by Ted Genoways
QPP quietly sold an 80 percent interest in itself: Articles of Incorporation of Quality Pork Processors Inc. (including the November 2007 transfer to the Blaine Jay Corporation), obtained through the Office of the Secretary of State of Texas. I have placed these documents online at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/207645-qpp-papers.html.
The buyer, Blaine Jay Corporation, had incorporated in 2004: Articles of Incorporation of Blaine Jay Corporation, also obtained through the Office of the Secretary of State of Texas. I have placed these documents online at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/207644-blainejaypubdocs.html.
“That simply did not happen”: Interview with Kelly B. Wadding was conducted via telephone, June 2010.
Dale Chidester, the longtime office coordinator of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 9: Interviews with Dale Chidester were conducted in Austin, Minnesota, and via telephone throughout 2010 and 2011.
the 1985–86 strike that so harshly divided the town: There are several outstanding histories of the Hormel strike in Austin, and upon which I have relied for historical details, most notably: Dave Hage and Paul Klauda, No Retreat, No Surrender: Labor’s War at Hormel (New York: William Morrow, 1989); Hardy S. Green, On Strike at Hormel: The Struggle for a Democratic Labor Movement (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990); and Peter Rachleff, Hard-Pressed in the Heartland: The Hormel Strike and the Future of the Labor Movement (Boston: South End Press, 1993).
The Wilson Foods pork-processing plant in neighboring Albert Lea filed for bankruptcy in 1983: Winston Williams, “Wilson Foods Fights Back,” New York Times, December 3, 1983.
“There was automated batching in the dry sausage, prepared sausage, and canned meat departments”: Rachleff, Hard-Pressed in the Heartland, 49.
Carole Bower arrived and ushered me toward the entrance: Interview with Carol Bower was conducted in Quality Pork Processors Inc., Austin, Minnesota, February 2010.
“What good is a union contract if the company can avoid the contract”: Scott Carlson, “Hormel Loses Right to Lease Austin Plant, Ruling Closes Slaughterhouse,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 9, 1988, Metro, 1A.
Angeles spoke to me at Austin’s Centro Campesino: Interview with Miriam Angeles (her real name) was conducted in Austin, Minnesota, February and April 2010. For more on Angeles, see Elizabeth Baier, “Workers Sickened at Pork Plant Still Wait for Compensation,” Minnesota Public Radio News, March 31, 2010, http://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/03/31/pork-illness-compensation.
Dyck had some good news for Garcia: Interview with Lachance, February 2010. See also Daniel H. Lachance et al., “An outbreak of neurological autoimmunity with polyradiculoneuropathy in workers exposed to aerosolised porcine neural tissue: A descriptive study,” Lancet, November 30, 2009, http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(09)70296-0/fulltext.
PART II
4: Little Mexico
Raul Vazquez walks out of the Hormel plant on the outskirts of Fremont: Interviews with Raul Vazquez (his real name) were conducted at San Miguel Liquor, Schuyler, Nebraska, throughout 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Ben Nelson, who was in the midst of a reelection campaign: See David Welna, “Nebraska Senator Takes Tough Stand on Immigration,” NPR Morning Edition, April 24, 2006, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5358608.
Kris Kobach, who had cut his teeth under Attorney General John Ashcroft: See “When Mr. Kobach Comes to Town: Nativist Laws & the Communities They Damage,” Southern Poverty Law Center, January 2011, http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/downloads/publication/Kobach_Comes_to_Town.pdf.
“Americans are meat-hungry”: Hugh A. Fogarty, “Cattle Men Out West See No Meat Shortage,” New York Times, June 29, 1947, E9.
major packinghouses in Omaha were in the grip of a walkout by striking stockyard workers: “Stockyards Shut by Omaha Strike,” New York Times, June 25, 1947, 3.
the arrival of five hundred new jobs (which, on average, paid $3,000 each): For discussion of Hormel annual salaries, see E. J. McCarthy, “Guaranties and Annual Earnings: A Case Study of George A. Hormel and Company,” Journal of Business, January 1956, 41–51.
“Most Hormel workers”: Jack H. Pollack, “Revolution in Wages,” Los Angeles Times, March 16, 1947, E12.
Harold Harper was working the night shift: Interview with Harold and Linda Harper was conducted in Fremont, Nebraska, January 2014.
They sent out roving pickets: For an excellent contemporary account of the roving pickets, see Steve Boyce, Jake Edwards, and Tom Wetzel, “Slaughterhouse Fight: A Look at the Hormel Strike,” ideas & action, Summer 1986, http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/hormel.htm.
