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53-600: The West Don Lands, including what is now the Corktown Common, was once an industrialized area, once notably occupied by the pork processing plants of the William Davies Company and acres of railyards. After mergers in the packed meat industry, pork processing moved gradually away from the site. By the 1970s, much of the land was left abandoned. In 1988, the West Don Lands was expropriated by

106-722: A Royal Commission by Order in Council in July 1917 to investigate both the William Davies Company and Matthews-Blackwell Company Limited (the firms later referred to in the commission's report as "the principal dealers in Canadian hog products in the English market"). In November 1917, after a series of hearings, the commission cleared the two companies of any wrongdoing, noting that any exceptionally high profits during

159-675: A "signature snack" at St. Lawrence Market , and were designated Toronto's signature dish in 2016. Although the first William Davies plant still stands on Front Street in Toronto (albeit largely modified since its days as a pork curing facility), the last of the William Davies buildings by the Don River were demolished in the early 1990s in anticipation of the Ataratiri redevelopment project. Although Ataratiri never proceeded,

212-647: A few decades workers achieved blue-collar , middle-class lives from it. Though the meat-packing industry has made many improvements since the early 1900s, extensive changes in the industry since the late 20th century have caused new labor issues to arise. Today, the rate of injury in the meat-packing industry is three times that of the private industry overall, and meat-packing was noted by Human Rights Watch as being "the most dangerous factory job in America". The meatpacking industry continues to employ many immigrant laborers, including some who are undocumented workers . In

265-559: A finger or limb per month. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that over a period of six years in the UK , 78 slaughter workers lost fingers, parts of fingers or limbs, more than 800 workers had serious injuries, and at least 4,500 had to take more than three days off after accidents. In a 2018 study in the Italian Journal of Food Safety, slaughterhouse workers are instructed to wear ear protectors to protect their hearing from

318-429: A hog in the eye that's walking around in the blood pit with you and think, 'God, that really isn't a bad-looking animal.' You may want to pet it. Pigs down on the kill floor have come up to nuzzle me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them—beat them to death with a pipe. I can't care. The act of slaughtering animals or of raising or transporting animals for slaughter may engender psychological stress or trauma in

371-613: A joint venture of the City of Toronto, the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada. The agency's purpose was to reclaim the waterfront for development after decades of decay. Revitalization of the West Don Lands was identified is one of the first four priority projects for Waterfront Toronto and in 2004 the WDL Precinct Plan was created. At the same time work on an Environmental Assessment for flood protection works for

424-476: A producer of flour-based foods, forming Maple Leaf Foods . William Davies died in 1921, after injuries sustained by being butted by a goat. Once one of Canada's largest food producers, the William Davies Company not only graced its home city with the "Hogtown" nickname (or epithet), but William Davies also introduced peameal bacon , which continues to be popular in Canada . Peameal bacon sandwiches are considered

477-643: A scarce commodity. Medical historian Benjamin Prinz has therefore pointed to the fragility of today's healthcare systems, which themselves participate in environmentally destructive and disease-causing production chains. Contemporary concerns about the meat industry within the American context have often been colored by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the resulting supply chain issues. Beyond the consumer perspective, workers were expected to drastically increase

530-500: A small ration of meat for urban citizens only to the world's largest meat producer; it was a movement from a handful of processing facilities in major cities to thousands of modern meat-packing and processing plants throughout the country, alongside the rapid growth of a middle-class with spending money. In the early 20th century, meatpacking companies employed new immigrants as strikebreakers during labor actions initiated by existing workers, who were often earlier immigrants themselves or

583-403: A stall in Toronto's St. Lawrence Market , where he sold cured hams and bacon. Realizing that there was an opportunity to export Canadian pork products to England , he wrote to his brother in 1860 stating: "I think you will say that the quality of the meat I send is as good as you ever saw." Davies rented a facility at Front and Frederick Streets, a few blocks east of St. Lawrence Market, and

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636-486: A vision for building much larger markets. The 1865–1873 era provided five factors that expanded the industry to a national scale: In Milwaukee, Philip Armour , an ambitious entrepreneur from New York who made his fortune in Army contracts during the war, partnered with Jacob Plankinton to build a highly efficient stockyard that serviced the upper Midwest. Chicago built the famous Union Stockyards in 1865 on 345 swampy acres to

689-679: Is a public art sculpture titled No Shoes by Mark di Suvero . On the river side of the park, there is a 3.2 hectares (7.9 acres) urban prairie . The Corktown Common is located east of Bayview Avenue , south of King Street , west of GO / CN railroad lines and the Don River to the rail corridor in the south. There is also an entrance from the Don Valley Trail . 43°39′14″N 79°21′08″W  /  43.653965°N 79.352101°W  / 43.653965; -79.352101 William Davies Company William Davies Company

