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Cheap
Chickens Costs a Lot |
by Fr. John
Rausch |
Two young Mexican women, speaking anonymously to a small group of
journalists in a restaurant away from their plant, described the frenetic
pace of chicken processing--90 carcasses a minute whiz past their
station. With one bathroom break per shift and a short lunch they
must keep up without complaining, or get fired. Short term they face
careless knife accidents. Long term it is repetitive motion
disabilities. The average $6 an hour wage forces them to take a
second job to maintain their families. Meanwhile, in local
supermarkets chicken quarters frequently sell for only $0.59 a pound.
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Last November 41 Catholic bishops
of the South in collaboration with the Catholic Committee of the South released
a pastoral letter entitled "Voices and Choices." The pastoral, while
not a wholesale condemnation of the poultry industry, recognizes the structural
problems that abuse workers and small farmers alike. To market cheap chicken and
maximize profits, the poultry industry pays low wages to workers and allows only
a meager return to farmers.
The pastoral cites several Department of Labor studies that document the
abuses of poultry workers. A 1997 study found 60% of the poultry companies
surveyed were in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Companies frequently
failed to pay workers for job-related tasks such as clean up, or necessary
breaks such as restroom use. Some even charged workers for required protective
gear. Another study showed that incidences of repetitive motion injuries were
five times higher among poultry workers than in general manufacturing.
On the farm the poultry industry controls the production and profits by
contracts with the 30,000 small farmers who raise chickens. Because of vertical
integration in the poultry industry, small farmers have a contract with a
company that owns the chickens, supplies the feed, slaughters the birds and
markets the meat. Through these contracts farmers nearly always come up short.
The contracts give full control of the process to the firms, but full
responsibility for any problems to the farmer. The mortgage debt incurred by
contract poultry farmers keeps them serfs on their own land and intimidates them
from speaking out, fearful of bankruptcy if the company cancels their contract
and stops delivery of young chicks.
"Voices and Choices"
like most pastorals from regional bishops represents a moral teaching.
Over a two-year period the Catholic
Committee of the South, a non-profit voice for workers and justice issues in the
region, conducted interviews and listening sessions with hundreds of people
involved with the poultry industry. Stories from workers, many of whom are
Latino, women and people of color, as well as small farmers and management
became the basis for this theological reflection.
The bishops say that the poultry industry represents one example of how many
businesses in agriculture and manufacturing currently are treating workers and
communities in their quest for profit maximizing. Catholic teachings see every
person as a daughter or son of God, every worker a co-creator with God in
building a just society. People simply cannot be sacrificed for cheap chicken.
When workers are paid a poverty wage, in reality industry shifts certain
costs to the public, especially healthcare or supplemental food stamps for the
working poor. Bishop John McRaith of Owensboro, Ky, warns: "Somebody’s
paying the price, not only for bigness but for cheap food."
By drawing attention to the poultry industry, the bishops are raising
awareness, not giving answers. The pastoral is teaching people of faith that
cheap chicken actually costs a lot, and eating is a moral act.
Fr. John Rausch, a Glenmary priest, teaches
at the Appalachian Ministries Educational Resource Center, Berea, Ky.
His column appears
monthly in many Catholic journals and in ours courtesy of the Friends
of the Good News. Join the Friends
of the Good News and help spread the Gospel.
Read other articles of
Spiritual Enlightenment in the March 2001 edition of The Charismatics or return to the Main Menu by
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