Oink If You Love Paula

Published on Thursday, May 31, 2007, by Joyce Slaton / Edit Post

Oh, she looks gentle and sweet. She makes biscuits like your mama did, and tells y’all to come to supper anytime. But when you weren’t looking, Paula Deen got into bed with Smithfield Foods, the Evil Empire of porcine husbandry. In September, Deen struck a deal with Smithfield to promote the company’s products in a series of personal appearances, webcasts, and other forums.

Recently, strong words were launched at the Southern-fried butter queen. Does Deen know nothing about Smithfield’s controversial labor and safety record, with practices so execrable that Smithfield was cited by Human Rights Watch? Or does she just not care?

The protesters who have dogged Deen’s appearances are particularly incensed with her silence regarding Smithfield’s extensive history of workplace and safety violations, employee intimidation and harassment, and the firing of workers who attempted to join a union.

Deen’s response to such concerns, quoted in Texas newspaper the Journal Gazette? “I don’t know enough to talk about it, but that’s just not the Smithfield I know … The people at Smithfield are some of the most ethical people I’ve ever met.” Um. Yeah. They tend to treat their spokes-stirrer a little better than the average Jane Punchclock on the line, Paula.

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POST A COMMENT |10 Comments

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  • Ellen didn't seem enthralled with her Smithfield present....or Ms.Deen for that matter...

  • came home early . the Ellen show is on, and Paula was on. She brought Ellen a smithfield ham. thats not the worst. She made bread pudding with donuts. thats not the worst either. She broke the donut up in pieces by taking a bite and releasing the confection from her jaw into bowl. Then she stuck her tongue in a stream of condenses milk being poured in the bowl. I am not kidding.

  • I think that...
    a.She's not intelligent enough to understand the gravity of the situation.
    b.She's shallow and concerned only with her monetary gain.
    c.She's completly unconcerned,doesn't want to be bothered with anything that would rain on her parade,and she simply doesn't care.
    Her commercials for Smithfield are on quite frequently on the food network...I think that she should be ashamed! I...+READ

    I think that...
    a.She's not intelligent enough to understand the gravity of the situation.
    b.She's shallow and concerned only with her monetary gain.
    c.She's completly unconcerned,doesn't want to be bothered with anything that would rain on her parade,and she simply doesn't care.
    Her commercials for Smithfield are on quite frequently on the food network...I think that she should be ashamed! I guess it's all about the money y'all...family values...Yeah right.-COLLAPSE

  • Read this article, from last December's Rolling Stone, and you may rethink eating a Smithfield product ever again. Labor violations are only a small part of the problem. Do you know that South Carolina doesn't even want the company to do business in their state?

    If Paula is smart, she'll get out while she can.

    http://tinyurl.com/y77kvm

  • "Well, either you're closing your eyes
    To a situation you do not wish to acknowledge
    Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of" ... substitute labor violations.

  • i for one had never heard of labor violations via smithfield and i buy their products. (walmart, i've heard of problems, but not smithfield)

    maybe paula's signing with the company, and thus promoting some controversy, is actually helping the workers by shedding light on their plight.

    and i rather liked patticakes' analogies.

  • Sorry PattiCakes, that is a bad analogy. Comparing the illegal actions and labor violations of a corporation to human rights violations of a government is just wrong. By cooking chinese food, I am not endorsing a particular political system - the style of food was there long before the current chinese government. Unfortunately, Paula Dean is explicitly endorsing a company with a documented...+READ

    Sorry PattiCakes, that is a bad analogy. Comparing the illegal actions and labor violations of a corporation to human rights violations of a government is just wrong. By cooking chinese food, I am not endorsing a particular political system - the style of food was there long before the current chinese government. Unfortunately, Paula Dean is explicitly endorsing a company with a documented history of violations.-COLLAPSE

  • Let's not cook Chinese food because the Chinese have a reputaion for Human Rights violations. Let's avoid Mexican Cuisine because of the immigration conroversy. Cut me a break. Paula can bring her butter, her biscuits and her Smithfield ham to my picnic anytime! And she's the only Food Network personality who has a deal with a company?

  • "Peace in our time" Neville Chamberlain 1938

  • uh, you do know that Smithfield has recently struck deals to fix all those problems. Just because Paula is promoting their products doesn't mean that they're going to continue being evil. Just think of her as good PR while the company fixes out its problems.