Germany: Covid-19 pandemic exposes meat industry scandal

The Blame Game

We are often reminded that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” In life, everything comes with a price, and this is certainly true when it comes to the cheap meat that consumers in wealthy, industrialized countries often enjoy.

According to DW, after hundreds of Eastern European workers at the Westfleisch slaughterhouse in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany tested positive for Covid-19, it became clear that these workers were the ones paying the price, sometimes with their lives, for cheap meat on the market. Of course, Westfleisch - the third largest meat processing company in Germany - has claimed responsibility for its workers. But if you dig deeper, you will see that the company actually has a very small workforce. Meanwhile, the majority of workers in this industry are hired by subcontractors, and they mainly recruit people from Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.

Germans consume millions of animals every year. Photo: DW

The German meat industry exploits this loophole to cut costs. And on paper, companies like Westfleisch are not responsible for the inhumane living conditions that hundreds of foreign workers in their slaughterhouses endure. Subcontractors, in turn, argue that the government should set and enforce basic health and labor standards. But in Germany, this is the prerogative of municipal and state governments. The whole situation has led to a blame game, with no one willing to step in. Even the Labor Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, who has expressed his displeasure at the meat industry’s “blind eye” trend, has not made any moves. Likewise, no legislator has spoken out or taken any action on the issue.

For years, it has been an open secret that workers from Eastern and Southern Europe have been toiling for piece rates in German slaughterhouses, languishing and becoming sickly in squalor and deprivation. Westfleisch’s management knows this, as do subcontractors, local officials and police, Coesfeld district administrators, North Rhine-Westphalia state authorities, and even federal lawmakers. Coesfeld residents know this, and so do residents of neighboring towns. After all, they often encounter slaughterhouse workers at the local supermarket or bakery. And until recently, hardly anyone seemed to care, with many arguing that these workers came to Germany voluntarily and earned more than they could at home.

Pork hangs in a slaughterhouse in Mannheim, Germany. Photo: DPA

Paying a high price for cheap meat

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed everything. If three or four workers are packed into a single room, the risk of an outbreak is very high. And this risk of course poses a direct threat to the surrounding communities. Assuming there was no coronavirus outbreak, one could argue that most Germans would continue to ignore the miserable living conditions of these workers.

Back to reality, the scandal that has just come to light in Germany has global consequences. The German meat industry is so competitive that it exports to China. German companies can offer cheaper products than their global competitors. But to keep prices low, companies also have to pressure farmers to cut costs. As a result, farmers keep pigs in tiny cages and inject them with antibiotics to keep them from getting sick. The pigs are fed cheap soy or corn imported from South America, where vast tracts of rainforest have been cleared to make way for crops. This in turn harms the Earth’s climate and drives up land costs.

So in the end, everyone ends up paying a high price for cheap meat. Animals raised on antibiotics mean humans are becoming resistant to some of the drugs, and the meat industry pollutes groundwater by dumping so much animal waste into fields…

North Rhine-Westphalia state authorities have ordered the Westfleisch Meat Processing Plant to temporarily close. Photo: DPA

German industry leaders and politicians have long known about these consequences. They understand that the only way to change the situation is to switch to smaller, decentralized enterprises that produce high-quality meat in smaller quantities. This will probably reduce their revenues, since they will not be able to export pork to China. And it will certainly increase meat prices in Germany. However, polls show that a majority of Germans would support a shift to a more sustainable form of agriculture. What Europe’s leading economy needs on this journey is determination, courage and leadership to lead it there.