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June 04, 2015 - Image 4

Resource type:
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The Michigan Daily

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board.

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

LAURA SCHINAGLE

EDITOR IN CHIEF

MELISSA SCHOLKE

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

DEREK WOLFE

MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@umich.edu

Edited and managed by students at

the University of Michigan since 1890.

4

Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION

W

e still had 30 minutes left
before making the trek
to Charley’s on the eve

of my friend’s 21st
birthday. To pass
time, we watched
that night’s epi-
sode of “Last Week
Tonight with John
Oliver,”
guaran-

teeing a laugh and
a lesson.

Two weeks later,

I can only think
about the lesson.

In May 17’s epi-

sode, Oliver dissected the contract
farming of chickens. While the show
snarkily mentioned the horrible
reality chickens face before becom-
ing our food, it mainly focused on
the treatment and conditions of
chicken farmers by Big Agriculture.
In one specific instance, Oliver com-
pared the lives of chicken farmers to
that of indentured servants.

Currently, chicken is the most

consumed meat in the United States.
Consumption has nearly doubled
in the last 25 years, from 80 million
to 160 million chickens per week.
However, merely four companies —
Tyson, Perdue, Pilgrim’s and Sander-
son Farms — control the majority of
the poultry market. This monopoli-
zation of the meat market has effec-
tively created a system where most

chicken farmers live near or below
the federal poverty line.

Contract farming is disturbing-

ly popular in our nation’s poultry
industry, with 97 percent of chickens
raised by contract in 2011. In theory,
contract farming sounds like a good
practice, but in reality, it’s a manipu-
lative, greedy system. Poultry com-
panies own the birds, the grain fed
to the birds and the meat processing
companies. They dictate the arbi-
trary requirements farmers must
comply with, such as the number of
fans or the brightness of the light
bulbs in a chicken coop. They rate
the chicken farmers produce against
others in their area, creating a gladi-
ator-like system, as Oliver dubbed it.

Meanwhile, poultry farmers put

all of their resources, money and
lives into their farms, believing they
will make the sums of money that
companies imply is normal. How-
ever, after a decent first year, the
income of most chicken farmers
declines as they are pushed further
into debt after being forced to make
inexplicable upgrades. Many chicken
farmers refuse to publicly speak out
against the deplorable conditions
they endure in fear of retribution.
While poultry companies claim arbi-
trary penalties don’t exist, the fact
that most farmers are completely
unwilling to speak against their con-
ditions suggests otherwise.

T

aking the venue into
full
consideration,

attending
the
2015

Mackinac
Policy Con-
ference last
Wednesday
undoubt-
edly
posi-

tioned
me

in the midst
of
some

unexpected
grandeur.
Dressed in
an ill-fitting
pencil skirt
and an over-sized black car-
digan — two articles of cloth-
ing from my sparse selection
of professional business attire
— it didn’t take long for me to
begin feeling slightly out of
place within the historic and
elaborate rooms of the Grand
Hotel on Mackinac Island.
The surrounding atmosphere
was
extraordinarily
lavish

as politicians, entrepreneurs
and committee members con-
gregated to discuss strategies
and solutions for some of the
state’s most pressing issues.

The issues addressed were

serious and important, and
those expressing their view-
points did so poignantly and
passionately.
However,
as

much as I tried to, I couldn’t
bypass the elitist tone perme-
ating the conference. In fact, I
only felt the air of exclusivity
lift during discussions of revi-
talizing skilled trades in Mich-
igan, and it wasn’t even until I
was in a different environment
completely that I realized the
full impact of these speeches.

While policymakers con-

tinued to navigate between
various avenues of action,
I found myself navigating
across the Straits back to my
hometown in the Upper Pen-
insula. I, in a matter of days,
had gone from the role of a
well-dressed member of the
media covering a conference
with an expensive admission
fee to wearing tattered, holey
jeans and assisting my father
with custodial work at his
workplace. Some may easily
view this transition as a social
and professional downgrade.
Numerous times in the past,
I’ve seen and heard belittling
statements about the work-
ing class levied at my family,
friends and neighbors. Even
in an area like my hometown
— where a large portion of the
available employment options
are found within the service
industry or in the skilled
trades — arrogant, demeaning
views about the working class
are far too prevalent.

