States Where The Middle Class Is Dying: 24/7 Wall St.

Click here to see the states where the middle class is dying.

The American economy is by many measures well on the road to full recovery. The national unemployment rate was 6.2% in 2013, down from 9.3% in 2009; U.S. gross domestic product grew 5% in the third quarter of 2014; and the S&P 500 recently reached its all time high. And yet the middle class, which historically was the driver of economic growth, is falling behind. The average income among middle class families shrank by 4.3% between 2009 and 2013, while incomes among the wealthiest 20% of American households grew by 0.4%.

Based on average pre-tax income earned by the third quintile, or the middle 20% of earners in each state, middle class incomes in California declined the most in the country. Incomes among middle class Californian households fell by nearly 7% between 2009 and 2013, while income among the state’s fifth quintile, or the top 20% of state earners, grew by 1.3%. Based on an analysis of household incomes among America’s middle class, these are the states where the middle class is suffering the most.

Click here to see the states where the middle class is dying.

According to Joe Valenti, director of asset building at the Center for American Progress, the American middle class is essential for economic growth because middle income families are spending relatively large shares of their incomes on goods and services. “An additional dollar in the hands of a middle income earner is going to drive a lot more spending than an additional dollar in the hands of someone in that top quintile,” Valenti said. While households in the top quintile are able to spend enormous sums of money, “at some point there’s only so much that an individual can spend, even on all different kinds of luxury goods.”

While the middle class is the most important cohort in terms of spending and has in the past been essential for economic growth, middle income families have been the victims of wage stagnation. Valenti argued that as early as the 1970s, American companies started becoming much more productive. However, because of “a decoupling of productivity and wages,” wages among many workers have remained stagnant, and many in the middle class “have not been able to reap the benefits of higher productivity,” Valenti explained. Instead, returns from higher productivity have gone to owners and investors and not to the workers, he said. Many of the beneficiaries of these returns are likely part of the wealthiest 20% of households, whose incomes have grown in recent years.

Much of the income growth among the highest earning households is likely due to stock market gains. As Thomas Piketty argues in his book, “Capital in the 21st Century,” income inequality results from a higher return on capital — money used to make more money in the stock market or other revenue-generating assets — than wage and GDP growth. With the rich holding a disproportionate share of money in the stock market, their incomes have recovered much faster than those of middle class workers.

In all 10 of the states on this list, the share of total income earned by the bottom 80% of households fell between 2009 and 2013 and was redistributed to the highest quintile. The top 20% of U.S. households held more than 51% of total income in 2013, up 1.14 percentage points from 2009. Even among top earners, income was not evenly distributed. Over that five-year period, the top 5% of households accounted for nearly 75% of income gains in the top 20% of earners.

Income from capital gains may partly explain why the income distribution has skewed towards the rich in recent years. “We have seen the stock market recover quite well for many Americans who do have access to the market and who are investors,” Valenti said. Meanwhile, average workers do not.

According to data collected by Piketty, the average capital gain income of households in the bottom 90% was $558 in 2012. The average capital gains of the top 10% of households was nearly $30,000. And the comparable figure for the top 1% of U.S. households was a whopping $242,000 in 2012.

Several other factors, such as union membership rates and a particular state’s tax climate, such as no income tax or higher sales taxes, can also affect the redistribution of wealth across the nation. “Traditionally, union organizing has stepped in when policy makers have been unwilling to,” Valenti said. For example, depending on the union’s size and its sway, “policy makers may not feel the same pressure to pass or increase a minimum wage” if unions can negotiate a wage increase on their own.

While union organizing was a major component of the middle class’ formation in America after World War II, the level of labor force participation in unions fell from 12.4% in 2009 to 11.3% in 2013. In some states the decline was even more pronounced. Oregon’s union membership, for example, fell by 3.3%, the second largest decrease nationwide.

To determine the states where the middle class is suffering the most, 24/7 Wall St. used data on the average pre-tax income earned by each income quintile from the U.S. Census Bureau. We defined middle class as the third quintile, or the middle 20% of earners. We examined the growth in average incomes in the third and fifth quintiles between 2009 and 2013 to identify income trends in the middle and upper class. The final list was composed of states where middle class incomes fell by more than 4.3% and fifth quintile incomes rose by more than 0.4%, the national aver. Both benchmark figures reflect the national change of their respective quintiles. Because Census income data reflect pre-tax levels, they may overstate the degree of income inequality in the poorer quintiles. However, it is unlikely that the tax burden of the third quintile is significant enough to skew the data.

