Slaughter Line Speeds Just Got Faster at Three U.S. Pig Processing Plants
To the dismay of food safety and animal advocates, the USDA has approved increased line speeds as part of a one-year trial period to increase profits and production.
Photos: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Media
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved three pork processing plants to increase their line speeds. Establishments will be permitted to operate faster than the current maximum line speed of 1,106 hogs slaughtered per hour.
The move is part of a one-year trial program to assess the impact of faster lines on worker safety, reinstating a policy initiated by the Trump administration. Initially, nine plants were permitted to apply for the trial since they were previously able to increase their processing speeds under the Trump-era rule.
After the 2019 policy was introduced, food safety advocates warned that the modifications would allow for contaminated meat to slip through the cracks, while The Center for Biological Diversity called it an “absurd, backward step toward the industrial lawlessness of the 19th century.”
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union sued the USDA over concerns for worker safety, causing the USDA to nullify the 2019 increased speed line regulation last March.
Now, this u-turn has renewed concerns about worker injuries and food safety at meat plants. Zach Corrigan, senior staff attorney at environmental group Food & Water Watch, has criticized the Biden administration for “reversing course” on accepting the court decision “with a pilot program that continues to put industry profits over protecting the safety of our food supply.”
The companies approved for this trial are Clemens Food Group in Hatfield, Pennsylvania; Quality Pork Processors in Austin, Minnesota; and Wholestone Farms Cooperative in Fremont, Nebraska, according to the USDA. No specific details on the new limits have been released, but 2019 regulations saw some pig plants kill 1,450 animals every hour.
Increased Suffering for Animals and People
Approximately 23.3 million land animals - pigs, cows, chickens, and others - are killed in the United States every single day. Behind these killing numbers are of course the individual animals themselves, and the people paid to slaughter these animals. Faster slaughter speeds increase the chances of animals being conscious while they’re killed, causing additional agony and suffering. And regular line speeds are already dangerously fast for workers. Increasing these speeds only heightens the risk of severe injury, illness, and death.
The Solution
With animals, people, and the planet in desperate need of solutions for change, what we eat matters now more than ever. And faster slaughter lines aren’t the answer. Our entire food system is ripe for disruption, and already we can see change happening. Supermarkets and restaurants are swapping out animal foods for plant-based alternatives, from Beyond Meat burgers to JUST’s vegan egg replacement, and behind-the-scenes of the food tech industry, future-savvy investors and scientists are developing slaughter-free cultivated meat that could be on our shelves as early as this year.
We all have our own part to play in changing the food system for the better. Learn how to live in line with your animal-loving values by signing up for our What We Think, Wear & Eat Matters: 7-Day Challenge, tested and approved by our plant-based foodie and fashion-loving founder, Elizabeth Novogratz.
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