Dorm
food supplier has less-than-tasty history
By
Sean Orfila
On-line Forty-Niner
While
the food at the residential dining halls
at Cal State Long Beach may exceed the quality
of many local restaurants and fast-food
chains -- most diners don’t consider
the origin of the food on their plate.
Chicken
is the most popular food on the menu, said
Patti Gray, director of residential dining
at CSULB. With an Atkins diet craze in full
swing, chicken and beef are now more popular
than ever with massive factory farming companies
that continued to succeed, regardless of
a Mad-cow disease scare.
Tyson
Foods Inc., the world’s largest poultry
producer and packager, supplies the chicken
for CSULB, as well as many K-12 institutions
around the country. According to the Sierra
Club, Tyson Foods has received $102.7 million
for its sales to the School Lunch Program
and other Federal Food Assistance Programs
since 1996.
Tyson
operates packing facilities in 15 states,
making it the largest factory farm in the
United States. The company is also a main
supplier for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The
company was ranked 177th in the Fortune
500, yet was named in the Multinational
Monitor’s “Top Ten Worst Corporations”
of 1999 after seven employees died in seven
months at Tyson’s facilities and a
slew of lawsuits regarding environmental
and labor disputes embattled the company.
According
to the Sierra Club’s Web site, Maryland
environmental investigators confirmed pits
of dead chicken carcasses and huge piles
of exposed manure at two Tyson chicken factories,
after a Washington Post reporter had observed
the alleged violations and contacted state
officials. Tyson Farms’ actions violated
the terms of a recent $6 million settlement
of a federal pollution lawsuit by continuing
to dump chicken carcasses and manure in
shallow open-air pits, rather than in disposal
sheds. For these violations, Tyson was fined
$70,000.
In
2001, the U.S. Justice Department filed
a 36-count indictment against Tyson Foods
and six of its employees, executives and
managers. The charges regarded a conspiracy
to smuggle illegal aliens from Mexico and
Central America to work in 15 of its U.S.
poultry processing plants.
The
Justice Department alleged that Tyson and
their coconspirators assisted the workers
in obtaining fraudulent identification and
employment documents. Three employees pleaded
guilty and were fired. In March 2003, a
federal grand jury acquitted Tyson Foods
and three of its managers of the charges.
In
another controversial case, Tyson Foods
pleaded guilty to giving former USDA secretary
Mike Espy over $12,000 in illegal gratuities
and agreed to pay $6 million in criminal
fines and investigative expenses. Two Tyson
executives were also eventually convicted
and sentenced to prison terms, but were
later pardoned by President Bill Clinton.
Tyson Farms operated a plant in Arkansas
and was a top donor to Clinton when he ran
for governor. Secretary Espy resigned and
was later acquitted.
Factory
farming has been a major focus for animal-rights
groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals. In an interesting move, PETA
bought 240 shares of stock in the company
last year. PETA said in a press release
that they bought the shares to give “the
group the right to attend and speak at annual
meetings and to submit shareholder resolutions
to try to end some of the worst abuses endured
by the animals whom Tyson raises and kills.”
Recent
public outcry erupted after an employee
of Tyson Foods contacted PETA to voice concerns
regarding the chicken’s treatment
at a Tyson processing plant. In that statement,
available on PETA’s Web site, Virgil
Butler reported that he witnessed birds
being blown apart by dry-ice bombs, birds
intentionally scalded to death by the hundreds
and birds having legs broken to fit into
shackles that were too small. Tyson Foods
said that Butler was a “disgruntled
employee” and denied the statement.
Residential
Dining Services offers vegetarian options.
“We try to have a vegan or a vegetarian
item for every lunch and every dinner,”
Gray said. There is also a vegetarian item
for every breakfast, Gray said, they also
cater to anyone with a special diet, including
people who request organic produce.
“We
develop relationships with the residents
here,” Gray said. “We can’t
just lie to them and put out whatever we
want.”
CSULB
has the lowest rates for meal prices, probably
in the western US for college dining, said
Gray. Gray also said that many students
will do not like to stray away from what
they are used to eating.
“Anything
with a vegetarian where you name it or you
say tofu, people go ‘ew’ and
they’re not familiar with what the
name is. It’s interesting what people
are used to. I think our vegetarian entrees
are some of the best,” Gray said.
Major
corporations such as General Mills, Post,
Dole, Tyson and others supply CSULB food.
Human Rights Watch has led a campaign to
pressure banana growers in Ecuador to enforce
labor laws that prohibit child labor on
banana plantations. Human Rights Watch said
on their Web site that Dole fails “to
use their financial influence to insist
that their supplier plantations respect
workers’ rights.”
The
produce at CSULB is very high, said Clint
Campbell, director of retail food operations
for 49er Shops. Every morning, delivery
drivers from Ingardia Brothers, a food delivery
service based in Costa Mesa, chose fruits
and vegetables and deliver them to campus.
Campbell said most of the produce comes
from California, however, produce will occasionally
come from Mexico or other countries.
Students
and faculty, who usually eat with friends
and colleagues, may or may not consider
where the food on their plate originates.
Residential dining at CSULB is well known
for providing a fresh meal and a deal. It’s
hard to find another place on campus or
in the community where one can enjoy an
all-you-can eat meal between $2 and $3 and
like most restaurants, diners are given
a choice of what they choose to eat and
what companies they support.
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