We also looked at data on the share of aggregate income by quintile from the Census Bureau, and how that share changed between 2009 and 2013. Also from the Census Bureau, we reviewed poverty rates, the share of households making less than $10,000 a year, as well as the share of households making more than $200,000 a year. All data are from 2009 to 2013. Additionally, we considered the Gini coefficient. The Gini coefficient indicates the degree to which an area’s incomes deviate from a perfectly equal income distribution. Scaled between 0 and 1, a coefficient of 0 represents perfectly equal incomes among all people. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we looked at annual unemployment rates from 2009 and 2013. The percentage of non-agricultural employees who identify as members of a union came from Unionstats.org. Tax data come from the Tax Foundation’s 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index.

These are the states where the middle class is dying, according to 24/7 Wall St.

Workers Sue McDonald's For Discrimination, Opening New Front In Franchise Fight

A group of former McDonald's workers from Virginia are suing their stores for racial discrimination and sexual harassment -- and they're taking the rare step of naming the world's foremost fast-food company as a defendant in the suit.

The 10 plaintiffs -- nine of whom are African-American, and one of whom is Hispanic -- say they were wrongfully fired last year and replaced with mostly white workers because their managers believed there had been "too many black people [working] in the store." The lawsuit (viewable here) alleges that women were harassed and groped and that minorities were subjected to racist taunts. It also claims that managers referred to one restaurant as "the ghetto store."

Although it's usually just franchisees that are sued under discrimination claims, in this case the plaintiffs are arguing that McDonald's itself should be held responsible for the actions inside a franchised store. They say the fast-food giant should have to pay damages because it sets companywide policies and has the power to enforce them.

"In order to maximize its profit, McDonald's Corporate has control over nearly every aspect of its restaurants' operations," the lawsuit asserts. "Though nominally independent, franchised McDonald's restaurants are predominantly controlled by McDonald's."

The plaintiffs in the suit have received legal assistance from the NAACP and the group Fight for $15, which advocates on behalf of fast-food workers. According to the suit, the plaintiffs had a combined 50 years working at McDonald's restaurants, 25 of them accrued by a 53-year-old shift manager who lost her job in July. The rest of the workers lost their jobs in a mass termination in May.

As the South Boston (Virginia) News & Record reported at the time, a total of 17 workers were abruptly fired from three McDonald's restaurants in the area. All three locations were run by Michael Simon, owner of Soweva, the company that franchised the stores. At the time, workers told the paper they were informed they "didn't fit the profile" that the company was looking for in its restaurants.

"Most, though not all, of the terminated employees are African-American," the paper noted. "Most of the workers who remain on the job at the local McDonald’s also are black. So, too, is [Soweva owner] Simon."

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say that their white supervisors wanted to drop black workers from the payrolls because the stores were "too dark," in a phrase attributed to one manager.

"I had no idea what they meant by the right profile until I saw everyone else that they fired as well," Willie Betts, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement Thursday. "They took away the only source of income I have to support my family."

Simon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement at the time of the firings, Simon denied that race was a factor, saying his company "has a strict policy of prohibiting any form of discrimination or harassment in hiring, termination or any other aspect of employment."

In the lawsuit, the workers allege that when they brought their concerns to McDonald's corporate, the company "took no actions to remedy" the firings. The workers are now seeking damages from the chain under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or sex.

"We asked McDonald’s corporate to help us get our jobs back, but the company told us to take our concerns to the franchisee -- the same franchisee that just fired us," Pamela Marable, another plaintiff, said in a statement this week.

“We have not seen the lawsuit, and cannot comment on its allegations, but will review the matter carefully," McDonald's said in a statement Thursday.

"McDonald’s has a long-standing history of embracing the diversity of employees, independent Franchisees, customers and suppliers, and discrimination is completely inconsistent with our values," the company's statement continued. "McDonald’s and our independent owner-operators share a commitment to the well-being and fair treatment of all people who work in McDonald’s restaurants.”

The lawsuit in Virginia is just the latest salvo in a broader fight against the franchise model. McDonald's franchises roughly 90 percent of its stores, leaving the day-to-day operations to individual franchisees like Soweva. Since the franchisees run the stores, they're the ones that tend to get sued when labor law is broken. That's a major upside of the franchise model for companies like McDonald's.

