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| issue | issue > high-speed slaughter
NEED FOR A MORE HUMANE FOOD SYSTEM Lawsuit filed against USDA; Involves Slaughterhouse in Minnesota UPDATE: A federal court in Minneapolis tossed out "a federal rule that eliminated line-speed restrictions in pork slaughterhouses, saying it was 'arbitrary and capricious.'" Judge Joan Ericksen agreed with the evidence presented — that faster line speeds "are a risk factor that will increase the already hazardous conditions faced by workers." This vacated the USDA's limitless line-speed standard. (Refer to Minnesota judge strikes down rule) In response to this decision, pork producer associations have sent a letter to the USDA, asking them to appeal the decision and continue to support faster speeds. (Refer to Pork group asks USDA to support faster slaughterhouse speeds)
Lawsuit on behalf of workers; on behalf of animals The court decision above was based on a lawsuit filed against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) by Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy group, on behalf of the UCFW, which represents meatpacking workers in Minnesota and the nation. A separate lawsuit was also filed against the USDA in December 2019 by the Animal Law Litigation Clinic (ALLC) at Lewis & Clark Law School on behalf of 7 organizations (listed below). This lawsuit challenges the USDA's decision to "reduce oversight at pig slaughterhouses and eliminate limits on the slaughter speeds."
High-speed slaughter This issue is known as "high-speed slaughter." As cited in the ALLC lawsuit: The USDA's decision "will allow nearly all of the pigs slaughtered in the United States to be slaughtered at unlimited speeds with very little oversight, posing serious risks to animal welfare, consumer health and safety, and the environment." Per the ALLC lawsuit: "Most high-speed pig slaughter plants use carbon dioxide or electric stunning, and faster line speeds risk shortening the time animals are in the gas chamber and increasing the likelihood that electrodes are not properly placed, both of which could result in pigs being consicous when they are shackled, when their throats are cut, while they are bleeding out, or even when they are dropped into boiling tanks for scalding." USDA inspector files statement in support of lawsuit On April 10, 2020, a USDA inspector who works inside a large slaughterhouse in Austin, Minnesota (Quality Pork Processors (QPP)), filed a statement in federal court in support of the lawsuit. This inspector stated she has worked as a USDA meat inspector for more than twenty-five years. She has worked under both the traditional inspection system and the deregulated system (with line speed increases). In the inspector's declaration, she made multiple statements, such as:
Previously, a slaughterhouse was allowed to kill up to 1,106 pigs per hour. The line speed at Quality Pork now stands at 1,300-plus hogs slaughtered per hour on average, as stated by Richard Morgan, the UFCE local 9 president (who represents the plant's workers) in a 05-26-20 Star Tribune news article. Worker safety and market fairness Increase line speeds have not only impacted animal and food safety, it has placed workers at risk. Per Star Tribune article: "Rotator cuff injuries, tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome are common. Those are repetitive-motion injuries that are only aggravated by faster line speeds," said Monforton, the safety expert at Texas State. "The number one concern workers have, and the number one reason they attribute to the types of injuries they have, is the speed of the line," she said. "They work at a relentless pace." This is also an issue of market fairness and competitiveness. "Lack of antitrust enforcement in the meatpacking industry has been a major problem before the COVID-19 pandemic," states Theresa Keaveny; executive director of the Sustaining Farming Association of Minnesota (quoted in Star Tribune). This problem impacts other livestock industries, not just hogs. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has "joined a bipartisan coalition of 11 attorney generals in asking the Department of Justice to pursue a federal investigation into market competition and potential anticompetitive practices by meat packers in the cattle industry." (press release; Office of MN Attorney General). The need for a humane food system The lawsuit, along with many other actions in the farm-food economy during the COVID pandemic, have heightened the discussion about how food is raised and processed in the United States. Do current prices, for example, truly reflect the cost of meat — including safety measures needed to protect the food, workers, animals, and environment? Who profits and at what expense? Will these questions be asked during the pandemic, or put on the back burner? Creating a humane food system requires a systemic look at all the stakeholders - not just agriculture. This includes the treatment of animals as well as the environment and workers. It includes food-chain workers, farmers, grocery stores, food cooperatives, farm markets, public schools and institutions, consumers, and communities. COVID-19 has pushed this issue to the forefront.
Links: Supporting documents for lawsuit and issue
Commentary: Need for a More Humane Food System
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