742-476: Is that the pharmaceutical industry obtains basic materials for its products from the meat-packing industry; for example, tissue extracts from slaughterhouse waste. In the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, this led to the paradoxical situation that mass slaughterhouses were infection drivers due to the bad labor conditions and at the same time suppliers of important therapeutics such as heparin , which subsequently became

795-586: The U.S. Congress led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act (both passed in 1906 on the same day) to ensure better regulations of the meat-packing industry. In the 1920s and early 1930s, workers achieved unionization under the CIO 's United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA). An interracial committee led the organizing in Chicago , where the majority of workers in

848-452: The continent . In addition to curing pork for export, he began slaughtering and processing hogs, and his business became the first continuous/moving rail hog-slaughtering facility in Canada. In 1891, the new plant was the first in Canada to feature an artificial refrigeration unit. In many ways, Davies was responsible for establishing the modern Canadian pork industry. His efforts led to

901-431: The slaughtering , processing , packaging , and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle , pigs , sheep and other livestock . Poultry is generally not included. This greater part of the entire meat industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption , but it also yields a variety of by-products including hides , dried blood, protein meals such as meat & bone meal , and, through

954-538: The 1890s, it was supplying over half of the entire Canadian bacon trade with Britain. The company's agent in Britain, John Wheeler Bennett, was known as the " Bismarck of the bacon trade". In 1891, the business was reorganized as the William Davies Company Limited . By mid-1917, the majority of the shares were held by Sir Joseph Flavelle , a prominent Toronto businessman. The company

1007-629: The Argentine industry finally secured a large slice of the British market, Pateros and trade restrictions limited its penetration of the Continent. Meat in China moved from a minor specialty commodity to a major factor in the food supply in the late 20th century thanks to the rapid emergence of a middle class with upscale tastes and plenty of money. It was a transition from a country able to provide

1060-424: The City of Toronto in partnership with the Government of Ontario in order to build a new community known as Atatiri. The industrial history meant the soil was highly polluted and needed expensive cleanup before any residents could live there. The risk of flooding from the Don River also required a flood barrier to be erected. By 1992 the city and province had already invested some $ 350 million in purchasing and clearing

1113-527: The Don River mouth began which ultimately led to construction of a flood protection landform (berm) that took the WDL out of the flood plain of the Don River and cleared the way for development. The 2008 global financial crisis dimmed the prospects of timely implementation of the Precinct Plan, but that changed when Toronto won the bid to hose the 2015 Pan American Games . The West Don Lands was chosen to host

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1166-475: The PTSD Journal explain, "These employees are hired to kill animals, such as pigs and cows that are largely gentle creatures. Carrying out this action requires workers to disconnect from what they are doing and from the creature standing before them. This emotional dissonance can lead to consequences such as domestic violence, social withdrawal, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and PTSD". Slaughterhouses in

1219-474: The United States commonly illegally employ and exploit underage workers and illegal immigrants. In 2010, Human Rights Watch described slaughterhouse line work in the United States as a human rights crime. In a report by Oxfam America , slaughterhouse workers were observed not being allowed breaks, were often required to wear diapers, and were paid below minimum wage. Another problem in this context

1272-400: The amount of contaminated droplets in the air. More than 50,000 meat packing workers contracted the disease and over 200 died. Disease is not evenly distributed throughout factories and all workers in a given factory are not at equal risk for exposure and negative health outcomes despite working the same job. In particular, the overlap of immigration status and workplace exposures can result in

1325-461: The athletes' village for the games and a large part of the planned precinct plan was built to first house the athletes and then be turned over to condo purchasers. The Commons site itself was located in the flood plain of the Don River and required soil remediation . The Common's berm is a flood protection landform which was started in 2007 and was necessary before any other development of the West Don Lands could occur. The berm also meant clean soil

1378-471: The average American worker. NPR reports that pig and cattle slaughterhouse workers are nearly seven times more likely to suffer repetitive strain injuries than average. The Guardian reports that on average there are two amputations a week involving slaughterhouse workers in the United States . On average, one employee of Tyson Foods , the largest meat producer in America, is injured and amputates

1431-481: The cattle to lose considerable weight. Swift developed a large business, which grew in size with the entry of several competitors. The Bureau of Corporations , predecessor of the Federal Trade Commission investigated the country's meatpackers for anti-competitive practices in the first decade of the 1900s. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was the first of a series of legislation that led to

