4 ms·

> why couldn't they just phone up each packer and ask if that's what's happening? And Tyson and Cargill will just give out corporate information to anybody who

• washadjeffmad 3y ago
  You'd be surprised what a conversation with someone who knows someone can yield. I used to cold contact authors and sources on interesting papers, including CRS, and had a better than 50% response rate. Same with farmers. Whenever I called to talk about alternative crops to corn, wheat, and soybeans, once they realized I wasn't trying to get them to buy anything from me, they were happy to tell me about everything they were dealing with. Granted, it may have mostly been the coffee kicking in at 4 or 5am, but they didn't hold back about every pain in their ass from city hall to the capitol.
  • ke88y 3y ago
    > You'd be surprised what a conversation with someone who knows someone can yield. This is definitely true. But it's also true that key decision-making processes at large corporations -- particularly those that are publicly traded and/or concerned about regulatory oversight -- tend to be more controlled and process-guarded than your run of the mill farmer.
  • crazygringo 3y ago
    Authors and farmers, sure. Most people working on their own aren't trying to protect proprietary information. But people who work in a corporation, not a chance.
  • sapling-ginger 3y ago
    Sure, but those interviews cannot be included into a research paper. Because the moment you ask if what they say can be on-record, or if they can be named as the source of this statement. they would shut up.