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STUDENT NHD MEMOS

Essential Question: How safe is our meat? Meat processing/packaging Meat causes millions of food borne illness per year.

Memo 1

April 5th

Jacob Blankemeyer

Mrs. Sidor

The movie Food Inc. has given me the inspiration for my National History Day topic. My question is " Why is the government allowing meat packing industries to make careless mistakes that infect millions of people in the country? “Federal health authorities have estimated that food borne diseases sicken 76 million people, cause 325,000 hospitalizations, and kill 5,000 Americans every year” (Sustainable). This stunning quote is true whether you like it or not. So many people get sick from poorly packaged meats that get passed by government officials. The big companies go to extreme lengths to keep their production lines from stopping. One case in Kansas confirms this when traces of fecal matter are found in red meats when there was a possibility they knew there was contamination but did nothing to stop it. This is what the company has to say when they were questioned. “Stopping production for ‘possible’ cross contamination…is unjustifiable unless you can verify that there is direct product contamination” (Public Citizen). One way we can prevent the contamination of meats is “a key step to preventing humans from contracting the disease is the proper removal of risky nervous system materials from the beef supply” (Sustainable). We as a country can put an end to the carelessness big companies cause. We can end the deaths of thousands if we force the government to control health regulations for unclean meat.

Memo 2:

April 10th 2012

Mrs. Sidor

Jacob Blankemeyer

Meat processing in our country is becoming an increasing problem. 80% of all our meat is processed in the United States by only 4 companies. “This industry is now dominated by a handful of huge corporations that process most of the country's meat at enormous facilities, and consolidation continues to increase” (Sustainable). You may be thinking what’s the big deal, but with big companies come big mistakes. The government plays a big role in this controversy; the government officials who regulate the meat that is shipped are very lenient on the quality and safety. “Companies have become increasingly powerful, while the government bodies that regulate them have done little to keep them in line. (Sustainable). Americans as a whole are impacted by this revolution, this fact should strike uprising among the public.

Our meat is becoming corrupt with chemicals and synthetic by products. “Beef "byproducts" are flushed with ammonia and then smushed into something that ends up in 70 percent of the hamburgers in America” (Long). I don't know about you but I'm sure that I don't want ammonia in my food. Food INC. does a great job of getting the word out about how awful corporate businesses treat their meat. Companies do anything to keep their lines from being shut down, even if there is a chance for contamination. "Officials would rather promote irradiation and have consumers eating sterilized filth than stand up to meat companies and stop the line when there is a problem" (public citizen). There is a growing problem in our country that we must stand against.

Memo 3:

April 11th

Jacob Blankemeyer

Mrs. Sidor

The Meat packing industry has been a new and upcoming epidemic for several years now. Back in the day you didn’t have to worry about if your meat was handled properly and given close attention. Farms have greatly increased their crop sizes, which make for big companies to take in the product. “The average farm at the turn of the century could feed 6-8 people. Now, the average farm feeds 126. Farms have been revolutionized” (Food Inc.). An increase in population has created a demand for food bigger than this country has seen. It's good that the Farms are being revolutionized but we need to stop the way they treat the animals and later on the meat. Since the rise of the industrial revolution more people were moving into urban areas. “People shifted from a country lifestyle where they grew their own food to a more urban lifestyle where the consumer no longer personally knew the animals being eaten” (PBS). The standards for meat safety in the 1900’s were much higher than they are today.

Working in today’s meat industry is a very dangerous job. “Key workplace hazards for meat and poultry laborers include excessive processing line speed, work spaces sullied with animal remains, cutting in close quarters, and cumulative stress disorders due to repetitive motions” (PBS). Not only is the meat in our country harming us, but the actual work put into processing meats is dangerous as well. Meatpacking is the leading manufacturing job that has the highest injury percentage. “There was an average of 12.6 injuries or illnesses per 100 full-time meat packing plant employees in 2005” (BLS). During the beginning of meat packing industries the work environment was clean safe and slow moving to maintain safety levels for the meat and the workers. The average salary for a meat packer in the 1930’s was 14 to 18% higher than it is today. Now transition to today’s conditions, in 2005 “the working conditions in America's meat packing plants were so bad they violated basic human and worker rights” (PBS). Over the course of history Meat Packing has become a safe industry into a highly dangerous one. The meat can be easily tainted with disease on the production lines and the people handling the meat aren't getting any healthier from it.

