I am a slaughterhouse worker! AMA about your pork!

Do you ever eat pork, or have you been put off entirely?

I've never been a huge pork fan, but I'll eat it on sandwiches. So no, I haven't been

What is your job at the slaughterhouse?

If you look at one of the pictures, you'll see these stainless steel carts. My job is to push them into the next room, weigh them, then push them into the grinding room, write the weight down, grab an empty one, and wheel it back. I walk in a circle for 8 hours a day

Worry about getting replaced by a machine at all?

A lot of these jobs require adaptation, such as knowing how to respond to sanitation problems, when and how to clean each tool, and checking for loose bones. Machines are a long way off from knowing how to adapt to every scenario, so not in the near future.

I love the clear response. Wise answer.

They pay him for his wisdom.

Man, I wish

I’m not being gratuitous, but how does your job make you feel? Do you feel ok about working where you do?

I don't enjoy it. It's not a fun job, but I don't feel guilty or morally wrong, if that's what you mean

You should wear a step counter. See how far you walk a day

I walk about 6.8 miles, give or take

Have you ever questioned what was on the cart before it went into the grinder?

It's the job of the person standing behind the carts to filter out bones and abscesses. Sometimes he'll miss something and I'll help him out, but 99% of the time it's perfect meat

I wouldn’t worry. A machine is coming for that job when it gets cheap enough. You may be the last hog cart pusher circle walker of all time

There is some good news. I do a number of odd jobs around the plant, in addition to cart pushing. I communicate in between departments, fetch needed items, and deal with minor problems. It will take some time for a machine to be able to do any of those things.

Cart pushing also requires a certain amount of adaptability, such as avoiding obstacles and waiting for the way to clear, so I'm not concerned about losing my job to a robot

Not to worry you because it will be a while for you, but the automatic forklifts in the engine assembly plant at my old company would pick up pallets of parts, drive them all through the plant, while avoiding the other lifts.

It will be here in the next 5-10 years. But you will be promoted to cart fixer upper before then.

Some of them need fixing. Stuck wheels, slanted, noisy, but no one does it so I must suffer

What changes have you noticed in new workmates when they joined? (eg. Diet change, mental wellness hit) and Have any of them downright quit the job on the spot after just a few days?

Most people who start don't even last a day. I think the hard work, sights, and smells make most leave real quick. I was determined to stick it out though.

My fellow workers are often addicts, ex-convicts, and immigrants. People with few options, so I think they view this as a job and don't concern themselves with the big-picture morality of animal rights

Interesting company. You are probably stuck there due to limited options as well. If you get an option to do another type of work for $500/ week for similar hours, will you switch?

Yes, depending on the work. If I didn't want to do that line of work, then I would refuse. I've gotten comfortable here, so changing my job would have to be worth my while

I don’t think that just because someone doesn’t have any other choice means they can relegate working in a slaughterhouse as ‘just a job.’ I would imagine being forced to work a job you don’t want bc you have zero other options, rather than working a job because you don’t mind it, would make it even LESS of ‘just a job’ and more of a serious detriment to your well being.

I’d also like to bring to anyone’s attention that the system is very much designed to funnel in undocumented immigrants and convicts. These folk can’t report to authorities that their job is unsafe, or not paying legally, or downright abusive— because that’s mean either potentially turning themselves in to customs, or getting sent to their PO. Pretty insidious. And pretty fucking horrid that we treat human beings the same way we treat livestock.

I have never experienced illegal pay, abuse, or especially unsafe working conditions. I'll admit it's more dangerous than an office job, but that's how it is with most blue collar jobs

smells

I was wondering about that. I'm in food safety, and one of the women I work with did a stint at another lab in the company that's in a chicken slaughtering plant. She complained when she got back about how bad everything smelled, and how she couldn't get it out of her clothes. And she wasn't even in the slaughtering area

My girlfriend complains about that as well, even after I started to use those scent beads in the laundry

Do you have vegetarian friends or family?

One of my sisters is vegan. We haven't talked about it at all though, so I have no idea what her thoughts are on it

I'm an ethical vegan and I enjoy talking to slaughterhouse workers to get their perspective. Pretty much all of them, like you mentioned above, have very limited options on where to work and are there for the job. Consumers pay for it, the industry meets the demand. I'd just rather it wasn't such a huge industry and maybe that would open up other options for you and your coworkers. No hate whatsoever towards you or your coworkers.

