Can locals survive corporate invasion in Romania?

How much do you want for both ? 145 $ for the big white ones With the collapse of communism, land was redistributed to the farmers, which allowed each one to receive a plot of land. Those laws were focused on property, and not on productivity. We give you the land but you need to manage on your own. It was hard for them to manage and they went back to a subsistence economy. Here look, this one is a male. We said 65 $. No no, we said 60 $. I said 65, but it's up to you. No I'm sure, that's what you said. Andrei is a pig breeder and it's been in his family for several generations. Twice a week, at dawn, he goes to the markets in the villages of the county of Timisoara to sell his piglets. Pork has always been a tradition in Romania, from household to industrial livestock-raising. When every one is asleep on Sunday, I am going to the market in Liebling. I sell a piglet and can barely afford a pair of trousers for my son with the money I just made. I am not saying that it's not profitable, but it's just enough to survive. It's nothing else than subsistence. Whose fault it is, I don't know, but that's the way it is. In 2004, the American company Smithfield comes to Romania and changes the face of the Romanian agricultural landscape. After Mexico and Poland, the giant of the pork industry, leader on the French market for deli meats, imports his industrial methods and takes out the traditional breeders. 3 years later, 9 pork breeders out of 10 are out of business. Like many small Romanian farmers, Andrei runs a family-operated business with his father. They own about 50 pigs. The family gets by on a monthly salary lower than 130 dollars. In general in the country, seniors are in charge of farm work. I am busy outside of the farm, I sell on the market. On the farm, I only do 10% of the work. It's my dad, who's 82 years old, who works the hardest. The breeders are discouraged. Nobody breeds porks anymore, because there is nobody to sell them to. There are no more slaughterhouses, they all closed, and private buyers don't buy anymore either. That's the way it is. We used to have three or four sows and we were rich. We made a lot of money until 2003-2004. Smithfield came and that's when everything changed. That's the way it is. Starting in 2004, we've had to vaccinate the livestock against swine fever. We've had to close down the farms, the small markets closed down. Therefore the breeders liquidated their livestock, It became useless to breed porks. What can you do, that's life ! In 2007, an outbreak of swine fever is being detected in several plants that belong to Smithfield. To avoid the spreading of the disease, all small farmers must have their livestock vaccinated. As a result, pork is banned for sale in Romania and in Europe, which leaves the breeders into the subsistence economy. Their hopes to modernize and to have access to a larger market are now gone. It has become hard to sell, the slaughterhouses don't buy anymore because they no longer exist, nearly all private breeders stopped killing porks at home, because of very tough European laws. Whether we like it or not, we have to comply with European laws, good or bad. We need to move forward, as much as we can. Otherwise we will go out of business, it's as simple as that. On the day of the integration to Europe, there were two outbreaks in a row ... and then came the cheese crisis and the pork crisis. They learned that they could no more kill and breed as they used to do, traditionally They had no choice of reconversion from traditional farmers to semi industrial ones. And that is what most European countries did. the pork crisis. So they became random workers. So no there is no way we can comply with the global food and safety production regulations So, the farmers became forbidden tog follow their activities. So they were marginalized. Licence plate: Bucarest, 578 AOC Shooting is forbidden It's forbidden, it's private property. The boss is here ! I keep telling them, but they don't speak Romanian. You are not allowed to shoot, it's a private owner, an American private property.. When it arrives in Romania, the first thing Smithfield does is to buy Comtim for very little money. This former State farm, the pride of the nation, used to be one of the leading players on the European market. He acquires the biggest slaughterhouse in the country along with a distribution network. Smithfield doesn't stop here and buys a few other farms in the country. Nowadays, he owns approximately 50 farms, which means 400 000 animals. It accounts for 75% of the Romanian pork production. It has become the first producer in the country. But the group doesn't give any interviews and it is impossible to shoot inside their facilities. In one hall, there are about 2000 pigs, which makes 8000 pigs for the 4 halls. They spend their time drinking, eating etc. That's how they spend their time. Few people accepted to testify on how it works at Smithfield. Nicolai, a former employee, accepted to talk to us. He was making approximately 200 $ per month when he worked there. From 2008 to 2009, I worked for them for nearly two years. I was responsible of the farm n°1 of Cermei, at Smithfield. On top of the treatments, I was also responsible for cleaning, taking out the bodies, of everything. At 4 :00 pm we would shut down the farm, and nobody would come in until the next morning. We didn't need to look after