Meat Processing Was Never Safe, and Now It’s Worse

This is a job no one should have to endure

Carlin Soos
Published in
6 min readJun 16, 2020

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Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic, Camp Funston, Kansas (1918). Photo: National Museum of Health and Medicine via RawPixel/CC0

On April 26th, Tyson Foods published full-page advertisements in Sunday editions of The Post, the New York Times and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Anxiety, doubt, and the fear of the unknown are now our constant companions,” the copy, apparently written by CEO John Tyson himself, claims. Tyson warned that the “food supply chain is breaking,” and within days President Trump signed an executive order classifying meat processing facilities as “critical infrastructure,” requiring plants to remain open.

Corporate messaging, however, is getting mixed. Less than two weeks after those advertisements ran, representatives from Tyson Foods reported a “positive” long-term outlook as their retail business benefits from a 20% bump, part of an industry-wide trend of rising consumer purchases as more people are making their meals at home.

These beings, bred and raised for their flesh, had bleak futures to begin with, and yet people have somehow found a way to make their suffering even greater.

Executives at Tyson might be feeling “positive,” but the mood is gravely different on their slaughterhouse lines, where tightly…

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Tenderly
Tenderly

Published in Tenderly

A vegan magazine that’s hopefully devoted to delicious plants, liberated animals, and leading a radical, sustainable, joyful life

Carlin Soos
Carlin Soos

Written by Carlin Soos

Queer academic passionate about food justice and Celine Dion.

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