Help stop Big Ag polluters like Smithfield and protect consumers.
John,
I wanted to make sure you saw Wenonah's email below. Smithfield has led a campaign to let consumers think it was doing everything to protect its workers during the pandemic and that it has an “industry-leading sustainability program.”
The reality? Its practices put workers at risk, and it’s one of the biggest industrial polluters in the United States. That's why Food & Water Watch is taking on Smithfield — to protect workers and consumers from Smithfield's deception.
COVID-19 laid bare the meat industry’s chronic worker abuses. Throughout the crisis, meatpacking workers, many of whom are people of color, have been experiencing massive COVID-19 outbreaks in their communities. More than 58,000 meatpacking workers have contracted COVID-19, and hundreds have died.
Smithfield led a coordinated campaign to tell consumers it was protecting workers. But in reality, it wasn’t. Smithfield also scared consumers into thinking national meat shortages were near. That wasn’t true either.
To assuage consumer concerns about worker safety, Smithfield said that it was aggressively protecting meatpacking workers. Through advertisements, social media and website disclosures, the company claimed it was implementing a host of measures to protect workers from COVID-19 — including providing personal protective equipment, relaxing leave policies, and partnering with state and local health departments.
Smithfield’s workers were gravely endangered, and Smithfield slaughterhouses repeatedly emerged as epicenters for COVID-19 outbreaks. According to both workers and government safety regulators, Smithfield was not providing the safety measures it had promised. Smithfield even undermined the efforts of government officials to protect worker safety by failing to report COVID-19 cases among its workforce, and stonewalling efforts to keep workers safe. Smithfield puts workers and our communities in danger.
But that's not all Smithfield has been doing. In February, Food & Water Watch filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Smithfield's claims it has an “industry-leading sustainability program.” The reality? Smithfield regularly violates environmental regulations. It’s one of the biggest industrial polluters in the United States.
That's why Food & Water Watch is not only taking Smithfield to court to protect workers and consumers from Smithfield’s deception, but also demanding the FTC investigate environmental sustainability lies.
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