them anymore. If some died, the other ones would start eating them. The dead pigs had to be taken out, and then thrown into the fire so they would burn, they would be incinerated and if there were too many of them, they would be put in a stall at the end of the farm, and we would wait for Protan, the company that was contracted to incinerate the porks, or they would be put in the oven the next day. When they weighted 160-170-180 kilos, they didn't fit in the oven and they had to have their head chopped to be able to close the door of the oven. The oven was set for 8 hours, but if there was a power outage, they would be found the next day in the same state. That was the worse part for us, because they really stunk. They would give some soybeans to the pigs and the label mentions that the soybeans are genetically modified. With those conditions, I lasted two years at the facility. I didn't stay there because of the work conditions and the salary. Most people don't last more than a month or two over there. They kept the same model, 4 workers for 8OOO animals. Under communism, Comtim alone was employing 30 000 people. Today, Smithfield only employs 2 000 people. Every day, it is a flurry of trucks carrying the pigs from the farms to the slaughterhouse. 600 animal are killed avery hour, when they reach six months of age. These high-speed and lower-cost farms allow Smithfield to cut prices and to keep all the competitors at bay. We kill the pig when he reaches maturity, between 10 and 16 months. It depends on the race and on the food that it gets. I make my own sausages and I sell them on the market. The quality of a domestic pig has nothing to do with the quality of an industrial one. My products have a certain taste, much better I think, beacuse of the quality of the feed. They are 100 % meat, whereas the industrial products are sometimes 20%, 10% not even 5%. People don't know what they eat, and that's the truth. I basically just get by, and I'm not even legal, so the situation is ridiculous. To penetrate the European or Romanian market with my traditional products, they'd have to be approved for sale, and it is a very expensive process. There are very few farmers who can benefit from European financing. Everybody says that Europe hands out money, but it's very difficult to get it. I don't have any chance to benefit from it. I haven't tried yet and I've told myself that it's useless. At my age it wouldn't make any sense, I am too old to receive 13 000 or 26 000 $. For Europe, this amount doesn't mean anything, but for me it's a fortune, a godsent. But it never happens, it's impossible. I am a small farmer, that's the way it is. The absence of European and national subsidies has weakened the small farmers. Their number dropped from 500.000 to 50 000 in 4 years. Not everybody can afford competing with international companies. We can't afford it and the last hopes are gone. The number of farms is very small. If the small farmers are definitely out of the race, a few semi-industrial ones are attempting to resist Smithfield's hegemony. Valer is a former employee of Comtim. He bought this state farm after the collapse of communism. Despite his know-how and his livestock worth 8000 pigs a year, he's having a hard time keeping afloat next to the American giant. This morning, a hundred of his pigs are leaving the farm, to be sold to one of the last distribution networks that don't belong to Smithfield. Valer sees a vet on a regular basis. - Have you suffered from the cold Mister director ? - We didn't do too badly so far. We had everything we needed, feed and employees. We have less animals to deliver these days. Oh my god, it's so rusty, so old, everything needs to be replaced ! You know the situation Doctor, but God there is nothing we can do about it ! Look, the conditions are good. They have as much as feed as they need. The livestock is in good health, there is nothing to worry about. - Do you control the temperature well ? - Yes, we do our best to keep it under control. The halls should be modernized, because these are not the best conditions for the animals. I had a European modernization project that I couldn't see through, because I couldn't provide the bank with the guarantees that they requested. I submitted a new project. Are the banks behind you ? Yes, I found one that is on board, and we are working together right now. Our current project costs 850 000 dollars. And what bank rate did you get ? The rate is approximately at 12% right now. If Valer wants to remain competitive with Smithfield, on the long run he will have to modernize his facilities that are too old and not mechanized enough. In order to build his Romanian empire, Smithfield received between 2008 and 2011 under the CAP, 1 080 $ of agricultural aid. These subsidies were received within the framework of a balanced, modern and sustainable agriculture. He would have perceived as well a few million dollars from the Romanian government. Farms, feed plants, slaughterhouses, distribution network make him less vulenrable to the market fluctuations. But some people wonder how much does this race for profits may cost. The dark point is that we are overwhelmed All these taste-less market products and we are becoming aware of all we lost starting from water resources In some village, there is a water shortage and it's a real problem. That was unbelievable that we couldn't think of. So we have lost know and an art of