“poor profit margins”: “Hormel Plans Layoffs,” Los Angeles Times, September 3, 1988, CSD2.
Between 1983 and 1993, sales doubled on increased output: Jim Rasmussen, “Hormel’s Changes Lead to Expansion,” Omaha World-Herald, January 31, 1993, 1M.
“After a rest and once their supplies are set”: Michael O’Boyle, “From Guerrero to Nebraska,” Business Mexico, July 1, 2003.
Chichihualco’s mayor Leopoldo Cabrera estimated: Michael O’Boyle, “Migrants Changing Nebraska Town,” Herald Mexico, February 14, 2005.
“When they find out that Fremont”: Don Bowen, “Landlords Oppose Immigration Ordinance,” Fremont Tribune, July 16, 2008.
5: They Threw Me Away Like Trash
“worker exposure to aerosolized pig neural protein”: “Investigation of Progressive Inflammatory Neuropathy Among Swine Slaughterhouse Workers—Minnesota, 2007–2008,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 31, 2008, 1–3.
QPP as policyholder had $600,000 of liability for “Each Accident or each Person for Disease”: For further details of QPP’s dispute with American Home Assurance, see the eventual lawsuit: State of Minnesota in Court of Appeals A10-1443, Quality Pork Processors, Inc., v. The American Home Assurance Company. I have placed these documents online at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/210076-qppvamericanhomeassurance.html.
Susan Kruse, retained attorney: Interview with Susan Kruse was conducted in Austin, Minnesota, February 2010.
“a substantial contributing factor”: Mia Simpson, “Former QPP Worker Fights for Workers’ Compensation,” Austin Daily Herald, April 3, 2008.
“Something is out of sorts”: Grady, “A Medical Mystery Unfolds in Minnesota.”
“Not once did any of the nurses tell me”: Helen Meyers, “Workers Disabled at Minnesota Plant Demand Answers,” Militant, January 21, 2008.
“Once it’s determined that they’ve contracted the illness at work”: Simpson, “Former QPP Worker Fights for Workers’ Compensation.”
“They’re really scared”: Ibid.
Miriam Angeles was told to report to Human Resources: Interview with Miriam Angeles, Austin, Minnesota, February 2010.
“How could a person”: Interview with Bob Warner, John Wiegert, and Jerry Hart was conducted in Fremont, Nebraska, March 2012.
“I’m not telling you this can’t be done”: Don Bowen, “Warner Introduces Illegal Immigration Proposal,” Fremont Tribune, May 14, 2008.
a draft of the ordinance was scheduled for its first public reading: My account of this meeting is drawn from interviews with Bob Warner; from Cindy Gonzalez and Judith Nygren, “Proposed Ban on Illegal Immigrants Stirs Uproar in Fremont,” Omaha World-Herald, July 11, 2008; and from Don Bowen, “Landlords Oppose Immigration Ordinance,” Fremont Tribune, July 16, 2008.
When Roxanne Tarrant: Ruiz provided access to his medical file, maintained by his caseworker Roxanne Tarrant at Employee Development Corporation in St. Paul. All medical records, including this account of Tarrant’s initial consultation, are derived from her monthly reports.
“I most worry about my leg”: Interview with Pablo Ruiz, Austin, Minnesota, April 2010.
opposition group One Fremont, One Future: Bertha Valenzuela, Leslie Velez, and Kristin Ostrom, “Fremont’s First Costs: Sta
tement of One Fremont One Future,” September 8, 2010, http://www.neappleseed.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/08/One-Fremont-One-Future-US-Civil-Rights-NE-Sept-2010.pdf.
Maggie Zarate turned away a salesman: Zarate testified about this incident at the October 29, 2013, meeting of the Fremont City Council.
“We’re in a battle right now”: Schnatz sent this same email to numerous individuals over a period of years. See, for example, Fred Knapp, “We Will Shed Blood Again,” NET News, January 11, 2011, http://www.kvnonews.com/2011/01/we-will-shed-blood-again/.
Alfredo Velez, owner of Tienda Mexicana Guerrero: Interviews with Alfredo Velez were conducted in March 2012 and November 2013.
Velez received an anonymous letter: The letter was supplied to me by Kristin Ostrom of One Fremont, One Future.
“Racism has nothing to do with this ordinance”: John Ferak and Cindy Gonzalez, “Immigration Problem Is Bigger than Fremont, Mayor Says,” Omaha World-Herald, July 30, 2008.
