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Saturday, February 28th, 2015

USDA Whistleblowers Tell All–and You May Never Eat Bacon Again

Author:     Tom Philpott
Source:     Mother Jones
Publication Date:     Fri Feb. 27, 2015 6:00 AM EST
 Link: USDA Whistleblowers Tell All–and You May Never Eat Bacon Again
Stephan:   I have been following the chemical-pharmaceutical industrial model of  animal husbandry trends for a number of years now. And, just as in climate change, there has been an over-riding constant. In climate change it is the collapse of the timeline.  In this trend the constant across years: the increasing corruption of regulatory institutions by the corporations they are supposed to regulate.  I think the corporations simply see it as a cost of doing business. They push the bounds of animal treatment, and human safety as far as they can in the interest of increased profit. This is a world view driving a business strategy, and it is not life-affirming.
Hog abattoir Credit: brianislavpudar/Shutterstock

Hog abattoir
Credit: brianislavpudar/Shutterstock

In 2004, Elsa Murano stepped down from her post as chief of the US Department of Agriculture division that oversees food safety at the nation’s slaughterhouses. Two years later, she joined the board of directors of pork giant Hormel, a company that runs some of the nation’s largest slaughterhouses. Murano received $238,000 in compensation for her service on Hormel’s board in 2014 alone.

This is a classic example of the “revolving door” that separates US government regulators from the corporations they regulate. It’s hardly the most shocking thing I gleaned from the whistleblower-protection group Government Accountability Project’s recent exposé of conditions at three hog slaughter facilities associated with Hormel. But it’s interesting to think about in light of GAP’s allegations, found in sworn affidavits filed by four USDA inspectors stationed in Hormel-owned plants. Three of the inspectors chose to remain anonymous; the fourth, Joe Ferguson, gave his name.

Their comments focus on three Hormel-associated plants, which are among just five hog facilities enrolled in a pilot inspection program run by the USDA. In the regular […]

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