A History of Meat Packing in the United States

As new, more advanced methods to store meat were manufactured, for example refrigeration, and as the railroads began to crisscross the country, the meat packing market in the United States sprang to life. With the popularization of railroads as a method of transportation, meat delivery and shipping became simpler and faster and refrigeration methods made it possible for the meat to remain more fresh for much longer.

Though meat packing plants had been around for a long time, it was not till the novel The Jungle by author Upton Sinclair was published in 1906 that many became aware of the routines of the meat packing industry, "The Jungle," an exceptional book about the abominable working circumstances of the meat packers and unsafe, dirty methods utilized to accelerate manufacturing, shocked many readers around the nation. Employees were pressured to work in harsh, unsanitary conditions. Strikes and unions were stifled as employers appointed newly arrived immigrants to populate the slots of those who protested these conditions.

Fortunately, by the 1930's and well into the 1940's, the United Packinghouse Workers of America of the CIO was formed for the purpose of unionizing workers and enhancing the working conditions and approaches in meat packinghouses. Through this labor union and others, meat packers could actually earn more in wages and were permitted to work in more tolerable conditions for more reasonable shifts.

As the use of technology heightened, numerous workers were replaced for machinery and other mechanized hardware. With the popularization of trucks, shipping was transferred from a railroad system to a trucking system and many meat packing factories were transferred from the cities to rural areas. This brought the factories closer to the pastures and ranches that bred the cattle used for the meat packing. Due to this, labor unionization was less centralized and many workers lost employment. Even though popular meat packing cities like St. Louis, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and St. Paul, Minnesota still maintained meat packing production, other cities like Omaha and Chicago shut down their meat packing factories and stockyards.

Lately, an increase in on the job damage in meat packing factories has been drawing the attention of some. Several investigations have been launched in an effort to determine and reduce any poor or dangerous working conditions that still exist or that have newly presented themselves. Though popular meat packing companies of the United States, like Cargill Meat Solutions, Lomen Company, Hormel Foods, Tyson Foods, and Perdue Farms are still successfully operating, it is yet to be determined whether the industry of meat packing itself is a safe, sanitary, healthy occupational provider. The meat packing industry is yet to be thoroughly investigated and more factual evidence is yet to be found.