(Part One) Inside a Russian Slaughterhouse, It’s a Far Cry From ‘The Jungle’
I didn’t know what to expect, walking into a Russian slaughterhouse. The fact that Miratorg, a large corporation, had agreed to give me access was surprising. “We have nothing to hide,” said Miratorg’s PR manager.
I wanted to take pictures, so could I bring a camera?
“Of course.”
Miratorg is proud of its gigantic, gleaming plant, which rises up from rolling cropland in the countryside of Bryansk, a province 250 miles southwest of Moscow. If it was in America, it would rank among the top 15, capacity-wise.
But getting access to these facilities in the U.S. can be difficult. And ag-gag laws have created a hostile environment for anyone who might audit a meat processing facility. And I understand why, because the slaughtering industry is caught in a difficult situation. Collectively, they have made good strides in improving sanitation, animal welfare, and worker safety. Plants today are a paradise compared to those portrayed in Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, about conditions in Chicago’s packing houses. Once the novel was published on this date in 1906, it led to a number of reforms.
However, popular perception just won’t let the industry off the hook. It’s a reality Bill Rupp, president of JBS packing in Colorado, has grappled with. In an effort to create greater transparency about what it does, JBS hosted a press day last year. You can hear the sincerity in the voices of the plant managers via this NPR radio story as they give their tour. But it’s tough for a reporter encountering butchered animals not to fixate on gory details, like heads lying on a conveyor belt.
“I think it’s part of the evolution we’re going through on transparency,” Rupp tells NPR’s Luke Runyon. “We’ve seen it so many times, where there’s been a photo allowed, and then they zero in on the piece of meat on the floor. And then it becomes ‘Deplorable Conditions At Local Packing House.’”
Inside Miratorg, I meet two Russian versions of Rupp: Natalia Lomako, director of quality, and Ilya Yatsenkov, a senior technology assistant. They genuinely want to show off their facility. But to do that, first we change into white pants, rubber boots, hat, and insulated lab coats. I feel like a Stormtrooper.
Read More: National Geographic
