Food Production And Labor At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century

When comparing food production and labor at the turn of the twentieth century and the turn of the twenty-first century, not much has changed in the grand scheme of things. In the early nineteen hundreds, workers in the meatpacking industry were treated like the animals they were processing, and the meat itself was contaminated and poisoned. One hundred years later, at the turn of the twenty-first century, workers were being treated poorly and the food production was still largely unsanitary. However, small improvements were made over that hundred year span. By studying The Jungle and Food Inc., it can be observed that food production and labor in the meatpacking industry did improve from the beginning of the nineteen hundreds, but labor and
In this industry, the buildings were unheated, infested with rats, and covered in dried blood. Immigrants were forced to work as long as they could, or until they failed. They were paid only pennies a day, which was not enough to survive on. When the workers would reach their breaking points, the companies would throw their employees out, and select new ones from the mobs waiting outside. A century later, the world's largest meat producer was Smithfield. Smithfield would send buses to Mexico to recruit employees and bring them back to begin work. These laborers would earn about eight dollars and thirty five cents per hour. Likewise, this wage was barely enough to live on. Meatpacking was still one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. Men on the production lines were still getting sprayed with feces, urine, and blood. Workers would get infections in their fingernails from pulling out intestines and ripping off animal hides, which led to their nails falling off of their fingers completely. One improvement over the century was the limit on hours worked in a day, enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor. While minor improvements were made, labor conditions were still far from great at the turn of the twenty first
The various meat products offered from Brown’s were contaminated with dead rats, cleaning chemicals, and scraplets, swept up off the floor. This was the result of a lack of control in the production lines. When diseased cows and pigs would come through, workers would be sent to distract the inspectors while they cut up the unregulated animals. A result of this crookedness and ignorance was when Jurgis’ son-in-law died from ingesting tainted meat. Food production in the early twenty first century was just as bad as it was in 1906, aside from advances in technology and government guidelines. The beef was adulterated with preservatives and tainted with e coli. On the farms, the cow feces would cling to the cows’ hides and would filter into the cows’ diets, causing them to acquire e coli. The bacteria would be transferred into the beef produced, into stores, and finally into meals. One example of a large e coli outbreak, was a young boy named Kevin, who consumed a Jack In The Box burger contaminated with e coli, and died a few days later. One improvement over the century was government involvement. During the turn of the twentieth century, the government ran on the laissez faire, or “hands off” policy. Inspectors did not care what happened in the meat packing facilities. However, In the early twenty first century, the inspectors took their duty in food processing much more seriously because they