But unions and worker groups have been arguing in court and before agencies like the National Labor Relations Board that big chains such as McDonald's should be held accountable for the working conditions inside the stores that bear their names.

Until now, that generally hasn't been the case. But that could be changing on some fronts. The NLRB's general counsel, for instance, has named McDonald's as a "joint employer" alongside several of its franchisees accused of violating labor law during the fast-food strikes. If the agency were to view the workers as employed under one big umbrella -- rather than by hundreds or thousands of individual franchisees -- it would be much easier for the workers to unionize en masse. As it is, the fact that McDonald's workers are technically employed by different franchisees means they would have to be unionized store by individual store.

Several lawsuits currently seek to hold McDonald's responsible for wage theft allegedly committed by its franchisees. As with the discrimination complaint in Virginia, the plaintiffs in those suits argue that McDonald's ultimately exerts control over the operations inside individual stores, and that it should be held accountable when the law is broken.

Your Chipotle Could Be Getting Carnitas Back Soon

Carnitas lovers rejoice! (Sort of.)

Finding carnitas during the ongoing Chipotle pork shortage may not be as hard as you originally thought. The Mexican chain is rotating the menu item through all of its restaurants, according to Chris Arnold, a Chipotle spokesman. Though one-third of its restaurants won't be selling carnitas until the shortage ends, that one-third will change periodically, so no restaurants are out of the protein for "extended periods," Arnold wrote in an email.

Chipotle suspended sales of carnitas last week after discovering that one of its pork suppliers wasn’t meeting its standards for responsibly raised meat. The news that the hottest fast food chain in the country was out of one of its few menu items made headlines, with carnitas fans taking to Facebook and Twitter to ask when the protein would be coming back.

When chipotle is out of carnitas pic.twitter.com/gVYZcIAP6N

— abby bova (@abby_bova) January 10, 2015

A carnitas fan mourns the loss.

The announcement also reminded Chipotle fans why they’re drawn to the chain in the first place. The burrito chain’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, in part because it sells itself as a fast food restaurant with a conscience -- hawking humanely raised meat and sustainably grown beans. At the same time, traditional fast food chains like McDonald’s are struggling to draw diners into their stores.

Despite Chipotle’s success, the carnitas shortage, which is now in its second week, highlights the challenges of running a large chain committed to serving humanely raised meat when there isn’t a lot of it out there.

Carnitas only make up about 6 percent of the entrees chipotle sells, Arnold said. The spokesman had some advice for those die-hard carnitas fans who want to make sure their local Chipotle is carrying the pork:

“The best way to know for sure would be to go.”

Workers Sue McDonald's For Discrimination, Opening New Front In Franchise Fight

A group of former McDonald's workers from Virginia are suing their stores for racial discrimination and sexual harassment -- and they're taking the rare step of naming the world's foremost fast-food company as a defendant in the suit.

The 10 plaintiffs -- nine of whom are African-American, and one of whom is Hispanic -- say they were wrongfully fired last year and replaced with mostly white workers because their managers believed there had been "too many black people [working] in the store." The lawsuit (viewable here) alleges that women were harassed and groped and that minorities were subjected to racist taunts. It also claims that managers referred to one restaurant as "the ghetto store."

Although it's usually just franchisees that are sued under discrimination claims, in this case the plaintiffs are arguing that McDonald's itself should be held responsible for the actions inside a franchised store. They say the fast-food giant should have to pay damages because it sets companywide policies and has the power to enforce them.

"In order to maximize its profit, McDonald's Corporate has control over nearly every aspect of its restaurants' operations," the lawsuit asserts. "Though nominally independent, franchised McDonald's restaurants are predominantly controlled by McDonald's."

The plaintiffs in the suit have received legal assistance from the NAACP and the group Fight for $15, which advocates on behalf of fast-food workers. According to the suit, the plaintiffs had a combined 50 years working at McDonald's restaurants, 25 of them accrued by a 53-year-old shift manager who lost her job in July. The rest of the workers lost their jobs in a mass termination in May.

As the South Boston (Virginia) News & Record reported at the time, a total of 17 workers were abruptly fired from three McDonald's restaurants in the area. All three locations were run by Michael Simon, owner of Soweva, the company that franchised the stores. At the time, workers told the paper they were informed they "didn't fit the profile" that the company was looking for in its restaurants.

