Thread by @Delafina777

So, let's talk about Koch Foods, shall we?

https://twitter.com/BlogWood/status/1159418479851823104

Koch Foods is owned by Joseph Grendy.

Here's an article about him. He's a billionaire, the 261st richest person in the US. He's looking to acquire more companies.

chicagotribune.com/business/ct-co…

"Employee turnover is a persistent problem for Koch and the industry," says the article.

What does that mean?

The Wikipedia entry for Grendys says "His company Koch Foods has been dogged by accusations of racism and abusive working conditions.[6]" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gr…

Well, as it turns out, there's been some journalism on Koch Foods' history of racism and exploiting Black farmers.

propublica.org/article/how-a-…

A USDA investigator concluded that Koch Foods had unjustly discriminated against Black farmers (driving them out of business and off their land, and violating a law governing meat processing). The Trump administration cut back on enforcement, and they've faced no consequences.

That's just enraging to read. I mean, I'm not an expert, so I'm not going to try to give a history lesson here, but the US tried to keep Black people from owning farmland in 90000 different ways. And those few that made it, well, companies like Koch found ways to take it again.

"The five largest chicken companies now make up 61% of the market, compared with 34% in the hands of the top four firms in 1986."

Remember that offhand comment in the article linked above about Koch Foods wanting to acquire more companies.

Anyway, read the ProPublica article. It's infuriating.

Koch Foods is gross, and we'll get back to them in a minute, but there's the question of why raid a company that would seem to be doing what Trump wants? Well, in addition to unionization activity by the employees and sexual harassment claims:

https://twitter.com/DrRJKavanagh/status/1159300009747197955

So anyway, Koch Foods finally settled a long lawsuit from the EEOC on behalf of Latina workers who'd experienced sexual and racial harassment while working for Koch. And, it looks like, then punitively called ICE on those workers.

Here's their contact info. kochfoodsinc.com/contact-us You sure could call or email them and let them know how you feel about them calling ICE on workers who report sexual harassment.

Oh, and lest anyone think to comment, "well, those workers were here illegally!" let's remember that ICE rounds people up first, and determines whether they have legal documentation later.

Based on the name patterns of the email addresses on the Koch site, Joseph Grendys's email is likely [e-mail].

And now let's talk about where Koch Foods sells. @slpng_giants can you help out with this?

According to Forbes, they make buffalo wings and chicken strips for Walmart.

Chicken nuggets for Burger King.

@slpng_giants One of their brands is Antioch Farms, which is sold at Whole Foods. goodguide.com/companies/2141…