On July 17, the inspector found “green algal growth” in a puddle of standing water in a raw holding cooler. And on July 27, an inspector noted clear liquid leaking out from a square patch on the ceiling. Behind the patch, there were two other patches that were also leaking. An employee came and wiped the liquid away with a sponge, but it returned within 10 seconds. The employee wiped it again, and the liquid again returned within 10 seconds. Meanwhile, a ceiling fan mounted close by was blowing the leaking liquid onto uncovered hams in a hallway outside the room.

A picture of hell.

  • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    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!

    • derf82@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      In Nov 2020, the person that ran things for years died, and control passed to other family members that immediately sued each other.

      I’m any case, seems greed likely started to drive everything, they pushed expansion over safety, and wound up killing people.

      • GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        seems greed likely started to drive everything, they pushed expansion over safety, and wound up killing people.

        Thank god this is an isolated incident in corporate America. /s

      • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        In

        any case, seems greed likely started to drive everything, they pushed expansion over safety, and wound up killing people.

        Chiquita, Nestle, and Boeing have entered the chat.

        • Darkaga@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Boeing and Boar’s head are killing people because of incompetence and cost cutting. Chiquita and Nestle go out in the jungle and massacre people at regular intervals just because those people don’t want to be slaves and having to pay workers hurts the bottom line.

          I put them in different categories.

      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        a story as old as time… one person spends their life building an empire, their spoiled brat children immediately tear it down screaming

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        2 months ago

        I feel you could say this about every american company that has been around for 40 plus years. Enshittification is a real removed

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          2 months ago

          It used to be a badge of honor to have a label footnote like “est. 1937”, but now I feel that just clarifies the enshittification time delta.

          • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 months ago

            It depends on the business. Highly competitive and volatile ones, like restaurants, can still be judged by longevity, in my opinion.

            The only exception to this rule is the Chili’s on 45th Street and Lamar in Austin, Texas, which exists in a timeless negative space where businesses can not die. Will not die. They are watching.

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        2 months ago

        I remember that! They were more a specialty brand that you’d find in more upscale grocery stores. Now they’re just boring, apparently disgusting, processed meat like every other brand.

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      Having managed a supermarket for about 6 years, I can tell you it’s because of the service, consistent quality and variety of choices. Their service model is similar to many of the larger bread vendors in that they sell via consignment. So you only buy what you open to sell, and they take back anything that expires or looks dodgy. Their sales reps maintain your inventory and place your orders, really saving you alot of time and reducing your risk.

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      2 months ago

      Im glad the German deli and regional super market go through more local organizations. Im also glad we can maintain damned near every type of livestock as well.

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      2 months ago

      My favorite part of that book was when it revealed that workers would go missing from time to time and later be found at the bottom of a lard rendering vat. Ha ha!

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        I don’t know if I can say I have a “favorite” part of the book. The whole thing was just horrifying. I think I spent the entire time reading it with my mouth wide open.

        And how little has changed…

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          I think I spent the entire time reading it with my mouth wide open.

          As a procession of cute cartoon animals jumped in. “Eat me!!!”

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      2 months ago

      After the book came out congress was shockingly fast to pass new laws. It turns out the plant profiled in the book had the contract for the congressional cafeteria. That’s how you get political change.

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    2 months ago

    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.)

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        2 months ago

        Not where I expected that to go, but then… I never know where to expect comedians to go… I think that’s the point.

        Anyway, keeping to the subject, when I worked at the hatchery there was this guy… he was the guy who killed all the male babies, and that was his whole job… he was fucking weird, in a bad way, and we all gave him tons of space. It didn’t bother him at all to kill thousands of birds in a single day as just his normal job. That’s all.

        • cows_are_underrated@feddit.org
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          You get used to the cruelty. It may feel wrong for a short period of time, but you get used to and at some point don’t care. I currently work at a small(about 200 pigs) “piglet farm”, where they raise pigs and sell them to other farmers. Part of the morning routine involves cutting the tails and teeth’s of all new born piglets. It was quite of a shock at the beginning, but even after 1 week I realise it being jot as shocking ad in the beginning, even though I still absolutely hat it for having to do this. Luckyly I only have to work there for 3 more weeks.

          • SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net
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            2 months ago

            He honestly isn’t really my cup of tea… I love stand-up, but his stuff always just felt wrong to me, and not like politically wrong but…

            Norm-violating wrong.

            (Hehehehehehehe)

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            2 months ago

            My bad. I’m not a comedian. Idk where the line is between “so real it’s funny” and “so real it’s not funny”… it’s just a thing I experienced.

            So here we are.

            Sorry.

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        2 months ago

        It’s the same thing except instead of delicious properly prepared lean meat in a disgusting warehouse with awful cleanliness practices, it’s crappily prepared and spiced meat in a clean warehouse that’s not trying to kill you.

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      It’s worth a read for more than just that.

      Our guy wrote a book about the working class and immigrants being taken advantage of, and how they need to stand up for worker’s rights and unions. And the American public focused on their food being gross.

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        2 months ago

        Lithuanians practically built Northern Illinois during that era, not just Chicago, but Belvidere and Rockford too.

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    2 months ago

    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?

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        By purchasing meat from companies like this, you absolutely are. Support your local butcher if you do consume.

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            2 months ago

            By giving them your money, you are funding the operation of the plants that produce the meat. And lining the pockets of those that make the decisions to act this way. It is not meaningless.

            If you don’t give them money, it hurts their bottom line and forces either change or the shutting down of the business. You can speak volumes through making more ethical decisions about where your money goes.

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              2 months ago

              You can speak volumes through making more ethical decisions about where your money goes.

              no matter what i buy at the grocery store, my money goes to the grocer.

              • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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                2 months ago

                If were being pedantic, if you purchase with a card your money actually goes to the bank, who transfers it to Visa, who transfers it to the grocer. The grocer restocks the item you purchased, transferring a portion of your money (less all the upstream overhead/fees) to the manufacturer of your purchased good.

                If people stop buying products with a harmful supply chain, grocers stop stocking it. They’re not just putting processed deli meat on the shelves because they think meat bricks look cool.

                • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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                  2 months ago

                  To be super pedantic, no, ownership of your money never transfers to visa. When your card is swiped (tapped, whatever) visa (or mc or Amex or whoever else) facilitates communication between your bank and the merchant’s bank, but no money moves yet. At the end of the day the merchant settles out those transactions, but that’s still just data. The money moves typically a day or two later, and that is done directly between the customer and merchant’s bank. Source: worked in credit card processing for ~9 years.

                • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  2 months ago

                  If people stop buying products with a harmful supply chain, grocers stop stocking it.

                  this isn’t causal, and the grocers can choose to stop stocking it for any reason or no reason.

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                  2 months ago

                  They’re not just putting processed deli meat on the shelves because they think meat bricks look cool.

                  whatever their reason, it’s their choice, not mine.

                • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  2 months ago

                  The grocer restocks the item you purchased, transferring a portion of your money (less all the upstream overhead/fees) to the manufacturer of your purchased good.

                  they can choose not to do that. it’s not as though they literally re-order every product the moment they sell a unit.

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              By giving them your money, you are funding the operation of the plants that produce the meat

              most people don’t give money to BoarsHead. they give it to a grocer.

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    2 months ago

    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?