“This has weighed very heavy on me”: Don Bowen, “Immigration Issue Continues to Simmer in Fremont,” Fremont Tribune, July 25, 2009.
“Control of illegal immigration is a federal issue”: “Starting at the Beginning: A Look at How Fremont Got to June 21 Election,” Fremont Tribune, June 11, 2010.
6: This Land Is Not Your Land
“Who was doing these jobs before?”: “Immigration Debate Hot,” Austin Daily Herald, August 19, 2008, http://www.austindailyherald.com/2008/08/video-immigration-debate-hot/.
Hendrycks had launched MinnSIR with her husband: For more background on Ruthie Hendrycks, see Jean Hopfensperger, “Standing Firm in Opposition to Illegals,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, April 28, 2006.
“Three times raids were scheduled”: “Immigration Debate Hot,” Austin Daily Herald, August 19, 2008.
“We’ve sat down with ICE”: Amanda Lillie, “Sheriff: Illegal Immigration Process Is out of Our Hands,” Austin Daily Herald, January 31, 2011.
“We’re having to build a new jail for a reason”: Judy Keen, “Immigration Debate Grips Minn. City,” USA Today, August 27, 2008.
“It’s like us against them”: “Immigration Debate Hot,” Austin Daily Herald, August 19, 2008.
“We had people that lived in tar paper shacks”: Marie Casey and Casper Winkels, quoted in Horowitz, Negro and White, Unite and Fight!, 39.
“Hormel hired 40 niggers”: Roger Horowitz’s remarkable interview with John Winkels is extensively quoted in James W. Loewen, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (New York: New Press, 2005), 207.
“I’m pretty upset”: Interview with Bob Warner, John Wiegert, and Jerry Hart, Fremont, Nebraska, March 2012.
“The more that I look around Fremont”: Jerry A. Hart, “This City Is Being Destroyed by Greed,” Fremont Tribune, February 4, 2009.
Over burgers and fries, Kobach offered to represent them pro bono: Interview with Bob Warner, John Wiegert, and Jerry Hart, Fremont, Nebraska, March 2012, and interview and subsequent email correspondence with Kris Kobach, Topeka, Kansas, May 2012.
“People are scared”: “Workers Picket QPP,” Austin Daily Herald, December 1, 2008.
“They made a lot of accusations”: “Workers to Demonstrate at QPP,” Rochester Post-Bulletin, November 27, 2008.
“When was I last in Mexico?”: Interview with Pablo Ruiz, Austin, Minnesota, November 2012.
PART III
7: From Seed to Slaughter
Lynn Becker got the phone call every hog farmer fears: Interview with Lynn Becker was conducted in Fairmont, Minnesota, in September 2012.
when the Associated Press released: The AP story ran in newspapers nationwide. See, for example, Frederic J. Frommer, “Video Shows Abuse of Pigs,” Boston Globe, September 17, 2008, http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/17/video_shows_abuse_of_pigs/.
The epicenter of the boom was in North Carolina: See “North Carolina in the Global Economy: Hog Farming,” http://www.soc.duke.edu/NC_GlobalEconomy/hog/overview.shtml.
“Feces and urine”: Peter T. Kilborn, “Hurricane Reveals Flaws in Farm Law,” New York Times, October 17, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/101799floyd-environment.html.
Smithfield, joined by livestock subsidiaries: For an excellent, detailed account of Smithfield’s challenge to the packer ban in Iowa, see Christopher Leonard, The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014), 240–56.
Hormel and Cargill had negotiated exemptions: The official announcements and particular conditions of the exemptions are available at http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/latest_news/releases/jan_2006/cargill.html and http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/latest_news/releases/apr_2006/hormel.html.
increasing production at the Fremont plant: A particularly telling item appeared in the Lincoln Journal-Star: “Hormel Food Corp.’s hog slaughter plant in Fremont can increase production, thanks to a court agreement reached with Iowa officials. . . . The Fremont plant employs about 1,350 people and slaughters about 9,000 hogs a day. Hormel plans to increase production to 10,500 hogs a day, with some of the production coming from hogs raised in Iowa. No significant increase in jobs was expected.” “Business Briefs,” April 7, 2006.
top-scoring hog was 49.7 percent lean meat and 21.3 percent fat: J. L. Anderson, “Lard to Lean: Making the Meat-Type Hog in Post-World War II America” in Warren Belasco and Roger Horowitz, eds., Food Chains: From Farmyard to Shopping Cart (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009), 29–46
“red box”: Much background information on Hormel’s “red box” comes from conversations with herd managers at New Fashion Pork, one of Hormel’s top suppliers in Jackson, Minnesota. Special thanks to Steve Larson, head of marketing for NFP.