living. Intensive pork breeding has produced a very big quantity of manure and urine, that are extremely polluting. The town of Nitchidorf, where Smithfield has built three huge farms, is paying the high price. A former manager of one of these three farms accepted to tell us more about the system for spreading manure. He requested that his testimonial remains anonymous. When I signed a contract with them, I was told that as an employee, I had to commit not to disclose any information on the farm. In each hall, there are several pipes, And when they are full, the pump turns on and all the manure is being ejected in a reservoir. There are six reservoirs of 50 000 liters each, which makes 100 000 liters of manure per farm. When the reservoirs are full, they have a company show up with some machines, which pump all the manure and spread it on the ground nearby. The residents of Nitchidorf are very angry and want to make their voices heard. My name is Ciprian Cretu,I live in the town of Nitchidorf. As far as pollution is concerned, you can't live in town because of the smell, as all the waste from these three facilities is being discharged near the town of Nitchidorf and nobody is worried about polluting or not. We are living as if we were in a pigsty. We will soon be running out of water because the water tables are polluted, in any event this town is doomed to destruction. The farms are too close to the town. The farms are too close to the town. First of all, they didn't have the right to build those farms, but they did it anyway. They were supposed to respect a certain distance That is required by European legislation, A minimum distance from a town, an orchard or a forest. What can you do ? Here, in our town, we had the biggest organic orchard of Romania. Over half of the plantation has been destroyed, jobs have disappeared and lives have been turned upside down. The people who worked here don't have a job anymore, because there is nothing more to do. It' s all burnt ! Look, you can see over there that it's been burnt ! It's so dry that it's burnt. There are three facilities next to each other, located a few hundred meters from each other. Constantin, who owns this organic orchard of over 300 hectares, feels the full brunt of the soil pollution that has been brought on by the spreading of manure in the Smithfield farms. Now you can already see the adverse effects it has on trees, as they have started to dry out. At least 60% of plum trees, And nearly 90% of cherry trees, morello cherry trees and apple trees are dry. I only have about 10 cherry trees left from my whole production, which amounted to 20 to 40 tons per hectare. The legislation requires that soils get checked regularly. It is the responsibility of the local authorities to carry out the checking. The food chain is at stake. I analyzed the water samples obtained from water tables of varying depths. Some of my colleagues determined the quantity of nitrates or nitrites in fresh produce, salads, radish, onions, etc... and there were some big, very big concentrations of it. So from that point of view, the soil is extremely polluted. Despite these findings, few people seem to be aware of the consequences of such a pollution. Only a few doctors like Lenuta seem worried about it. The pollution of water comes from the infiltrations in water tables of the manure produced by the Smithfield farms. That's where it's got to come from, beacuse around town, there is no other farm that could pollute and produce animal manure. We have nitrate infiltrations in the ground, coming from ammonia, and they take the form of nitrites in the drinking water, But if it contains nitrites, it probably isn't safe to drink anymore. It affected the general state of health of the population, because not every one can afford bottled water. I am now looking at the urine tests of a patient, you can notice the presence of nitrites in his urine. Which means that the water he's been drinking was polluted. In the US, the birthplace of the company, Smithfied has received the biggest fine ever given for pollution, 12,3 million $. In Romania, they have been fined several million $ by the authorities, which doesn't seem to worry the commissioner of the protection of the environment. The biggest investor in Timi's department in the industrial pork industry is Smithfield Ferme, who received big sanctions in the period 2007-2009, not only because of the way they built their farms, but also because of the way they dealt with the animals' mortality, as well as the way the manure has been rejected on agricultural land. The sanctions have not only been applied to Smithfield, but also to other economic agents of the department which worked with this company. After being banned from export for five years as a result of swine flu, Romania is allowed again to sell its pork to Europe. But Andrei and small breeders have no illusion, they don't stand a chance to see their facilities subsidied by Europe and to be able to export their pork. The only thing they have left is a black economy that is officially considered illegal by the Romanian government today. Smithfield, with the takeover of Campofrio food, has become the European leader of deli meats. Justin Bridou, Aoste, Cochonou, now belong to the group. In the first half of 2012, they will export 1 400 tons of pork to France. But it is impossible to know what manufacturing and distribution chain they supply in France.