Egg Producer Flaunts Regulations: Consumers Deal with 500 Million Salmonella-Tainted Eggs

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Jill Richardson

Out of Control Egg Producer Flaunts Regulations: Consumers Deal with 500 Million Salmonella-Tainted Eggs
This problem extends beyond the egg industry and is typical of nearly every sector of food and agriculture.

August 25, 2010 |


The recent recall of 500 million eggs due to salmonella should surprise no one.

The official term agribusiness will use to refer to Austin "Jack" DeCoster, the owner of the farm that produced the tainted eggs, is "bad apple." That's what they call anyone who gets caught for outrageous ethical breaches in agriculture. Farmers who are caught abusing their animals and workers, committing flagrant environmental crimes, and selling record amounts of tainted food are all "bad apples." The implication is that everyone else, those who haven't made front-page headlines for their bad behavior, would never dream of doing such a thing on their farms.

The State of Iowa's term for DeCoster is "habitual violator." He earned the title a decade ago after repeatedly flooding Iowa's waterways with massive amounts of hog manure. In Iowa, habitual violators of water quality laws are fined up to $25,000 per day per violation (compared to the normal $5,000 per day per violation) and are not allowed to build or expand any "animal feeding operation structures." Apparently the increased fines weren't much of a deterrent for DeCoster.

DeCoster's violations of the law began long before he got to Iowa. By 1996, he had built his egg operation in Maine to one with five million hens producing 23 million eggs per week. And he had earned the attention of Clinton's Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, who said that DeCoster's workers were treated like "animals." The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined DeCoster $3.6 million after finding workers "handling manure and dead chickens with their bare hands, and living amid rats and cockroaches in the company's trailer park."

DeCoster continued, establishing operations to states with larger egg industries, Iowa and Ohio, and racking up legal violations. DeCoster's violations are varied, making it clear that he has little regard for any law that might stand between him and profit. Despite his lack of regard for the law, he was one of the largest donors opposing California's Proposition 2 in 2008, which requires that egg-laying hens are given enough space to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs, and turn around freely. Once Proposition 2 became law, would he bother following it anyway? Or would it become one more pesky fine to pay if and when he is caught? .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/food/147956/out_of_control_egg_producer_flaunts_regulations%3A_consumers_deal_with_500_million_salmonella-tainted_eggs/

[dkf]

1. Again we see that fines are not enough.

Gross negligence like this must be punished with jail time.

[trotsky]

2. Fines can simply be included in the profit calculation.

And if the fine is too large, the employees will suffer more than the owner ever will. I agree, jail time is the answer.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. And the merging of many many companies into a few also increases the chances that any problem

will become a big problem.
I believe it was Keith Olbermann who had a spokesperson on his show that said that virtually ALL the eggs in this country come from only six sources. Corporate farming is not only killing the family farm, it is killing families as well.

[Canuckistanian]

4. How many more Blankenships and DeCosters will there be?

ANYONE who endangers human life and treats workers like shit should have their businesses dissolved and face serious charges.

And fines should be PROPORTIONAL to to the income of the law-breakers company. They can't go on treating fines as a "business expense".

[Tansy_Gold]

5. The question should be rephrased --

How many more Blankenships and DeCosters ARE THERE, RIGHT NOW, that we just don't know about?

[Canuckistanian]

6. I think they're WELL known in their industries and communities

But they're just not on the national radar screen yet.

I'm still shocked when I hear about these bastards who've gotten away with crimes for SO LONG and are still in business.

[Cassandra]

8. So much for the market policing itself.

On the local level, if you know a supplier is a pig, you can just avoid the product. On this huge scale, with the information hushed up, you can't know.

[Cassandra]

7. I've been buying all my eggs at the farmers' market...

for over a year now. More expensive but safer and they taste better, too. And the farmers are really nice men and women.