I wanted to go into sport photography, but after 2,000 applications, I gave up and went to the first job I could get. Thank you for your understanding

1. How much do you get paid an hour at your meat harvesting job?
2. What pig part do you dislike eating? Why?

$15/hr, plus $40 bonus for every week with perfect attendance.

The non-meat parts are absolutely disgusting. I've seen (and smelled) every pig organ and none are appetizing

How do you survive with this pay?

The cost of living is low, and I don't have many expenses

Has working there made you make any changes to your diet, or are you pretty much still eating what you’ve always eaten? (I have no agenda here, I’m genuinely curious; I think if I ever worked at a meat plant it would make me go vegetarian.)

The only real difference is I make sure I cook raw meats thoroughly more often now. I've seen a lot of things that I think are unsanitary, but the guidelines say is okay, so I prefer to be cautious

Can you describe what things you find unsanitary but are safe for regulations?

When meat falls on the floor, we just rinse it off with cold water. I find it hard to believe that that's sanitary, but they claim it is so whatever.

Cooking my pork extra longer now, thanks for the heads up lmao

No problem

I worked at a bigger pork plant in Missouri and stuff not allowed by guidelines but pushed through anyway is the problem. Stuff like immigrants chewing and Spitting this "beatlenut" which is some kind of tobacco product the Bermamiese loved even though it's banned. People just using chew in general. Stuff falls on the floor and can be washed off by certified workers. Also they hold stuff in freezers for a very long time. At employee meat sales you could get stuff a year old. Workers just keep hitting the bypass button on the xray machine from what I heard as well.

Most of it is just workers bypassing rules and other parts are supervisors not seeing things that would technically throw out a huge load of product. Luckily there are people that do care and will tag product so it can't ship when they spot stuff USDA and QSFA workers do stop alot of bad product from hitting the market. But I' had a roommate who was qsfa and he was former military and took his job deadly serious he tagged alot of stuff and never backed down from a yelling supervisor because they will yell and weedle to get a pass (their bonuses are based on product moved). They bounced his ass out of there because he wouldn't bend on the rules.

Worker apathy is huge. I see people go to the bathroom and not was their hands, not wear gloves, wipe their noses on their gloves, spitting in the drains, drinking from the meat sinks, not wearing masks, and so on.

What do they do with all the blood?

When we rinse off the floors and walls, it gets rinsed down the drain. So presumably it goes into the sewer, but I don't know where the drain goes. They might have a special setup

I'm pretty sure this is how several monsters are spawned in the Witcher lore.

Wind's howling

How many hours a week do you work? It is labor intensive?

I work a little over 30 hours a week, usually because we work pretty quick and we don't do that many hogs.

It's VERY labor intensive. I'm constantly moving, pushing, and shoving meat all over the plant

How many miles do you walk each day?

So I counted about 100 steps per cart once.

It's 5 halves to a cart. 300 hogs is 600 halves

600/5=120 carts

One step is about a yard, so 12,000 yards.

6.8 miles, give or take

Does that equate to being in great physical shape?

My cardiac fitness has improved. Before I came here I was very sedentary, averaging 100BPM, but now I'm at 70BPM. I also have noticed my arm muscles getting a little larger and I don't get tired as easily

Farm fit, as they say?

I guess so

Has no one asked the grossest thing you've seen/ experienced yet? Maybe I missed it.

Seen is without a doubt gut soup. We have an augur, which pushes the inedible parts onto trucks to be processed, but if the normal guy has left, then eventually it fills up and the guts form a layer on top, meaning the entire thing looks like guts stuffed to the brim of a soup bowl.

The worst thing that I did (or was done to) was probably being the victim of an exploding abscess. They are this pale green goop and they tend to pop, which means they can explode on you. They smell terrible and get all over you, and since they are giant sacks of germs you have to change your uniform and wash. It sucks, but it's something that happens

Do you watch the pig die or hear it?

Both. Watching it is quiet, because they are unconscious. I have no idea what makes them squeal though

Are the pigs raised by the same company that slaughters them? If so, what do they eat? If not, what measures are taken to ensure the health of the pigs before processing?

No, we contract out with farmers. We keep pigs for a few days at most.

As far as health goes, I'm not really in the know about that, but I do know I had to sign a humane handling document, and part of that said to keep the barn stocked with food and water, as well as limits on how many hogs per unit of area there can be.

Not OP, but a farmer who raises hogs and has worked in a butcher shop.

