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| Cheap Chicken Actually Costs a Lot By Father John S. Rausch (Glenmary) Appalachian Ministries Educational Resource Center Berea, Kentucky Two young Mexican women, speaking anonymously to a small group of journalists in a restaurant away from their plant, described the frenetic pace of chicken processing as 90 carcasses a minute whiz past their station. With one bathroom break per shift and a short lunch, they must keep up without complaining, or get fired. Short term they face careless knife accidents. Long term, repetitive motion disabilities. The average $6 an hour wage forces them to take a second job to maintain their families. Meanwhile, in local supermarkets chicken quarters frequently sell for only 59 cents a pound. In November 2000, Catholic bishops of the South, in collaboration with the Catholic Committee of the South, released a pastoral letter entitled "Voices and Choices" (www.poultry-pastoral.org). The pastoral while not a wholesale condemnation of the poultry industry, recognizes the structural problems that abuse workers and small farmers alike. To market cheap chicken and maximize profits, the poultry industry pays low wages to workers and allows only a meager return to farmers. The pastoral cites several Department of Labor studies that document the abuse of poultry workers. A 1997 study found 60 percent of the poultry companies surveyed were in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Companies frequently failed to pay workers for job-related tasks such as clean up, or necessary breaks such as restroom use, or they even charged workers for required protective gear. Another study showed that incidences of repetitive motion injuries were five times higher among poultry workers than in general manufacturing. On the farm the poultry industry controls the production and profits by contracts with the 30,000 small farmers who raise chickens. Because of vertical integration in the poultry industry, small farmers have a contract with a company that owns the chickens, supplies the feed, slaughters the birds and markets the meat. Through these contracts farmers nearly always come up short. The contracts give full control of the process to the firms, but full responsibility for any problems to the farmer. The mortgage debt incurred by contract poultry farmers keeps them serfs on their own land and intimidates them from speaking out, fearful of bankruptcy if the company cancels their contracts and stops delivery of young chicks. "Voices and Choices," like most pastorals from regional bishops, represents a moral teaching about how people are treated. Over a two-year period the Catholic Committee of the South, a non-profit voice for workers and justice issues in the region, conducted interviews and listening sessions with hundreds of people involved with the poultry industry. Stories from workers, many of whom are Latino, women and people of color, as well as small farmers and management became the basis for this theological reflection. The bishops say that the poultry industry represents one example of how many businesses in agriculture and manufacturing currently are treating workers and communities in their quest for maximizing profits. Catholic teachings see every person as a daughter or son of God, every worker a co-creator with God in building a just society. People cannot be sacrificed for cheap chicken. When workers are paid a poverty wage, in reality industry shifts certain costs to the public, especially health care or supplemental food stamps for the working poor. Bishop John McRaith of ¯wensboro, KY, warns: "SomebodyÕs paying the price, not only for bigness but for cheap food." By drawing attention to the poultry industry, the bishops are raising awareness, but n ot giving answers. The pastoral is teaching people of faith that cheap chicken actually costs a lot, and eating is a moral act. Voices and Choices can be downloaded at www.poultry-pastoral.org
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