"Most, though not all, of the terminated employees are African-American," the paper noted. "Most of the workers who remain on the job at the local McDonald’s also are black. So, too, is [Soweva owner] Simon."

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say that their white supervisors wanted to drop black workers from the payrolls because the stores were "too dark," in a phrase attributed to one manager.

"I had no idea what they meant by the right profile until I saw everyone else that they fired as well," Willie Betts, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement Thursday. "They took away the only source of income I have to support my family."

Simon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement at the time of the firings, Simon denied that race was a factor, saying his company "has a strict policy of prohibiting any form of discrimination or harassment in hiring, termination or any other aspect of employment."

In the lawsuit, the workers allege that when they brought their concerns to McDonald's corporate, the company "took no actions to remedy" the firings. The workers are now seeking damages from the chain under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or sex.

"We asked McDonald’s corporate to help us get our jobs back, but the company told us to take our concerns to the franchisee -- the same franchisee that just fired us," Pamela Marable, another plaintiff, said in a statement this week.

“We have not seen the lawsuit, and cannot comment on its allegations, but will review the matter carefully," McDonald's said in a statement Thursday.

"McDonald’s has a long-standing history of embracing the diversity of employees, independent Franchisees, customers and suppliers, and discrimination is completely inconsistent with our values," the company's statement continued. "McDonald’s and our independent owner-operators share a commitment to the well-being and fair treatment of all people who work in McDonald’s restaurants.”

The lawsuit in Virginia is just the latest salvo in a broader fight against the franchise model. McDonald's franchises roughly 90 percent of its stores, leaving the day-to-day operations to individual franchisees like Soweva. Since the franchisees run the stores, they're the ones that tend to get sued when labor law is broken. That's a major upside of the franchise model for companies like McDonald's.

But unions and worker groups have been arguing in court and before agencies like the National Labor Relations Board that big chains such as McDonald's should be held accountable for the working conditions inside the stores that bear their names.

Until now, that generally hasn't been the case. But that could be changing on some fronts. The NLRB's general counsel, for instance, has named McDonald's as a "joint employer" alongside several of its franchisees accused of violating labor law during the fast-food strikes. If the agency were to view the workers as employed under one big umbrella -- rather than by hundreds or thousands of individual franchisees -- it would be much easier for the workers to unionize en masse. As it is, the fact that McDonald's workers are technically employed by different franchisees means they would have to be unionized store by individual store.

Several lawsuits currently seek to hold McDonald's responsible for wage theft allegedly committed by its franchisees. As with the discrimination complaint in Virginia, the plaintiffs in those suits argue that McDonald's ultimately exerts control over the operations inside individual stores, and that it should be held accountable when the law is broken.

Google To Sell Wireless Service In Deals With Sprint, T-Mobile: Report

(Reuters) - Google Inc is preparing to sell mobile phone plans directly to customers and manage their calls and mobile data over a cellular network, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Google is expected to reach deals to buy wholesale access to Sprint and T-Mobile mobile voice and data networks, making it a mobile virtual network operator, the technology news website said. (http://bit.ly/1L1cnDv)

The project, codenamed "Nova", is expected to be launched later this year, The Information said.

Google was considering launching mobile phone plans for markets where it sells Google Fiber Internet service, according to the report.

It was not clear how widely Google plans to offer the wireless service, how much it would cost or which mobile device manufacturers, if any, have already agreed to work with Google for its new service.

Google, T-Mobile and Sprint could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Sai Sachin R and Sneha Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Wills)

Walmart Settles With Family Of Comedian Killed In Tracy Morgan Crash

NEW YORK (AP) — The family of a comedian killed in the New Jersey Turnpike crash that seriously injured Tracy Morgan last summer has settled a wrongful death claim with Wal-Mart.

The out-of-court settlement between Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and the estate of James McNair is the first stemming from the June 7 crash in which a Wal-Mart truck slammed into a limo van carrying Morgan and others home from a show in Delaware.

Morgan, the former "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" star, suffered a traumatic brain injury in the accident, according to his lawyer. Criminal charges against truck driver Kevin Roper are pending in state court in New Jersey.

McNair, 62, of Peekskill, grew up with Morgan in Brooklyn and was a friend and mentor to him over the years.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, but McNair family attorney Daryl Zaslow told The Associated Press that they were pleased with the outcome.

