On Thursday, it will have been 115 years since Upton Sinclair published the first installment of The Jungle, in the Feb. 25, 1905 issue of Appeal to Reason. Sinclair’s novel about abuses in the meatpacking industry, collected in a single, revised volume a year later, led directly to the passage of both the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act. As we all know, those bills permanently reformed the meatpacking industry, providing laborers with safe working conditions, living wages, and a dignified retirement, a standard that ultimately became the foundation of the socialist utopia Americans share today. I’m just kidding: As soon as the American public was assured that Armour lard would no longer contain any accidentally-rendered Lithuanian immigrants, the Eloi went back to fussing over cancel culture or its 1906 equivalent and the Morlocks returned to their abattoirs. This week, Last Week Tonight took a look at the current state of the meat industry, more than a century after Sinclair first raised the alarm. Spoiler alert: It’s still not great.
Of all the disgusting things in this segment, the most nauseating is the footage of the way Tyson Foods pampers their mostly-white salaried employees with on-site fitness sessions and meditation classes, while the mostly non-white hourly workers have to wear diapers because they’re not allowed to leave the line. This isn’t an issue of Tyson Foods or the other meatpacking giants being vicious employers in general: They know exactly which workers they have to treat like human beings and which ones they can abuse and exploit. That kind of corporate culture doesn’t happen by accident: It’s depravity, pure and simple.
Oliver lays out a series of reforms that could improve things, including emergency regulations from OSHA to slow the spread of the coronavirus at meatpacking facilities, tighter rules from the USDA on safety and line speeds, and federal minimums for workers’ compensation. As Upton Sinclair could tell you if he hadn’t died in 1968, though, systemic reform can take an extremely long time, if it happens at all. While we’re waiting, here is a list of the brand names controlled by the worst offenders Oliver identified: JBS, the company that is denying compensation to employees who died of COVID-19, and Tyson Foods, home of the COVID-19 betting pool. Maybe don’t buy them?
JBS USA
• 1855 Black Angus Beef
• 5 Star Beef
• Aspen Ridge Natural Angus Beef
• Blue Ribbon Beef
• Blue Ribbon Angus Beef
• Cedar River Farms Natural Beef
• Certified Angus Beef
• Chef’s Exclusive Beef
• Clear River Farms Beef
• Country Pride
• Del Día
• Four Star Beef
• Gold Kist Chicken
• Gold’n Plump
• Grass Run Farms
• Imperial American Wagyu Beef
• Just Bare Chicken
• Moy Park
• O’Kane Poultry
• Pierce Chicken
• Pilgrim’s
• Showcase Premium USA Beef
• Swift Black Angus Beef
• Swift La Herencia Natural Pork
• Swift Premium Pork
• To-Ricos
Tyson Foods
• Advance Pierre Foods
• Aidells
• Ball Park
• Barber Foods
• Big AZ Sandwiches
• Bonici
• Bosco’s
• The Bruss Company (Tyson Fresh Meats)
• Bryan
• Chairman’s Reserve Meats
• Fast Fixin’
• Gallo Salame
• Hillshire Farm
• Hillshire Snacking
• IBP Trusted Excellence
• Jimmy Dean
• Lady Aster
• Landshire
• Like Mom’s
• Mexican Original
• Nature Raised Farms
• Nudges Natural Dog Treats
• Open Prairie Natural Meats
• Original Philly Cheesesteak Co.
• Raised & Rooted
• Reuben Corned Beef
• Russer Brand Deli Meats
• Sara Lee
• Star Ranch Angus Beef
• State Fair
• Steak-EZE
• Top Chews 100% Natural Dog Treats
• True Chews 100% Natural Dog Treats
• Tyson
• Wright Brand
• Wunderbar Brand Deli Meats