1484-620: The constant screams of animals being killed. A 2004 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that "excess risks were observed for mortality from all causes, all cancers, and lung cancer" in workers employed in the New Zealand meat processing industry. The worst thing, worse than the physical danger, is the emotional toll. If you work in the stick pit [where hogs are killed] for any period of time—that lets [sic] you kill things but doesn't let you care. You may look

1537-546: The constituent firms, it also blocked entry into the Canadian market by U.S. firms. Eventually, the Canada Packers operations were consolidated, with the meat packing and abattoir functions relocating to Toronto's union stockyards in the west end of the city. The former William Davies Company facilities by the Don River were first converted into a cold storage facility and soap works, and were eventually sold. Canada Packers later merged in 1991 with Maple Leaf Mills,

1590-547: The construction of railroads and methods of refrigeration for meat preservation . Railroads made possible the transport of stock to central points for processing, and the transport of products. Before the American Civil War , the meat industry was localized, with farmers providing beef and hogs for nearby butchers to serve the local market. Large Army contracts during the Civil War attracted entrepreneurs with

1643-645: The early 20th century the workers were immigrants from eastern and southern Europe and black migrants from the South. Today, many meatpacking workers are Hispanics hailing from Mexico, Central and South America. A notable amount of workers are from Peru, leading to the formation of a large Peruvian community in the industry. The isolated areas in which many plants are located put these workers at greater risk due to their limited ability to organize and seek redress for work-related injuries. American slaughterhouse workers are three times more likely to suffer serious injury than

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1696-710: The establishment of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Another such act passed the same year was the Federal Meat Inspection Act . The new laws helped the large packers, and hurt small operations that lacked economy of scale or quality controls. Historian William Cronon concludes: The industry after 1945 closed its stockyards in big cities like Chicago and moved operations to small towns close to cattle ranches, especially in Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. Historically, besides Cincinnati, Chicago and Omaha,

1749-420: The establishment of the first Canadian Board of Agriculture, through which producers, processors and government officials could work together to expand the Canadian livestock industry. As Davies had predicted in the 1850s, the firm's products did extremely well in the British market, and commanded higher prices than the offerings of American competitors due to the perception that they were of higher quality. By

1802-653: The immediate descendants of immigrants. The publication of the Upton Sinclair novel The Jungle in the U.S. in 1906 shocked the public with the poor working conditions and unsanitary practices in the meat-packing plants in the United States, specifically Chicago . Meat-packing plants, like many industries in the early 20th century, overworked their employees, failed to maintain adequate safety measures, and actively fought unionization. Meat-packing workers were exposed to dangerous chemicals and sharp machinery, and routinely suffered horrible injuries. Public pressure of

1855-484: The industry were black, and other major cities, such as Omaha, Nebraska , where they were an important minority in the industry. UPWA workers made important gains in wages, hours and benefits. In 1957, the stockyards and meat-packing plants employed half the workers of Omaha. The union supported a progressive agenda, including the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. While the work was still difficult, for

1908-542: The lands are currently being redeveloped as part of the West Don Lands precinct of Toronto's waterfront. In 2012, a plaque was installed in Corktown Common , located in the West Don Lands, commemorating the industrial legacy of the former Williams Davies Company on the site. Meat packing industry The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry ) handles

1961-426: The number of jobs fell sharply due to technology and other changes. Wages fell during the latter part of the 20th century, and eventually, both Chicago (in 1971) and Omaha (in 1999) closed their stockyards. The workforce increasingly relied on recent migrants from Mexico. Argentina had the natural resources and human talent to build a world-class meat-packing industry. However, its success in reaching European markets

2014-552: The other major meat-packing cities had been South St. Paul, Minnesota ; East St. Louis, Illinois ; Dubuque, Iowa ; Kansas City, Missouri ; Austin, Minnesota ; Sioux Falls, South Dakota ; and Sioux City, Iowa . Mid-century restructuring by the industry of the stockyards, slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants led to relocating facilities closer to cattle feedlots and swine production facilities, to more rural areas, as transportation shifted from rail to truck. It has been difficult for labor to organize in such locations. In addition,

2067-620: The people involved. A 2016 study in Organization indicates, "Regression analyses of data from 10,605 Danish workers across 44 occupations suggest that slaughterhouse workers consistently experience lower physical and psychological well-being along with increased incidences of negative coping behavior". A 2009 study by criminologist Amy Fitzgerald indicates, "slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparison with other industries". As authors from

2120-412: The pork trade led to a merger between William Davies Company, Gunns Limited and Harris Abattoir Co. (in which William Davies Company held a 40% share) in 1927. William Davies Company was the foremost among the merging firms. The newly merged entity was named Canada Packers , and constituted Canada's largest meat processing and packing company. Not only did the merger improve the financial position of

