Joe Matasic turned me onto this article in the post on Veganism. It is a very damning article about Smithfield’s Foods. It’s a Rolling Stone article, so some of it must be taken with a grain of salt as RS isn’t known for being “fair and balanced” (you know, like Fox News….hahaha!!!). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the rebuttal from Smithfield’s, so all we have to go on is the Rolling Stone story.

Here’s my take on it all:
Factory farming is an incredibly dirty and polluting practice. Smithfield’s is the nation’s largest factory pork farming company. Smithfield’s is quite likely an incredibly dirty and polluting company. A + B = C

The opening paragraph was more mind-blowing than anything:

The logistical challenge of processing that many pigs each year is roughly equivalent to butchering and boxing the entire human populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Charlotte, El Paso, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Louisville, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Las Vegas, Portland, Oklahoma City and Tucson.

For those counting at home, that’s the 32 largest cities in the US. That’s a lot of hog. Which brings us to the dirty and polluting part when those 27 million hogs defecate. It’s a good look at how Smithfield’s seems to be ready to thumb it’s nose at federal regulations knowing that it’s unlikely to be caught.

Also, the Rolling Stone author could probably cut down his use of the word “shit” and still get his point across. At a certain point, it became somewhat juvenile. Not that I have a problem with profanity, but there are times when it doesn’t really add to the message and can actually serve to detract from it.


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