Smithfield Fires Paula Deen

Claiming that it’s “determined to be an
ethical food industry leader,” Smithfield has fired Paula Deen as its spokesperson over racist comments that
she made.  

How determined Smithfield is to being an “ethical
leader” is anyone’s guess, considering the fact that it’s on the brink of
being purchased by Chinese pork giant Shuanghui Group, which was caught feeding
pigs clenbuterol, a drug that can sicken humans who ingest meat tainted with it.

© Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

And Smithfield has a spotted track
record itself. It
flips back and forth on its promise to phase out gestation crates—which are so
small that pregnant pigs can’t turn around or even take a single step in any
direction—and it will require only company-owned farms to act, not its massive contract
farms.   

And in 2007, PETA documented that workers at one of
Smithfield’s suppliers dragged injured pigs out of the
facility by their snouts, ears, and legs before killing them with a
captive-bolt gun. Some of the animals had “KILL” spray-painted on
their backs. Workers also cut off piglets’ tails and pulled out their
testicles—without using any pain relief—as the youngsters screamed in pain in
front of their mothers.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise
that such an atmosphere can breed racism, too. A New York Times
article about a Smithfield slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, North
Carolina, noted that blacks
and Hispanics get “the dirty jobs at the factory.”

What You Can Do

If you don’t want to support these
abuses, please don’t buy any pork products. Go vegan today. We’re here to show you how.