← →

One Thing We Still Manufacture In America: Gelatinous Cubes Of Meat

November 15th, 2008 by alyx · 17 Comments · bartertown

What is the one industry in America where there is total job security right now? Spam manufacturing (thx LoLo):

The economy is in tatters and, for millions of people, the future is uncertain. But for some employees at the Hormel Foods Corporation plant here, times have never been better. They are working at a furious pace and piling up all the overtime they want.

The workers make Spam, perhaps the emblematic hard-times food in the American pantry.

Take that, everyone who says industry is dead in the United States! Spam is even a union business. Maybe GM and Ford should get some advice from the Hormel folks, who seem to have no problems meeting the demands of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 9:

Slumped in chairs at the union hall after making 149,950 cans of Spam on the day shift, several workers said they been through boom times before — but nothing like this.

Spam “seems to do well when hard times hit,” said Dan Bartel, business agent for the union local. “We’ll probably see Spam lines instead of soup lines.”

If you’re not sure what Spam is, it’s, um… gelatinous processed pork, with spice. Think of low-grade pate, but with more structure. And here’s what else is still moving off the shelves in your supermarket:

Pancake mixes and instant potatoes are booming. So are vitamins, fruit and vegetable preservatives and beer, according to data from October compiled by Information Resources, a market research firm.

Cheap carbohydrate, cheap meat, beer and vitamins. Yum! When the economy turns, go long the weight loss stocks.

17 Comments so far ↓

Leave a Comment