During the policy confer-

ence, Mike Rowe, founder of
the mikeroweWORKS Foun-
dation and former television
host, addressed this stigma
and advocated for the recon-
ceptualization
of
society’s

definition of “a good job.”
Rowe, in particular, humbly
and knowledgeably empha-
sized the idea that a four-year
degree from a university isn’t
necessarily crucial to a suc-
cessful, sustainable career. To
further stress this to the pop-
ulation of the state at large,
the conference served as the
venue to show one of a set of
videos, created as collabora-
tive effort between the state

and Rowe’s foundation, which
will be shown to students to
pique their interest in the
skilled trades.

Rowe, as he called atten-

tion to high unemployment
and a widening skills gap
throughout
the
country,

stressed that society needs
to “stop demonizing a whole
category
of
good
jobs.”

Across the country, the indi-
viduals that comprise the
skilled labor force are aging,
leaving available employment
positions for the next gen-
eration. Michigan Governor
Rick Snyder, as he discussed
the pillars upon which the
conference intended to focus
on, described how cultivat-
ing
talent
and
garnering

more interest in the skilled
trades and STEM programs
was a priority. According to a
statement from Snyder, 8,300
jobs in fields such as welding,
electrical work and computer
drafting are currently open
right now.

These spots, however, are

left vacant due to the degrad-
ed status with which society
views this type of work. Uti-
lizing a poster as a visual aid,
Rowe described how its slo-
gan “Work Smart, Not Hard”
was “the single worst piece of
advice the country has ever
taken.” The poster, displaying
a college graduate juxtaposed
against a depressing image of a
blue-collar worker, presented
a dichotomy between success
and failure and between a ful-
filling career and drudgery.
Rowe analyzed the image and
discussed his inability to asso-
ciate the miserable tradesman

A poultry dilemma

The policy paradox

figure portrayed with the real-life
conception of a tradesman he saw in
his grandfather.

This point resonated with me the

most. Skilled trades — though the
actual definition and examples of
work may have admittedly changed
over time — provided the backbone
for not only generations of my family,
but for the area in which I grew up.
Whether it was construction, mining
or work as a self-employed barber,
members of my family worked hard
and performed honest, dignified,
necessary blue-collar work to sup-
port their families and themselves.
As career options, technology and
society are continually evolving, the
nature of skilled trades changes. Our
perceptions of these fields need to be
modified then as well.

For me, my siblings and many oth-

ers, college may be the most suitable
avenue to foster our own unique sets
of talents and abilities to achieve our
particular aspirations. Yet, it’s the
diversity of skill sets in our society
that necessitates the reforms sug-
gested at the policy conference to

strenghten the skilled trades indus-
tries. Without generations of fam-
ily
working
these
“undesirable”

blue-collar jobs, I wouldn’t have been
provided with the opportunity or the
means to choose to attend a univer-
sity or to choose one path over anoth-
er. Giving individuals the ability to
choose and the awareness of oppor-
tunities is crucial. While the videos
are certainly a good start, more atten-
tion needs to be directed at dispelling
the stigma that skilled trades jobs
are lacking in worth by emphasizing
the importance of funding vocational
and STEM training in our education


system.

Although the initiatives to bolster

the skilled trades were proposed in
a particularly expensive and exclu-
sive setting, the actions taken and
the goals set at the conference were
admirable and need to be followed
through with in order to make signif-
icant changes in both the economic
and societal landscapes.

— Melissa Scholke can be

reached at melikaye@umich.edu

ANNA
POLUMBO-
LEVY

AARICA
MARSH

MELISSA
SCHOLKE

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