Meat Inspection By Gabriel Kolko Analysis

Adan Gracia
History 1302
Professor Villarreal
June 28, 2011
Meat Inspection “Meat Inspection,” by Gabriel Kolko, is a short story concerning the nature and processes of the meat packing industry and the laws that emerged to maintain the safety of their facilities and the products before human consumption during the Progressive Era. In the early twentieth century, the publishing of a novel by Upton Sinclair containing the truth behind meat packing corporations changed American food industries to this day and revealed the nature and movement of Progressivism. The demand for meat inspection laws began with America’s involvement with the European export market. Since the European market was vital to America’s economy, it was the influence
The young man was known as Upton Sinclair and traveled to Chicago to write about the life of the working class. Sinclair attacked the working conditions of the meat packing industry with newspaper articles but the situation was left unnoticed until a copy of a Sinclair’s publication was sent to President Roosevelt. “The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair, contained reports of the unsanitary conditions and the horrible images he had witnessed during seven weeks of observing Chicago’s meat packing houses. Sinclair got the attention of the nation, especially with reports that included a section of how meat packing houses treated diseased meat. The report stated that the smell of diseased meat was masked by applying kerosene in order to pass the current standards before reaching the public. The report became a much bigger issue then Sinclair claimed that such meat did in fact reach the public killing more American soldiers than the Spanish-American war. This was a time of muckrakers and Sinclair was considered one of them, having a huge influence on investigations of corrupt industries and exposing to America harmful meat products, thus resulting in new government regulations and laws. Sinclair’s reports and horrible descriptions of filth and blood also influenced a decrease of almost half
Charles P. Neill, an economist, and James B. Reynolds, a lawyer, both never previously exposed to the meat slaughtering houses, were assigned by President Roosevelt in hopes of exonerating the meat packing industry and their practices. Unfortunately, their report confirmed Sinclair’s conclusions that conditions were yet horrible and unsanitary in deed. This influenced President Roosevelt to support regulation for the meat packing industry, leading the United States Department of Agriculture to routinely inspect meat packing houses and their procedures. The end result was the amending of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 requiring mandatory inspections of livestock before and after slaughter and a standard on the sanitary conditions of their housing. The act ensured that good meat and healthy procedures were used by the meat packing industry before human consumption, changing food safety legislation since. The next battle was over who was to pay for such law inspection and their fees with government deciding to cover the cost. This amended law would cost three million dollars to implement compared to the estimated eight hundred thousand thought by legislators, thus allowing the government more control of inspections and regulations within the meat packing industry. Even though