A US multinational company that manufactures food for humans, pets, and livestock. It purchases raw goods from prison farms.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM), headquartered in Chicago, is the sixth-largest food and beverage company in the world. It processes raw agricultural materials into food, beverage, and pharmaceutical products for humans, pets, and livestock. In 2022, the company did business in over 190 countries, employed approximately 42,000 people, and generated nearly $101.6 billion in revenue.
In recent years, ADM has purchased millions of dollars' worth of soy, corn, and wheat directly from prison labor programs. Incarcerated individuals "employed" at prison farms, primarily in the South, have routinely alleged that they are forced to work for little to no pay. For example, incarcerated workers at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola)—a maximum-security prison located on the grounds of a former slave plantation—harvest crops and raise cattle that are purchased by, or end up in the supply chains of, multinational corporations like ADM. These incarcerated workers allege that they are forced to work under threat by armed guards on horseback and in unsafe conditions.
ADM's human rights policies prohibit suppliers from using forced labor but do not ban the use of prison labor.