Also, realistically and in comparison to other companies, you really have to stretch to call them public enemy one. There is really no danger of Cargill impacting your life like one of the big tech companies. There are other strong players in everyone of their markets.
Cargill is the second largest producer of beef in the US and among their numerous issues are deaths due to E Coli. Not to mention their rampant chemical dumping.
If you are a US citizen you are more likely to be killed by Cargill than by most of the big tech companies (I said "most" instead of "all" because I think the jury is still out on Amazon).
If you are a US citizen you are more likely to be killed by Cargill than by most of the big tech companies (I said "most" instead of "all" because I think the jury is still out on Amazon).
A bit of a difference between those statements. I'm growing less and less fond of HN's tendency to push people to the thin ice.
I do believe that the average person has a higher chance of being impacted by any of the big techs causing pain, then getting sick from something at a Cargill plant. Cargill isn't a delta away from the problems other companies experience. Heck, salad companies seem to be the biggest offender. I was never worried about beef. Turkey on the other hand seemed to show up a lot in the news.
Not to mention their rampant chemical dumping.
When I think rampant chemical dumping, I think of 3M poisoning the ground in various places. There was a real case of politicians letting a company off.
On my scale, between their various meats, the pollutants they use, and the various spills (plenty listed in the article and online) I'd come down harder on Cargill than tech.
As to chemicals, do remember that the whole tech industry is built on companies that did significant dumping.https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/09/silic...
https://www.marlerblog.com/legal-cases/a-little-cargill-hist...
Also, highlighting a single Cargill outbreak says nothing either way about the correctness of "very rare".
> There is really no danger of Cargill impacting your life [...]. There are other strong players in everyone of their markets.
Cargill actually owns most of the players on the other markets.
Just recently, the Amazon fires benefited a Cargill branch so much, some think it was all a ploy to plant more soy. Even Nestle (another borderline unethical company, e.g. water rights) announced they will stop buying from Cargill Brazil because of that one. Yet, nobody in south America knows the name Cargill.
I think that’s a bit odd to say, given another top-level comment noted that COVID-19 outbreaks have happened to TFWs in various meatpacking plants.
Otherwise, I agree with you. They’re not very “cool” as far as a company goes, so they’re not as easy to pay attention to.
Not really, the overall impact wasn't as high as some folks like to think. All sorts of places and events had outbreaks including other food producers. For most, its background noise.
Do you live in the U.S. and ate food today? Chances are Cargill had something to do with it somewhere in the production chain. Yes, they are that big.
You can make the same argument for monsanto, but they get a lot of public flak.
No it doesn't, Bayer owns what used to be Monsanto.
They're also very low margin, and if you aren't working in farming areas, has a corporate headquarters in a place not too much tech happens in. There's almost no reason for it to ever show up here.
However, if you were awake today and ate food, you probably encountered something Cargill had something to do with.
They also purposely try to keep a relatively low profile.
One of their very first consumer facing products was Truvia, which didn't come out until 2008, for a company founded in the 19th century.
It was their main business, but I'm not sure it is anymore.