In the past Health and regulation acts proposed on meat were followed diligently. But in today’s society the attention to our meat’s standard is dropping. There have been many cases in which meat has been contaminated and it has still gone to the markets. The government should go back to its old ways and be very attentive with food borne illnesses and containing them. Out of all the beef in the world “7.5% of the beef samples were contaminated with Salmonella, 11.7% were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, 30% were contaminated with Staphylococcus Aureus, and 53.3% were contaminated with Clostridium perfringens” (Sustainable). We must stop this revolution because it is harming millions and there are simple solutions to the problem.

MEMO 4:

April 15th

Jacob Blankemeyer

Mrs. Sidor

How safe is our meat? I want you to really ponder this question, you may think like me and say meat is increasingly growing more and more artificial, but you may also say are meat is safer than ever before with the state of the art technology we use on production lines. I believe that meat is an unsafe product, which needs to be handled vigilantly. I propose we slow down the production lines to get full inspection on every single carcass before it is shipped off. Also many packing plants have untrained employees working with the meat, which should be fixed. Many people wouldn’t suspect that there are 73 million cases of food sickness each year many of which cases are from meat. This is why we need to stop this growing problem so we can save many people from the awful burden of food poisoning.

We have gone from small family oriented farms to giant corporate owned farms. Two things are wrong with this, one you have no idea where your meat is coming from and two animals go unchecked for bacteria contamination. "Because of the growth in the number of animals slaughtered and processed, it became impossible to individually inspect each carcass" (Redman). If we go back to our traditional ways we will be able to stop the spread of this revolution. I promote that we slow down production and have well trained workers in all facilities, so that we can insure healthy meat all across the country. If the government regulates that all carcasses must be inspected we wouldn't have to use the risk assessment which can be accurate but not always exact. The risk assessment contains many variables scientist's try to figure out to see how widespread the pathogen will be and it's effect. "With so many variables risk assessment does not produce exact, unequivocal results. At best it produces good estimates of the impact of a given pathogen on a population; at worst it over- or underestimates the impact" (Redman). Another item of business we need to look at is the amount of USDA workers in a slaughterhouse. There are 7,500 employees of the USDA that insect 6,300 plants. There are way to few people making sure the meat is in proper condition.” We are talking about enormous facilities with inspectors needing to be at different points in the facilities. What you end up with is a lot of beef that is not being looked at." (Garber). The government needs to fund the USDA to employ more employees to watch all stations of a processing plant.

Memo 5:

Jacob Blankemeyer

Mrs. Sidor

There are two sides of the meat industry, one side believes that meat is processed in an unhealthy manner and the other side believes that with the state of the art technology our meat is the safest it’s ever been. The technology we use in the business today is extremely safe for all the employees. “The biggest cause of employee injuries, according to Schaffner, is if an employee disables safety features on the equipment to make it run faster”(Pelligrini). Employees need to be enforced a little to keep the proper safety features equipped with the machines. There are many ways to process meats, all ways are efficient in their own ways. "Very fast chilling (VFC) has been proposed as a method to optimize processing efficiency by reducing processing time and chilling inventories and some of the biochemical changes in muscle" (Hopkins). The new generation is coming out with very effective methods for processing meat. This generation is going to include "a significant investment is being made on developing new technologies to achieve a ‘tender in 24 hours' product" (Hopkins). With this new technology food will be safer and of better quality. "$150 Million could be saved across the meat industry by shortening the aging process and reducing chilling costs" (Hopkins). With the amount of money saved from these technologies it can be put forth to improve working conditions in the workplace. The new project coming out to announce these methods is summed up in this next quote. "To contribute to the development and validation of technologies that will allow the measurement and improvement of meat quality (Hopkins). With the upcoming new technologies the meat packing industry will be able to operate efficiently and safely.