Wal-Mart "caused extensive damage" to the family but accepted responsibility and "more than stepped up to the plate and took care of this family," Zaslow said.

"Ultimately they did the right thing by the McNairs," he said.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said the company was working toward settlements with others injured in the accident.

"We know there is nothing we can do to change what happened to Mr. McNair," Buchanan said. "We're committed to doing what's right."

In an interview with the AP on Wednesday, McNair's children — Denita, 19, and Jamel, 26 — described their father as a humble, grounded man. They said he attained a level of fame but cared less about the trappings of celebrity than about helping others, whether through advice to young comedians or giving out free Thanksgiving turkeys to needy families in his hometown.

"You don't have to be a celebrity to make a difference in a lot of people's lives," Jamel McNair said. "My dad made a huge difference in a lot of people's lives."

Denita McNair was about to graduate from high school at the time of her father's death, and she said she hopes to go to college eventually after taking some time off. Jamel McNair is pursuing a singing career. Both said they haven't been contacted by Morgan or his representatives since the accident.

An attorney representing Morgan didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the settlement Wednesday. The lawyer, Benedict Morelli, said last month that Morgan hadn't fully recovered from his brain injury and that it was uncertain if he would be "the Tracy Morgan he once was."

Passengers Ardley Fuqua, of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Jeffrey Millea, of Shelton, Connecticut, also suffered serious injuries in the June crash. A lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart by Morgan, Fuqua and Millea is proceeding in federal court.

Under terms of the settlement, Wal-Mart admitted no liability in the crash, Zaslow said, adding that the settlement was reached before the formal filing of a lawsuit.

Roper, the driver, has been charged with death by auto and four counts of assault by auto. According to the criminal complaint, Roper was operating the truck without having slept for more than 24 hours.

A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board estimated that Roper was driving 65 mph in the 60 seconds before he slammed into the limo van. The speed limit on that stretch of the turnpike is 55 mph and was lowered to 45 mph that night because of construction.

You Can Now Get Your Tax Refunds In Cash At Walmart

This tax season, Walmart is luring shoppers into stores with cash -- their own cash.

The retail giant is offering people the chance to pick up their state and federal tax refunds in cash at its stores across the country, it announced on Tuesday.

The program, called Direct2Cash, is the first of its kind at any retailer, according to Walmart. In order to use it, customers must get their taxes done by a participating tax preparer, including some in Walmart stores.

Typically, tax filers get their refunds either through a check or a direct deposit to their bank account. But those options create problems for the so-called “unbanked” -- the 10 million U.S. households that don't use banks.

“Leveraging our size and scale to take on big challenges and create better ways to serve our customers is something we’re always working on,” Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of services for Walmart U.S., said on a conference call with reporters announcing the program.

The service won't necessarily be free: Though Walmart will charge nothing for it, participating tax preparers can charge up to $7 for helping with Direct2Cash, Walmart said. And tax preparers often charge a fee for preparing and filing returns. Right now, the Walmart cash option isn't available to e-filers or people who file themselves.

Still, it will be cheaper than many other options. Unbanked Americans, who are likely to be low-income, often rely on expensive check-cashing services or borrow against expected refunds at “usurious” rates, according to Mehrsa Baradaran, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law.

“Walmart is definitely doing more for the unbanked than the government at this point,” said Baradaran -- adding that, ideally, a government entity not motivated purely by profit, such as the Post Office, would offer this service.

Of course, the service also benefits Walmart, which has been struggling in recent years as shoppers increasingly turn to the internet and smaller, urban stores for their needs.

It fits with the retailer’s mission to be a one-stop shop for basically everything. Shoppers can already cash checks, get their taxes prepared, see a health-care professional or get their hair done inside Walmart stores.

By offering the unbanked a cheap way to get their refunds in cash, Walmart can lure these people into its stores, where they might want to spend that cash.

Walmart could use the traffic. Until its most recent quarterly earnings report, Walmart U.S. had gone nearly two years without an increase in sales at stores open at least a year, an important retail metric.

Tax-refund time is typically a good one for Walmart and other retailers who cater to low-income customers, because shoppers often use the extra income to make big purchases they may have been putting off. Walmart executives blamed a less-than-stellar first quarter in 2014 partly on delayed and reduced tax refunds.