Generally, commercial hogs are fed a grain ration comprised of soy, corn, wheat, and minerals. They may be supplemented with other feeds, such as peanuts, cottonseed, spent grains, brewers mash, reject produce, and other items. Hogs are natures garbage disposal! Some types of pork eat a speciality diet, but that is more commonly found at farmers markets, health food stores, or high end grocers.

Pork that will be retailed to the public (via grocery store, direct from the farm, restaurant, school, etc) is processed under USDA inspection. This means a USDA trained/employed inspector is on site, and has to sign off that the carcass is safe for consumption. They are not paid by the plant, so have no incentive to allow unsafe meat to be processed further for consumption. Carcasses that do not meet these health standards, are rejected and disposed of.

There are also regulations about the condition of the animal prior to being processed. They must be able to walk under their own power, no obvious wounds/infections, etc.

Exactly right about the inspections. I've seen that happen and the rejected ones are very gross. I know we have multiple inspectors, and they appear to have a rotation

Has anyone lost a body part while there?

I heard some guy lost a finger a few years ago, but that's just a rumor. I've never seen anything like that while I was there

I used to be a truck driver, an was picking up a load from a slaughter house. I saw them unloading the pigs. The fear in their eyes, the ones that died from stress in transit. It changed my view on pork for ever.

How does your job effect your mental health?

I think you were projecting. You know what was going to happen to those pigs, so you put yourself in their place, which is why you interpreted what you saw as fear. If this was a pig orgy plant, you'd probably think they were hella excited to go.

I don't think it affects my mental health

What part should consumers be extra through when cooking iyo?

Honestly, all of them. Get a meat thermometer and make sure it's cooked if you buy it raw.

Do you think the pigs know what's happening when they are herded onto the slaughterhouse floor and start to hear the screams and smell the death?

It's hard to say. Many of them like to wander, and some tend to be rowdy. My boss once told me the smaller ones are very uncooperative and make unnecessary trouble. He claims he saw a small pig pick a fight over water, even though there were like five other water stations he could use. That's hearsay though, so read with a grain of salt. All things considered, I doubt they comprehend what's going on, but simply don't want to be there, like a kid in a grocery store

Is it true that a screaming pig about to get slaughtered sounds terrifying?....I've heard ppl say the scream is very "human-like"....is this true?

No, it sounds exactly like a normal pig squeal, at least to me

How do you live on $280 a week?

This was an unusually light week because of the winter storm. I usually bring home $450

Ever read “the Jungle”,by Upton Sinclair?

I've never read it, but I love history so I'm familiar with the content of it and it's affect on the meat industry

If a middle-aged guy named Tom with a hat and glasses came in and someone said to show him around would you know right away that he's actually your boss? (Seriously though, have you met the owners of the slaughterhouse? If so, how is your relationship with them. Can you move up in the company?)

Yes I have. I'm on a first name basis with them, and so is everyone else. They prefer to hire people with management experience though, so you can't really start at the bottom and work your way up

What goes into pork mince?

I'm not familiar with pork mince, so I don't know

I believe pork mince is British for ground pork.

Then it's everything we aren't saving that day. We might save hams or shoulders one day, and on other days we aren't. Anything that isn't saved gets ground up.

Only meat tho, right? I think this is the “what’s in a hotdog” question, aka, do you guys throw in the eyeballs etc?

Anything that is not meat (eyeballs, intestines, etc.) is either disposed of or filtered out. There's no non-meat in your meat

You should suggest to the higher ups that maybe they should consider packaging and selling the small intestines. Smithfield and a few other companies do, but there is a shortage right now and can't be found anywhere. They would sell well on the east coast and in the south. I also know there are some parts of the west where there is high demand but no one can find them. They're called Chitterlings. They could corner the market right now due to the shortages. supposedly it's a labor issue for the major packagers.

I've only seen what appears to be intestines getting thrown away. It's possible they pack them somewhere else and I'm mistaken. But that's a pretty good idea, actually.

How does sausage get made?

The bone-free cuts of meat are ground, salted, chilled, and dumped into large cardboard containers of meat. Those then get shipped out to the processing plants where they become sausage. I can't say what happens after that

In my experience with livestock, cattle, ducks and chickens don’t seem to realize their oncoming deaths. Pigs do. Is that your experience?

I have seen some of them try to leave the stunning room, going back the way they came, but that door is closed after they are all herded in. They don't yell or fight, but they seem very interested in leaving, kind of like a dog who wants you to open the door. They just wait by it. Eventually though, they'll be herded to the stunner

Would you be allowed to bring any home to eat?

We get an employee discount on raw meat, but you have to order it in large quantities

The smell?

