Did you ever have that “sustainable” high-end meat from Belcampo Meat Company? Well, some bits of it were found on the bathroom floor covered with ants at their meat-processing plant, according to new documents that have come to light from a USDA investigation.

I admit I’m one of those people who fell hook, line, and sinker for the foodie baloney served by the Belcampo Meat Company, the Oakland-based sustainable meat purveyor who promised “We believe that it’s possible to produce better tasting, higher quality meat in a way that’s sustainable and healthy for our customers and the land we share.” Their expansion of butcher shops and restaurants spanned across the Bay Area and into southern California.

But they were effectively brought down by the May 2021 Instagram post below (which is quite profane BTW) from a Santa Monica employee who pointed out that the company was just repackaging less sustainable, conventional meat into fake-label wrappers claiming the meat was locally sourced and organic. That scandal ended up bringing down Belcampo’s entire retail operations six months after. The company claimed such mislabeling only happened at the Santa Monica shop, but the reputational damage was lethal for a brand that sold itself on quality and “slow food” chic, plus the exceptionally high prices that come with that.  

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But now we learn of a far more reputation-damaging (and stomach-churning) scandal about that allegedly free-range and organic meat. The Chronicle has obtained U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports from their Siskiyou County meat-packing plant detailing repeat violations of abysmally unsanitary conditions at the plant.  

“Pieces of animal meat and fat were strewn throughout Belcampo Meat Co.’s processing plant: on hallways and rugs, the floors of restrooms and an employee break room. In some areas, ants crawled on the abandoned flesh,” the Chronicle describes the documents as reporting. The alleged violations the USDA described “range from smaller issues, such as full trash cans that hadn’t been emptied from the day before to more alarming ones, like bathrooms strewn with ant-covered meat.”

The Chron also describes “the discovery of a leaking, blood-covered box with ‘discolored’ meat inside; mold growing on pallets; pork product giving off a ‘foul smell.’”

The USDA declined to comment because of “an open investigation,” but that at least confirms there is an investigation. The USDA also said releasing the full documents “could interfere with law enforcement proceedings,” which indicates there could be some serious legal trouble looming for the company’s former executives, in addition to the retaliation lawsuits from whistleblower employees, and a class-action suit from jilted customers who say they were sold “falsely advertised” meat.

Belcampo's brand was successfully marketed as an organic and sustainable enterprise that bucked the trend of factory farming, but these revelations instead paint the picture of a growth-at-all costs startup with loose ethics and a meat-processing plant that was no less abhorrent than conventional ones.

Their money guy Todd Robinson pulled in $50 million in investments to start the company in 2o11, and co-founder and CEO Anya Fernald played the role of “thought leader,” hawking cookbooks and appearing on food TV shows. But apparently the company culture was pressuring its plant to produce as much meat as possible, and at some point they had way more demand than supply.

When the mislabeling scandal broke, Belcampo’s “internal investigation” claimed only a small percentage of the meat was mislabeled, and the problem was exclusive to the Santa Monica shop in the Instagram post. But that may not be so.

“The inspectors’ reports also cite improperly labeled meat months before the scandal broke, which contradict Belcampo’s claims that the mislabeling was isolated to a single butcher shop in Santa Monica,” the Chronicle writes.

So what actually happens now, considering the company is out of business? The Siskiyou County ranch and meat-packing plant closed in October 2021, and Belcampo Meat Co. no longer exists. But if there are some sort of “law enforcement proceedings” ongoing, then suffice it to say the former leaders of the company may not be selling many more cookbooks or getting any more Iron Chef appearances.

Related: Bay Area-Born Sustainable Meat Company Belcampo Appears Kaput As All Retail Operations Close [SFist]

Image: Belcampo Butcher Shop via Yelp

The San Francisco Zoo was hit with a $1,750 fine from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the November 2014 death of 16-month old gorilla Kabibe. Animal rights groups say it's way, way too low.

According to the A.P., USDA documents said the zoo failed to handle the animals "as expeditiously and carefully as possible and in a manner that did not cause trauma."

Last November, Kabibe, a Western lowlands gorilla, a highly endangered species, was crushed to death when a hydraulic door slammed shut in the gorillas' night quarters as the animals were headed in for the evening. There was much controversy over who was at fault; zoo director Tanya Peterson chalked it up to human error, while zookeepers said that the areas were inherently unsafe due to a flawed layout, mechanical problems with the doors, and an understaffed crew.

Either way, members of the animal rights community were appalled by what they consider a paltry fine for such a horrible accident. Dr. Shirley McGreal, director of the International Primate Protection League, an organization that monitors the treatment of primates in zoos and laboratories, said in a statement:

I am horrified that a young gorilla named Kabibe, a member of a highly endangered species living at the San Francisco Zoo, was killed in this preventable incident. In my opinion, this is a ridiculously small penalty for causing the death of a young animal belonging to a highly endangered species.

According to SF Gate, Danny Latham, a zoo spokesman, said the fine was paid with no objections, and that the death of Kabibe has been difficult for employees.

"Everyone here was heartbroken and she is sincerely missed by zoo staff and zoo visitors alike," he said via e-mail.

There are about 100,000 Western lowlands gorillas in Central Africa, and an estimated 750 living in captivity. Before her death, Kabibe totally stole the show at the zoo.

This is far from the SF Zoo's only scandal. In 2007, the zoo's Siberian tiger Tatiana attacked and killed a 17-year-old boy after escaping her enclosure. And in 1988, two zoo employees were seriously injured by an Asian elephant named Tinkerbell when attempting to fix an abscess in her mouth.

Today, the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced plans to stop light brown apple moth spraying altogether. While the spray was temporarily halted in April, it now looks like the use of the pesticide is officially off. Yay! The light brown apple moth, which feasts on crops, and the people of Santa Cruz county will no longer have to fear the toxic spray.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera says that "the state's aerial spray program has been a dead man walking since April," going on to say that he "intend[s] to continue to work closely with other public law offices throughout the Bay Area to monitor LBAM eradication plans in the event legal action becomes necessary to protect public health and safety."

What's more, according to CBS 5, state and federal officials say that they will instead release sterile moths to target the hungry moths. Three cheers for sterilization!

See you after the jump.