Is It a Jungle Out There?: Meat Packing, Immigrants and Rural Communities

Abstract

�Over the past 45 years, meatpacking has shifted from a predominantly urban to a predominantly�rural industry. Meatpacking plants can represent a significant share of a rural community’s�employment. As a traditional employer of immigrants, these plants can also alter significantly�the demographic composition of a rural community. These changes have led to numerous�controversies regarding whether these plants impose social or economic costs on their host�communities. This study uses comments culled from various media to identify the most�prominent controversies, including whether meatpacking presence leads to local language�problems, social service expenses, special needs schooling or displacement of native-born�citizens. These controversies can be recast as hypotheses that can be subjected to empirical tests.�We show that the meat processing industry has had large impacts on the demographic�composition of rural communities and their schools including increases in populations requiring�specialized services. However, there is no evidence that the industry increases per capita�government expenditures suggesting that rural communities trade off the economic benefits of�having these large employers against the costs of accommodating the needs of the new residents. ��Welfare; Rural; meatpacking; immigration; ESL; public expense; social cost