Every single major retailer with a deli section near me has switched to boar's head within the last 2-3 years... guess they undercut everyone else on bids and got good contracts by violating health and safety laws, the American capitalist way!

Y’all would be fucking horrified by the state of food manufacturing if you knew.

I used to work at a food processing and distribution company, in the document processing department.. we weren’t strictly supposed to read the audits, especially the internal ones, but we did, to make sure they were complete and compliant, which was our job. Also our job was intensely boring and we needed something to gossip about.

The number of our distributors (first level manufacturing) who got C or D grades on their inspections.. fucking gross. I reported a few of them, but the company did not care.

Before that I worked at a chicken hatchery. The cultures I cultured -doing an audit just like those I read later in life- were sooooo gross and problematic. But I was instructed to cover it up because, and this is important context, it was all self report after the initial inspection. I was doing this at 16, and was likely significantly more thorough than any veteran employee would have been. (Absolutely not why I was chosen; they chose me due to incredibly mild nepotism, as my manager was my step-dad, and he knew science stuff was up my alley.. plus I was a filler worker, being under 18.)

I really hope things have improved, but somehow I doubt that the past 20 years has made a positive impact from my audit experience. (The document processing was less than 10 years ago, supporting my belief nothing has changed for the better.)

A picture of hell but a libertarian heaven.

It's a meat brand.

For those just as confused as I, it's a meat brand.

They're not talking about an actual boar.

Well shit, thought this was the premium stuff. Fool me can't get fooled again.

The USDA recorded 69 violations in a year.

Nice

Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” comes to mind.

Curious, does anyone know if the Jarratt, VA Boar's Head facility mentioned in the article employees prison labor from the Greensville Correctional Center just down the street?

Sooo... a typical slaughterhouse, then. Sounds like someone didn't prep for the scheduled visit.

you don't want to see what the meat industry is like in southeast asia

I wonder how much of the state of the place upon that inspection was DUE to:

The plant has been shut down since late July

Like, did they say "we're shutting down" and everyone just fucked off and left the place in a state?

Or was it just that bad ALL the time?

it's The Jungle all over again