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By Root 1308 0

Dave Domina, one of the attorneys representing Callicrate et al., explained the legal basis for the case and supplied hundreds of pages of documents. Industry and Trade Summary: Poultry (Washington, D.C.: U.S. International Trade Commission, USITC Publication 3148, December 1998) gives a thorough overview of the American poultry industry. Marc Linder, a professor at the University of Iowa Law School, introduced me to the subject of poultry growers, poultry workers, and their misfortunes. Linder’s article “I Gave My Employer a Chicken That Had No Bone: Joint Firm-State Responsibility for Line-Speed-Related Occupational Injuries,” Case Western Reserve Law Review 46, no. 1 (Fall 1995), contains an excellent history of the industry and its labor relations. Steve Bjerklie’s three-part article on contract poultry growing, which appeared in Meat & Poultry (August, October, and December 1994), is a scathing indictment of the large processors by a longtime observer of the industry. The investigative reports by Dan Fesperman and Kate Shatzin, published by the Baltimore Sun in February and March of 1999, chronicle the latest processor abuses. For the story of the McNugget, I largely relied on Laura Konrad Jereski’s account in “McDonald’s Strikes Gold with Chicken McNuggets,” Marketing and Media Decisions, March 22, 1985; Timothey K. Smith, “Changing Tastes: By End of the Year Poultry Will Surpass Beef in the U.S. Diet; Price, Health Concerns Propel Move Toward Chicken; The Impact of McNuggets,” Wall Street Journal, September 17, 1987; and John F. Love, Behind the Arches, pp. 338–43.

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133 Hank was the first person: At the request of Hank’s family, I have not used his real name.

136 about half a million ranchers sold off: Based on numbers provided by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

In 1968, McDonald’s bought ground beef: For the consolidation of the chain’s beef purchasing, see Love, Behind the Arches, pp. 333–38.

137 at the height of the Beef Trust: Cited in Competition and the Livestock Market, Report of a Task Force Commissioned by the Center for Rural Affairs (Walt Hill, Neb.: April 1990), p. 31.

In 1970 the top four meatpacking firms: Cited ibid., p. 31.

Today the top four meatpacking firms: The figure comes from a USDA study, cited in George Anthan, “2 Reports Focus on Packers’ Profits,” Des Moines Register, May 30, 1999.

138 the rancher’s share of every retail dollar: Estimate cited in “Prepared Statement of Keith Collins, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Before the House Committee on Agriculture,” Federal News Service, February 10, 1999.

control about 20 percent of the live cattle in the United States: 1997 estimate of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, cited in “Prepared Statement of Keith Collins.” See also “Captive Supplies — Who, What, When, Where and Why,” Colorado Farmer, October 1997.

as much as 80 percent of the cattle being exchanged: Cited in Concentration in Agriculture, p. 31.

“A free market requires”: Competition and the Livestock Market, p. v.

139 Eight chicken processors now control: Cited in Industry and Trade Summary: Poultry, p. 8.

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi now produce: Ibid., p. A-3.

“I have an idea”: Quoted in Monci Jo Williams, “McDonald’s Refuses to Plateau,” Fortune, November 12, 1984.

140 a new breed of chicken: See Love, Behind the Arches, p. 342.

the second-largest purchaser of chicken: Cited in Williams, “McDonald’s Refuses to Plateau.”

A chemical analysis of McNuggets: The researcher was Dr. Frank Sacks, assistant professor of medicine at the Harvard University Medical School, and he utilized gas chromatography to analyze McNuggets for Science Digest. See “Study Raises Beef over Fast-Food Frying,” Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1986, and Irvin Molotsky, “Risk Seen in Saturated Fats Used in Fast Foods,” New York Times, November 15, 1985.

140 still derive much of their flavor from beef additives: The ingredients and fat profile of McNuggets can be found in “McDonald’s Nutrition Facts,” McDonald