Large corporations only worry about money. Do you think that if high tech technology isn't required in factories that companies will buy it. Companies keep their old nasty machines that aren't nearly effective at cleaning meat as the newer machines. Meat goes through processing lines unclean with feces and other inorganic material.

MEMO 6:

Jacob Blankemeyer

Mrs. Sidor

The USDA argues that plenty of eyes are watching closely to production lines. The industrial technology we use today in processing lines can be very dangerous if safety features are taken off. The USDA has enough of people inside the processing plants to keep it under control.” USDA officials disagree, calling the vacancy rates "tolerable" and saying that the agency has "100 percent continuous inspection" inside the slaughterhouses” (Garber). This reassuring statement helps people believe that all the meat is getting inspected. “We have a surprisingly safe food supply, Businesses do a good job of not poisoning the vast majority of us.” (Katel). The meat inspectors are very diligent on inspecting the majority of the meat and assessing the quality of the rest. With the control from inspectors around the production line the food safety act is in affect 24/7 at every processing plant in the country. “The bill (food safety act) reflects a new philosophy which tries to reduce the likelihood of contamination in the first place.” (Katel). This helps bring up the quality for the meat we eat and it puts up a barrier that cannot be broken. The bill includes that power is given to all FDA officials to shut down production lines if something is wrong. It overrules the company which is a very important aspect of the bill.

In fact there are 1 to 2 people per meat processing plant in the country. These plants are giant and can never be monitored by a mere 2 employees. Many meat carcasses are being untouched and unseen which results in risk assessment. This form of assessing the meat quality is very inaccurate because it can either under or over estimate the amount of contaminated meat.

MEMO 7:

Jacob Blankemeyer

Mrs. Sidor

Meat is made safe and without bacteria, the real problem is people not cooking it properly. There have been many more incidents where people get sick from rare meats then from food borne illnesses on produce. Many restaurants and family's rush the amount of time many meat products need in the oven or on the grill. //"E. coli//O157:H7 can survive the gentle heating we give our rare hamburgers" (Ackerman). It is not the slaughterhouse's fault for processing the meat in a bad manner it's how people cook their meat in a bad manner. You may even cook your hamburgers at home a nice pink in the middle but USDA says otherwise. "USDA advises cooks at home to heat ground beef until it's no longer pink and reaches a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit" (USDA). There are also many other recommended temperatures and colors for other variations of meat/poultry. Family's need to make sure they know what temperature their meat has to be while using a meat thermometer. Even some causes of food borne illness may come from least suspected origins. These include; "improper handling, preparing, and storing of food, improper washing of hands and fingernails, poor personal hygiene habits of food employees, improperly cleaned and sanitized eating and cooking utensils and equipment" (Redman). These events occur everyday affecting the majority of food borne illness's to occur. It's not necessarily that the company needs to be safer but the people handling the meat when it is just before being eaten.

Families should be allowed to cook their meat anyway they want without having the chance of food borne illness in the first place. Meat is contaminated with bacteria and disease at the animal slaughterhouse. Animals in very inclosed areas are a lot more likely to be liable to disease because if one animal has it, it spreads like wild fire throughout the barns. This proves that it's not the people who cook it it's what's in the meat in the first place.

Memo 8 Jacob Blankemeyer Mrs. Sidor

Meat processing is a very delicate process which can impact millions if something goes wrong. There are thousands of reclaims in the country per year which can be solved by simple solutions. Meat effects everyone, it doesn't matter how old you are or how tough your immune system you have probably been affected by food poisoning. A few simple solutions to put the meat industry back to it's prime are slowing down lines of production, having more eyes/equipment on the meat to ensure that it is rid of bacteria, also making it government regulated that no unnatural substances are put into the product.If you've ever been sick from food poisoning you know it's bad, with these simple non-expensive solutions we can ensure that you're never infected with a dangerous bacteria.