2173-476: The process of rendering , fats (such as tallow ). In the United States and some other countries, the facility where the meat packing is done is called a slaughterhouse , packinghouse or a meat-packing plant ; in New Zealand , where most of the products are exported, it is called a freezing works . An abattoir is a place where animals are slaughtered for food. The meat-packing industry grew with

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2226-471: The rate at which they process animals. For instance, workers were expected to process 175 birds per minute up from 140 birds per minute. In part this was due to shortages of workers. Workers within the industry were often in the news for large outbreaks within factories. By its nature meat processing requires close proximity to other workers and exposure to a slew of bacteria and viruses. Additionally, workers often have to yell over loud machinery which increases

2279-402: The site, and new estimates put the final cost at more than a billion more. The real estate market had also collapsed, making any private investment unlikely. The new Ontario government of Bob Rae thus decided to cancel the project in 1993 and the West Don Lands was left deserted for the next 15 years. In the 2000s, the site was shown renewed interest after the formation of Waterfront Toronto ,

2332-628: The south of downtown. Armour opened the Chicago plant, as did Nelson Morris , another wartime contractor. Cincinnati and Buffalo , both with good water and rail service, also opened stockyards. Perhaps the most energetic entrepreneur was Gustavus Franklin Swift , the Yankee who operated out of Boston and moved to Chicago in 1875, specializing in long distance refrigerated meat shipments to eastern cities. A practical refrigerated (ice-cooled) rail car

2385-416: The war were subject to the federal government's war taxes. By 1920, the highly profitable wartime commodity markets had fallen, causing a rapid drop in prices. Food producers rushed to sell off inventory at reduced prices, causing prices to drop faster and further. The William Davies Company was "caught flat-footed" by the downturn, and was facing financial difficulties by the mid-1920s. The downturn in

2438-654: Was a pork processing and packing company in Toronto , Ontario , Canada . At one time, it was the largest pork packer in the British Empire , and it operated Canada's first major chain of food stores. One of Toronto's longstanding nicknames, " Hogtown ", is attributable to the millions of pigs processed annually by the William Davies Company. William Davies , born in 1831 in Wallingford , England , emigrated to Canada in 1854, and soon thereafter set up

2491-438: Was able to purchase and expand the plant in 1875. Soon, he was shipping millions of pounds annually of salt-cured pork. The William Davies building at 145 Front Street East, later occupied by the J. & J. Taylor Safeworks, still stands today. In 1879, William Davies constructed a new facility further to the east, on the south side of Front Street at the Don River , which soon became the second largest pork processing plant on

2544-430: Was brought to the site to make it suitable for recreation. The Corktown Common was a CA$ 135 million project and it is a hilly park with pathways and prairie grasses, overlooking the mouth of the Don River, which doubles as a 8.5 m (28 ft)-high berm designed to protect the eastern downtown from a major flood, even a 500-year storm by shunting potential flood waters south toward the lake. Its name before it opened

2597-463: Was introduced in 1881. This made it possible to ship cattle and hog carcasses, which weighed only 40% as much as live animals; the entire national market, served by the railroads, was opened up, as well as transatlantic markets using refrigerated ships . Swift developed an integrated network of cattle procurement, slaughtering, meat-packing, and shipping meat to market. Up to that time, cattle were driven great distances to railroad shipping points, causing

2650-416: Was limited by the poor quality control in the production of its meat and the general inferiority of frozen meat to the chilled meat exported by the United States and Australia. By 1900, the Argentine government encouraged investment in the industry to improve quality. The British dominated the world shipping industry and began fitting their ships for cold air containers, and built new refrigerated steamers. When

2703-542: Was particularly successful during the First World War . As a result of articles in the Canadian press suggesting that meat-packing plants were making excessive profits from the domestic market in wartime, the entire pork industry was the focus of much public outcry, including charges of excess profits and fraudulent meat curing practices. The managers of William Davies were routinely accused of being war profiteers and monopolists. The federal government established

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2756-499: Was the Don River Park . The park was designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, and opened with over 700 trees and thousands of shrubs and grasses that are native to Southern Ontario 's Carolinian forest ecosystem. The park contains playgrounds , a splash pad , an athletic field , open lawns , a marsh , tables , benches , a barbecue , a fireplace , bike paths , a boardwalk and an off-leash dog area . There

2809-412: Was the first Canadian food producer to establish its own chain of retail meat and grocery stores, the first major chain of food stores in Canada. By the 1880s, it operated 84 retail outlets across Ontario . The firm was quick to open stores in fast growing areas along streetcar lines ; Flavelle was quoted as saying "where the trolley goes it fair to assume that we shall follow shortly." The company

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