hot-weight carcasses of between 174 and 222 pounds, with less than 1.1 inches of backfat: Debra Neutkens, “Sorting for the Perfect Weight,” National Hog Farmer, November 15, 2002, http://nationalhogfarmer.com/mag/farming_sorting_perfect_weight.
about 105 percent of base price: “Hormel Foods’ Exec Make the Case for Uniformity,” Progressive Pork (newsletter of Farmweld), 2011, http://www.farmweld.com/progressivepork/november_2004/carcass-uniformity.htm.
years working with large corporations like Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, and Monsanto: Many details of Weihs’s biography come from a phone interview with Weihs in April 2013 and from a marketing letter sent to potential investors, http://www.docstoc.com/docs/28457175/Create-opportunities-for-rural-families-and-communities-by-developing.
“We flat price everything”: Joe Vansickle, “Farrow-to-Wean Business Booms,” National Hog Farmer, January 15, 2005, http://nationalhogfarmer.com/mag/farming_farrowtowean_business_booms.
“raise 800,000 hogs a year and pollute less than my dad used to”: Ibid.
“We put them in separate crates”: Jeff Caldwell, “Family Hog Operation Proactively Realizes Environmental Husbandry Despite Critics,” Midwest Ag Journal, October 4, 2004, http://www.supportfarmers.com/news-articles/family-hog-operation-proactively-realizes-environmental-husbandry-despite-critics.
thirty-eight applications statewide to build confinements: Numbers of applications to the Iowa DNR and the number of hogs in confinement from Deb Nicklay, “The Smell of Money? Profitability Drives Iowa’s Pork Boom,” Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette, January 14, 2007.
“you have daydreams—or nightmares—of that $5 mark”: “The Price of Corn,” New York Times, February 6, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/opinion/06tue4.html?_r=0.
“When corn started going from two dollars to four dollars”: Weihs, phone interview, April 2013.
“as long as PETA don’t find out”: This portion of the whistle-blower’s letter to PETA was supplied by Dan Paden, PETA’s spokesman and evidence analysis manager, via email, November 27, 2012.
“This is cruel treatment of the animals”: Paden, email correspondence, November 27, 2012.
8: Don’t Be Afraid to Hurt Them
Ruderman sho
wed up at Natural Pork Production II’s sow barns: Robert Ruderman’s story is told from his daily logs, June 10, 2008, to September 8, 2008, and video footage supplied by PETA.
Lynn’s grandfather, Walter: Andrea Johnson, “LB Pork Is Minnesota Pork Producers’ Family of the Year,” Minnesota Farm Guide, January 24, 2003, http://www.minnesotafarmguide.com/lb-pork-is-minnesota-pork-producers-family-of-the-year/article_2d5e8809-72b5-55b3-bb02-5d77e2aa5fe2.html.
Walter’s farm was still quite small when he passed it on: Andrea Johnson, “Lynn and Julie Becker Tell This Winter’s Story of Pork,” Minnesota Farm Guide, November 23, 2005, http://www.minnesotafarmguide.com/news/producer_reports/lynn-and-julie-becker-tell-this-winter-s-story-of/article_2ada1329-3dcf-5c91-a022-bc1a3c07177c.html.
When a spate of Methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA) tore through the barns in the winter of 1996–97: Joe Vansickle, “New Large Pen Design for Wean-to-Finish Systems,” National Hog Farmer, January 31, 1999, http://nationalhogfarmer.com/mag/farming_new_large_pen.
there were more than 10,000 hog farms in Minnesota; by 2007 that number had fallen to 4,700: Minnesota Pork Industry Profile, prepared by Su Ye, Agricultural Marketing Services, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 2009, 5, http://www.mda.state.mn.us/food/business/~/media/Files/food/business/economics/porkindustryprofile.ashx.
Martin went from turning out 240,000 hogs per year in 1990 to 790,000 in 2008: United States Department of Agriculture. National Agricultural Statistics Service.
“Calculated growth and modifications to our operation are how we’ve steadily maintained growth”: Tom Dodge, “Hogs, Corn and Baseball,” Progressive Farmer, August 2010, http://www.dtn.com/ag/realfarmer/hogscorn.cfm.
“Because of this agreement”: Hormel Foods, Corporate Responsibility Report, 2007, 37, http://2011csr.hormelfoods.com/wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/pdf/HormelFoods2006-2007CSRReport.pdf.