It's revolting, but you can get used to it. Imagine rotting meat and feces rolled together

What are things people get wrong about slaughter houses?

There's no abuse. I've never seen a pig get beaten, kicked, punched, or abused. They are led calmly to the stunner, and are killed while stunned. It's actually quite tame

About twenty years ago I worked in a place that processed 8000 hogs daily. The worst job title in the joint was "electric butt-gun operator", curious if such a position exists in a smaller operation? It involved sticking the end of a shotgun shaped device into the pigs rectum, and when you pull the trigger a rod shoots out and hooks open up on the end, and it then retracts and literally rips their guts outta their arse. I was content enough deboning shoulders...would be a rad title on a resume though...

Never heard of anything like that. We gut them after they die just by cutting open their bellies and letting the guts fall out

What’s your favorite kind of burger?

Whopper with cheese if you mean generic, but I love experimenting around at Five Guys more. I'm trying to save, so I don't get it as often as I'd like

How do you rid yourself of the smell after a days work? Do you have a significant other that you live with?

I do laundry every week, and I use laundry scent beads. She claims she can still smell it though. We don't live together, so she doesn't have to be around it a lot

How terrible is the smell? I used to live in Sioux Falls and they have a Slaughterhouse in town and it stinks up the entire city.

There's a neighboring apartment building, and I heard they complain about the smell constantly. It smells like rotting meat, feces, and death all rolled into one, but it's something you get used to

Can you tell us more about getting the bones out? Is that all by hand? Do workers use extra fancy tongs, or hydraulic tools?

Apart from safety equipment, each worker has a meat hook, a set of knives, and a sharpener. After the hog is cut into pieces by a giant saw, the workers grab meat off the conveyor belt and cut out the bones with their knives

Hi there! How long did it take you to adapt to this work environment? Has anything in your life outside of work changed after you’ve started working at the slaughterhouse?

Not very long. My first day I thought I would puke, but by my second week I thought it was completely normal.

After I started working there, I bought a car, have my own apartment, play the stock market, and spend a lot more on hobbies. So my life has improved quite a bit

If you were working there in 2019 when the previous administration removed some of the USDA oversight from pork plants, are you seeing more, fewer, or about the same number of quality violations?

I started in September of 2020, so I can't say

Is it still alive? 😥

No. They are stunned ASAP, and die right after. Everything happens after that

How do you like your pork chops? Well done, medium, medium rare, or rare?

I don't think I've ever had a pork chop

I might sound like a vegan for asking this, but do the animals suffer or is their end quick?

They are stunned when they die. They don't feel a thing, and they bleed to death in about 30 seconds

If your employer finds out you're doing this, is there a possibility we could be eating you in the near future?

Doubtful. We work at half capacity and I'm the only one willing to push the carts. They might get rid of me, but it's unlikely

What’s the best way to cook with bacon?

I assume frying it in a pan like everyone. We don't cook anything at the plant

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The only work related dreams I've ever had was a person falling into a large vat of meat (which don't exist), and one time a pig talking to me in my mind. I asked if it cared about being slaughtered and it said 'no, not really'

You should read "pig" by Roald dahl

I'll keep an eye out for it

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No, that dream came well after I worked there.

To morally justify my actions, I view it in natural terms. We are humans, very intelligent, social creatures. We like meat, and so we use our considerable intelligence to make what we like, the end result being slaughterhouses. Any other animal would do the same, we just have the privilege to do it

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Humans should not hunt other humans. Panthera leos should not hunt other Panthera leos. Just as animals should not eat other animals of the same species, humans should not eat other humans. I am a human, and I treat members of my species as equals, while I view others as outsiders. I enjoy the company of other species, but I don't give them the same respect as humans. I think all animals should be fair game for humans, except other humans, just as we are fair game to any meat eating animal

What does it feel like when you kill a pig?

I've never killed one. Only a few have. I work in the harvest room, where we remove bones from meat

What's the job path on that? Do you gotta know a guy or can you just start killing pigs? I assume there are humane laws around that job, but just curious to know how you even start here

After COVID hit, I didn't have anywhere to go. My girlfriend offered her apartment to me, if I worked somewhere. I literally walked in the front door, asked about the sign that said HELP WANTED, and they gave me a bunch of paperwork to fill out. This was the first place of a few I went to that gave me an offer.

When you come home from work do you leave your clothes outside or otherwise away from the house since they smell so bad?

The first thing I do when I get home is shower. My clothes go right in the laundry basket which I keep in an unused closet