the specific individuals lacking social responsibility in an organization. However, identifying the abuses of specific individuals from the CEO to the manager of the local meatpacking plant as well as the general gross abuses of the company would send a great message. It would say that as a whole the company was guilty of neglecting its social responsibility to protect it's workers and it's consumers. It would also say that each individual in the company had a part in that negligence. We must not forget that behind the façade of the major corporations are individuals. Corporations are simply not capable of making decisions without these individuals. While corporations should bear the financial burden of social responsibility, it is the individuals who must bear the moral obligation of social responsibility.

Works Cited:Coble, Charles. "The Department of Agriculture's Regulation of Poultry Under the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957." Diss. Harvard University, 1997.
Fineout, Gary. "The Cost of Being Heard." The Miami Herald. February 23, 2007: A1+
Food and Drug Administration. "FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Certain Jars of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter." February 14, 2007. Accessed 3/04/2007. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01563.html
Horowitz, Roger. "The Decline of Unionism in America's Meatpacking Industry."
Social Policy (Spring 2002):32. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. University of Miami Library. Accessed 2/28/07. http://www.epnet.com
"Last Patient Is Released In Jack-in-the-Box Case." The New York Times Online. July 1, 1993.The New York Times. Accessed 3/04/2007. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEEDC143AF932A35754C0A965958260&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=1
Olsson, Karen. "The Shame Of Meatpacking." The Nation (September, 2002): 11-16. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. University of Miami Library. Accessed 3/1/07. http://www.epnet.com> (includes cartoon)
"Salmonella Outbreak Still a Sticky Mystery." MSNBC. February 19, 2007. Microsoft/NBC. Accessed 3/04/2007. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17155561/
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. Harper Perennial: New York, 2005.