The arguments against my topic are very persuasive but all have been proven wrong. Technology is very high tech today but that doesn't mean it works better than traditional methods. Companies are not willing to pay for higher grade equipment because it is so expansive, they would rather save a few dollars keeping hardly running equipment instead of saving lives. There are hardly any eyes on the meat production lines because the FDA and USDA are way underfunded. Like I said earlier there are only 7,500 employees that inspect 6,300 plants. We are talking about way to many carcasses going unchecked which is an awful situation to have. If the USDA employees more people it will help improve the unemployment rate while protecting the country from food borne illness.Families should be able to know that their meat is free of bacteria and cook it how they want to. We should not live in fear when we prepare chicken or fish, this is a preventable revolution so why aren't we preventing it? "Food borne illness is a preventable public health challenge that causes an estimated 48 million illnesses and 3,000 deaths each year in the United States" (USDA). Everyone in the country is viable to get a food borne illness which may not seem as intense as cancer or AIDS but we know for a fact that we can stop the awful symptoms that we experience when we are sick from bacteria in food. Together we can stand up and demand that the quality of our food is up to the standard we held in the 1900's.

Annotated Bibliography

Program, Grace. "Slaughterhouses and Processing." //Sustainable Table//. Grace, Sept. 2009. Web. 8 Apr. 2012. .

This Journal entry from SustainbleTable.org is a secondary source with many work’s cited. In this article Sustainable talks about how meat processing is effecting or country and the diseases we contract from poorly handled meats. This source gives you information on the types of disease’s meat can cause and also how we can stand up to the big corporations.

Public Citizen. " [|USDA Tells Inspectors to Give Deference to Meat Companies, Stop Production Lines Only in Certain Circumstances."] Public Citizen, October 31, 2002.

This Media warning from the public citizen is a government run site to bring awareness to food related problems. This specific article explains the problem with meat processing plants and their quick methods for cleaning meat. In one case Fecal matter was found in the meat. This source gives some insight on what processing plants really are.

Long,Tom. "Food, Inc. may cause indigestion." Rev. of //Food Inc.// //Detroit News//.The Detroit News, 26 June 2009. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

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The Review of the movie Food Inc. by Tom Long gives some insight on what the movie was about. This secondary source is good at describing what our food is like, it also explains how the chickens are handled in the film. I used this source to identify some of the key points of the movie Food Inc.



BLS. "Animal Slaughtering and Processing." //BLS.Gov//. United States Dept. of Labor, May 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. . BLS is a government run cite that has information about jobs.This primary source gave me information and a job description on being a meat packer. I used this source to get accurate statistics about meat packing these statistics showed me employment and the average wage's of factory workers. This site also explained the set of skills required to work at the job, one of these skills include precise functions for meat preparation.

PBS. "Meatpacking in the U.S." //PBS.org//. JumpStart Productions, 16 Dec. 2006.Web. 16 Apr. 2012. . PBS is a source which shares currant news to the public. This specific article was really helpful for memo 3 because it followed a timeline in the meat industry. This site gave me vital information on how bad the industry is declining.

Pollen, Michael, perf. //Food Inc.// Robert Kenner. Magnolia Pictures, 2008. Film.

Food Inc. is a film that contains interviews from primary resources in the Meat industry. Food Inc. looks at corporate farm's and there un-flattery way of processing the meat. Also it follows a mother whose son died from salmonella poisoning and her fight against the company responsible. This source follows the aspect that my main topic is on, it helps show Americans what were dealing with.

Redman, Nina E. //Food Safety//. Denver Colorado: ABC CLIO, 2007. Print.

Food Safety by Nina Redman is a secondary source that contains primary experiences. This book gave me insight on different topics about the health side of the meat industry. It had the history of food safety as well as information on food borne illnesses. i used the source to back one of my proposals.

Katel, Peter. "Food Safety." //CQ Researcher// 17 Dec. 2010: 1037-60. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.

This secondary journal article by peter Katel explains how government plays a roll in food safety. She explains how government needs to be more involved and enforcing in the meat industry. Also how large corporations are the worst way to package meat.

Hopkins, David. "Meat - Next Generation Project - Meat Processing Technologies."//SheepCRC//. CRC, 3 Apr. 2011. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. . This project initiated by David Hopkins is a series of ways we can improve the quality of meat. It includes information on better technology and ways to preserve meat. It will be expensive to introduce to every meat plant but it will have a large effect.