The Chain

On the production line in American packinghouses, there is one cardinal rule: the chain never slows. Every year, the cha... (more)

On the production line in American packinghouses, there is one cardinal rule: the chain never slows. Every year, the chain conveyors that set the pace of slaughter have continually accelerated to keep up with America{u2019}s growing appetite for processed meat. Acclaimed journalist Ted Genoways uses the story of Hormel Foods and soaring recession-era demand for its most famous product, Spam, to probe the state of the meatpacking industry, including the expansion of agribusiness and the effects of immigrant labor on Middle America. Genoways interviewed scores of industry line workers, union leaders, hog farmers, and local politicians and activists. He reveals an industry pushed to its breaking point and exposes alarming new trends: sick or permanently disabled workers, abused animals, water and soil pollution, and mounting conflict between small towns and immigrant workers. The narrative moves across the heartland, from Minnesota, to witness the cut-and-kill operation; to Iowa, to observe breeding and farrowing in massive hog barns; to Nebraska, to see the tense town hall meetings and broken windows caused by the arrival of Hispanic workers; and back to Minnesota, where political refugees from Burma give the workforce the power it needs to fight back. (less)

A parent receives a panicked phone call from a stranger who reveals that both of their children have been kidnapped by s... (more)

A parent receives a panicked phone call from a stranger who reveals that both of their children have been kidnapped by someone who demands that they abduct another child to prevent the murders of their own. (less)

A parent receives a panicked phone call from a stranger who reveals that both of their children have been kidnapped by s... (more)

A parent receives a panicked phone call from a stranger who reveals that both of their children have been kidnapped by someone who demands that they abduct another child to prevent the murders of their own. (less)

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On the production line in American packinghouses, there is one cardinal rule: the chain never slows. Under pressure to i... (more)

On the production line in American packinghouses, there is one cardinal rule: the chain never slows. Under pressure to increase supply, the supervisors of meat-processing plants have routinely accelerated the pace of conveyors, leading to inhumane conditions, increased accidents, and food of questionable and often dangerous quality. In The Chain, acclaimed journalist Ted Genoways uses the story of Hormel Foods and its most famous product, Spam, to probe the state of the meatpacking industry.Interviewing scores of line workers, union leaders, hog farmers, and local politicians and activists, Genoways reveals an industry pushed to its breaking point. Along the way, he exposes alarming new trends: sick or permanently disabled workers, abused animals, water and soil pollution, and mounting conflict between small towns and immigrant labor. (less)

She just dropped off her child at the bus stop. A panicked stranger calls her phone. Her child has been kidnapped. The s... (more)

She just dropped off her child at the bus stop. A panicked stranger calls her phone. Her child has been kidnapped. The stranger then explains that their child has also been kidnapped, by a completely different stranger. The only way to get her child back is to kidnap another child, within 24 hours. Her child will be released only when the next victim's parents kidnap yet another child. And most importantly, the stranger explains, if she don't kidnap a child, or if the next parents don't kidnap a child, her child will be murdered. (less)