Tyson’s Guile

The 30’s was a hard time for many Americans; it was the time of the stock market crash. Many needed another source of income thus began their search of what they could find. Jon Tyson knew he needed to find a way to make money and fast. So he took chickens and drove them to the border outside Arkansas. The money he earned from this came faster than even he expected. In 1943 he took all his earnings and invested in his first company. Not much later than this he became self sufficient with his business. He provided three mandatory tasks: the sale of baby chicks, the sale of feed, and the transportation of chickens to market (Tyson.com). Today we all know about Tyson Foods, it has become a global empire that brings in more than 27 billion dollars yearly. However there have been many speculations and concerns in regard to Tyson Foods. Tyson Foods Corporation has falsely stated that they put morals and people first but their main drive is their ambition for a food empire.
The reason why Tyson Foods has been so successful is because they tell us, consumers, that their main priority is to put us first. However, looking at their track record will show differently. Tyson Foods has had numerous run-ins with the law. From 1997 to 2001, Don Tyson, the son of founder Jon Tyson, was charged with embezzlement. In October 2001, the SEC claimed that Tyson Foods deceitfully made misleading comments about the personal benefits that Don Tyson was given. Thus they exposed that Don Tyson, the senior chairman, was taking extra amounts of cash before and after his retirement. The SEC also charged the board with giving Don Tyson too much control of the budget for Tyson Foods. The total amount he took was 3 million dollars. The corporation had to pay a 1.7 million dollar charge to the SEC due to this (TYSON FOODS MAY BE SUED). As if Don Tyson doesn't have enough money already, he was having a percentage of the profit going to him after he already stepped down. There is nothing else that can cause an action like this but greed. He wanted more and more and he didn't want to give it up. How is it possible to put others first when your power hungry? When a man like this is running the corporation how can we expect them to put consumers first. How did the Tyson clan become one of the richest families in the world? They knew that they could manipulate the system to their own advantage. Yes, they have had numerous run-ins with the law but I don’t think this number does justice to the number of times they have gotten away with an illegal activity.
You would think that if you want your corporation to be people focused then you would start from the ground up. Evidently this is not the mentality of Tyson Foods. Charges of discrimination were filed against them in their own work place. In the summer of 2003 in the maintenance building for a Tyson plant in Ashland, Alabama thirteen African Americans claimed that they didn’t appreciate walking to the bathroom and seeing a “whites only” sign hanging on one of the doors. These workers claimed that whenever they complained about this to the management they were either suspended from work or “suffered disciplinary actions”. Along with this they complained about numerous racial slurs and comments that were thrown at them during working hours. EEOC's Birmingham office chose to file a law suit against the company. The company retaliated with a law suit from workers at the same plant who testified that this kind of behavior doesn’t go on (Tyson.com). Eventually the case was thrown out the door. The point is with the message that they want to deliver to us they shouldn’t be having issues like this that seep out into the media. As I read through the article I found that the managers never had a problem with these workers until they started speaking up for themselves about the issue. If you’re Tyson, who claims they try to accommodate everyone’s needs, then having an issue like this would be crazy to even think of.
Yet Tyson continues to state that people are their main focus. This is obviously to try and establish credibility with us but looking at their records it becomes apparent that they could care less. They have even affected communities around their farm plants; January 12, 2004 the Pickett vs. Tyson Fresh Meats involved a settlement of 1.28 billion dollars (Tyson Fix OK'd). The OCM filed that Tyson, the defendant, went behind the backs of many independent cattle ranchers and found themselves a long-term supply of cattle. The cost of this action to the independent cattle ranchers is that they no longer have anyone to buy their cattle. The case dealt with 30,000 ranchers, the plaintiffs, from Nebraska who was filing the complaint against the Tyson empire. So what was the ruling? The judge threw out the claim stating, “Tyson was guaranteed a consistent, reliable supply of cattle and that Tyson needed captive supplies to meet the competition where other packers engaged in the practice.” Meet the competition? Am I missing something here because as far as I know Tyson is the competition, right? 30,000 ranchers that ended up losing their farms, homes, and possibly their lives all due to Tyson taking over like a monopoly. Why doesn’t anybody want to regulate this giant empire? Is it possible that if we did regulate them then maybe they wouldn’t be the heavyweights? When the OCM appealed the verdict to the court of appeals the court dismissed the case entirely. The president of OCM stated, “The Courts have now rendered the Packer & Stockyards Act of 1921 (P&S Act) meaningless.” This was the only act that prevented unfair market conduct, and price manipulation (Tyson Fix OK'd). It seems like Tyson got their way this time around.
