Upton Sinclair And The Meat-Packing Industry

Innocent Belief Famously known for his novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair changed American life in the early 1900s without a doubt through his literature. However, many don’t realize that Sinclair reformed American life in more than one instance, through more than one book. At times, he even reached beyond his realm of literature to discuss other needed adjustments. Besides the serendipitous changes he created for the meat packaging industry, Sinclair’s other actions throughout his life are, subjectively, important to American history, according to Anthony Arthur. In his biography, Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair, Arthur reveals his bias towards Sinclair, while supplying a relevant nature to his writing across an in-depth review of Sinclair’s

Sinclair sheds light on how unsanitary the meat processing industry was, using words to paint a mental picture in the minds of the reader leaving them with a bad taste in their mouths. This story eventually led to the creation of the Pure Food and Drug Act after people went crazy reading what was described in the book. Although no specific facts were provided other than the contents in the book itself, it held true accounts of what the industry was like. Sinclair would speak of the rat poison being left close to the meat, or the use of the rotting meat to be sold. With this story people began to see the gruesome conditions by which their food was being handled.

In Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, Sinclair illuminates the horrors of the meat packing industry during the early 1900’s. This caused a push for change in the food industry. In 1906 the Food and Drugs Act was signed. For drugs there had to be a label that stated what was in the drug. It prevented the interstate transport of unlawful food and drugs.

“- And while we are on the topic of horrible and unethical practices of the rich man taking advantage of the poor, lets discuss the conditions of the working man in the meat industry.” He continued to discuss the gruesome, shocking, and awful treatments that the men had to deal with on a daily, reading an excerpt from his article, “Let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle rooms, and he might have a sore that would put him out of the world; all the joints in his fingers might be eaten by the acid, one by

World News Saad Zafar 4A 10/12/2015 Food/Impurities/Meat Packing Meat is an essential part of everyone’s daily nutritions. Is meat really safe to eat ? Theodore Roosevelt has passed the Meat Inspection act of 1906. The meat industry is corrupted still way other companies try to out do other meat companies ,so they can have the bigger reputation in the country. Through the meat inspection act companies have to insure they can pass otherwise they’ll be out of business.

February 26, 1906, Upton Sinclair published his novel titled “The Jungle”, which informed its readers about the unsanitary practices and health violations that occurred in the meatpacking industry in America. Due to the information that Americans were receiving about what went into their packaged meat, citizens demanded that something must change. The FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, was almost a direct result of Upton’s novel. They made sure that the events going on in the factories would not continue, so the FDA passed various laws and regulations regarding the meatpacking industry.

“The Jungle” was horrifying to many Americans, because they had not been aware of what was going on. After the book was published, many laws were put in place and many changes were made to the working conditions of these factories. In 1906, after the release of “The Jungle”, the Food and Drug Act was passed. The Food and Drug Act created many laws that ensured the food we were consuming was safe to eat. If Upton Sinclair hadn’t fought for what he thought was right, our food may have still been made under unhealthy conditions.

The contempt he had developed for the upper class as a youth had led Sinclair to socialism in 1903, and in 1904 he was sent to Chicago by the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason to write an exposé on the mistreatment of workers in the meatpacking industry. After spending several weeks conducting undercover research on his subject matter, Sinclair threw himself into the manuscript that would become The Jungle. Initially rejected by publishers, in 1906 the novel was finally released by Doubleday to great public acclaim—and shock. Despite Sinclair’s intention to reveal the plight of laborers at the meatpacking plants, his vivid descriptions of the cruelty to animals and unsanitary conditions there caused great public outcry and ultimately changed the way people shopped for food. Upon its release, Sinclair enlisted his fellow writer and friend Jack London to help publicize his book and assist in getting his message across to the masses.

In the early twentieth century, Upton Sinclair, who is the author of “The Jungle”, exposed the unsanitary of the working conditions in the meat industry during the progressive era. The mass-production method was tended to replace skilled workers

The Progressive Era was a time of urbanization within families, and the food system played a very big part during this time. Three main things were prioritized within the cities: the purity of food, milk, and drinking water (en.wikipedia.org). These three things took center stage because they were some of the most important aspects for daily life. By creating the FDA, Roosevelt would ensure his people that the quality and safety of food was at its best. Along with the passing of the Food and Drug Act in 1906, Roosevelt also passed the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, an act that “prohibited the sale of adulterated or misbranded livestock and derived products as food and ensured that livestock were slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions.”

The Jungle was released to expose meatpacking industries’ ways of treating workers and meat. With this release, changes occurred. President Roosevelt urged Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This act required the Department of Agriculture to inspect every hog and steer whose carcass state lines. In other words, it required companies to pay to get their facilities and practices checked by an inspector to assure everything was being done correctly.

Sparked by the Progressive Movement, the Federal Government passed legislation to protect the health and well-being of American citizens. Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle which described the meat industry as disease-ridden and corrupt caught the attention of President Roosevelt. An investigation revealed that bribery, unsanitary conditions and contaminated food were commonplace. Individual states had enacted laws regulating food purity and safety by 1900, however,

Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food. Body 1: The meat packing industry’s working conditions were much worse in the 1900’s than they are today. In the novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, working conditions were horrible for immigrants who were employed in these factories. People in these factories were worked very hard and used up till they could not work anymore. In the novel Jurgis broke his ankle because of the unsafe

Upton Sinclair’s, The Jungle is a novel, which affected the food industry in 1900’s but also in America today. People have learned over the years the truths about the food industry, revealed through Sinclair’s detailed evidence. Sinclair meant to aim at the public’s heart but instead he shot straight at their stomachs. One would easily be convinced to never again buy or eat meat again. Fortunately, people have seen changes from 1906 and have been currently trying to repair the Food Industry.

The meat packing industry disregards animal’s emotions and their rights all together by the malicious treatment of animals. The way animals are being treated is highly unfair. Being slaughtered for their body parts and suffering just to be used for protein or an asset to humans is unbearable. An animal’s life is at equal values to a human and deserve the same rights as