Not only ranchers but farmers are affected by Tyson. Tyson has been running out the local farmlands. So their creed is to put consumers first but when you think about it consumers include everybody. Their plants continue to grow and grow and many farmers are having complaints about the Tyson farms taking over. As the plants continue to expand chicken farmers from Tyson continue to take over more and more farmland. Not only is the farmland taken away from farmers but these factories are seeping out emissions. Tyson farmlands have been contaminating the area around the plants, leaving the farmers with nothing but polluted irrigation. In January 26, 2005 farmers in Kentucky filed a lawsuit against Tyson with the support of the Sierra Club. Tyson had to spend 500,000 dollars to monitor two chicken farms that have been spreading ammonia around the area (TYSON SETTLES AIR POLLUTION). While their advertisements say one thing the numerous law suits tell us something different. They actually expect us to believe that they care about our well being? That the consumer comes first before the company? Do cattle ranchers and farmers not count as consumers? We are all in this pool together.
Another issue that just happened recently is the false advertising that Tyson Foods has been charged with. They have been dealing with this multiple times in the court. Is it really in the best interest of consumers to eat something that they don’t know what it has? Of course not, but to Tyson, making the extra dollar is more important than telling consumers the truth. Tyson knew that if they put on their chicken labels that it contains antibiotics then the rate of purchase would drop and their return of profit would decrease. In May 2007 the USDA approved Tyson chicken to be labeled "raised without Antibiotics" but quickly withdrew the approval when they discovered that the chicken’s food contained ionophores, and antimicrobials (Tyson must stop advertising chicken). This is another act of dishonesty against Tyson. I have yet to reject the idea that Tyson food doesn't put the consumers first but rather the products. They are willing to do whatever it takes to make their products sell.
The way that Tyson Foods market themselves vs. the reality of how they operate their business is a complete switch. When we go behind the curtain that they don’t show the public then their true colors come out. Not only are they affecting consumers with their products but they affect farmers with the production process. Their mass productions are affecting our lands, air, and water; but the records show that Tyson has no remorse. They only care about making the extra dollar. At the rate they are expanding the conflicts with the law will only increase. Judging from the past, the only way for their expansion to happen is to cut through laws that have been created. They will continue to find more ways to grow and will not stop in expanding as far as they can. As a result numerous farmers and ranchers will lose their lands. When you log onto the Tyson website you’ll find their motto is “Working at the heart of your menu” in black bold letters. It can make you wonder…..what really is at the heart of Tyson Foods, certainly not upholding the law nor putting us first above themselves.

 
Works Cited

"COMPANY NEWS; TYSON FOODS MAY BE SUED BY REGULATORS OVER DISCLOSURE." New York Times (17 Aug. 2004): 4. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 15 Aug. 2008 .

"COMPANY NEWS; TYSON FOODS SETTLES AIR POLLUTION SUIT FOR $500,000." New York Times (28 Jan. 2005): 4. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 15 Aug. 2008 .

“Era:30’s-80’s.” History. 2006. 15 Aug. 2008. .

"Tyson Fix OK'd. " Multinational Monitor 25.4 (2004): 4. Business Module. ProQuest. David L. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 15 Aug. 2008 .

“Tyson Foods.” Co-op America, 12 June 2008, 05:45 UTC. 15 Aug 2008.
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“Tyson Foods Resolves Alabama Employment Case; Agreement involves additional training and oversight.” Press Releases. 7 Nov. 2006. 20 Aug. 2008 .

"Tyson must stop advertising chicken as "raised without antibiotics"." Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 232.12 (15 June 2008): 1790-1790. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 15 Aug. 2008 .