“It’s always a good thing, we believe, to have customers in our stores that have a jingle in their purses and in their wallets,” Eckert said. “That’s something we like to see.”

Obama's Free College Plan Is A Great Way To Give America A Raise

Putting Obama's free community college plan into action could cost $60 billion over the next decade. But the economic boost it provides could be even greater.

If enacted, the proposal will offer two tuition-free years of community college to students who maintain a C+ grade-point average and attend classes at least half-time. The federal government would cover 75 percent of the cost, with participating states covering the rest.

Studies find that community college investments pay themselves back to the government many times over and vastly raise students' earning potential. Nationwide, community colleges are already a major part of the U.S. economy, contributing an estimated $809 billion in 2012, according to a study by the Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. On the local level, community colleges mean better jobs, higher wages and more spending power for graduates, as well as a larger skilled workforce for local employers.

"Rising levels of education yield a more skilled workforce, which is a crucial driver of economic growth," Shai Reshef, founder and president of University of the People, a nonprofit online university, said in a recent interview with The Washington Post. "I think Obama’s proposal is an effort to revive education as one of the drivers of economic growth, and this is a good thing."

California, home to the largest community college system in the country, exemplifies the kinds of economic gains Obama's plan could bring.

A recent analysis found that a 2 percent increase in people with an associate’s degree and a 1 percent increase in people with a bachelor’s degree would result in $20 billion in additional economic input, $1.2 billion in additional state and local tax revenues every year and 174,000 new jobs.

For every dollar spent on economic and workforce development programs at community colleges, there is a $12 increase in California’s business income and employee wages, according to the Foundation for California Community Colleges. Furthermore, the state receives a $4.5 net return for every dollar it invests to get students through college.

Community colleges have come to serve as an affordable stepping stone for California students who go on to pursue bachelor’s degrees. More than half of California State University graduates started at community colleges, as did nearly a third of University of California graduates. The state’s community colleges are major training centers for some of the most in-demand careers. Over 70 percent of the state’s nurses graduated from the system. It also provides credentials to 80 percent of the state’s firefighters, law enforcement officers and EMTs.

Though the state's community colleges are the cheapest in the nation, severe budget cuts limited access to these opportunities and brought enrollment to an all-time low in 2013. Meanwhile, students have flocked to for-profit colleges, which offer less competition to get into courses and ply students with false promises about their graduates’ success rates. Nationally, the rate of default on student loans is higher at for-profit colleges than it is at public and private nonprofit institutions. The free community college plan could funnel students away from predatory institutions.

Maxwell Strachan contributed to this report.

Chipotle Pork Shortage Is Proof Of A Larger Problem Facing The Food Industry

Americans increasingly want grocers and restaurants to carry meat they can feel good about eating. But that meat is scarce, as Chipotle's pork problem revealed this week.

Chipotle, which has won over diners partly for its commitment to sustainability and animal welfare, recently discovered that one of its pork suppliers wasn’t meeting its “Responsibly Raised” standards. Chris Arnold, a Chipotle spokesman, explained in an emailed statement that the chain refuses to sell pork that comes from conventional farms because such pigs “generally do not have access to the outdoors, [and] spend their lives in densely crowded buildings,” among other issues.

But there is so little quality pork on the market that, for now, Chipotle has stopped offering the meat in hundreds of its locations.

“We would rather not serve pork at all, than serve pork from animals that are raised in this way,” Arnold said. "Replacing the supply we have lost in these ways will take some time, but it is important to us to maintain our high standards for pork and we will continue to see some shortage while we work to increase the available supply. "

Chipotle’s predicament illustrates the challenge in running a big chain committed to humanely raised meat. Less than 5 percent of meat in the U.S. is raised according to humane standards even using the broadest definitions, according to Andrew Gunther, the program director of American Welfare Approved, which certifies farms as humane.

Chipotle occasionally runs into this issue with beef as well, substituting meat from conventional farms when there isn’t enough available from suppliers that meet its standards. But in the case of the pork, the chain won't budge on its requirements. In an email, Arnold said that the differences in animal welfare are greatest with pork.

Other big chains taking a stab at selling humanely raised meat are also struggling for supply. Carl’s Jr. launched its “All Natural Burger” in December, and the chain is sourcing its grass-fed, antibiotic- and steroid-free beef from Australia because there isn’t enough supply in the U.S., the company’s CEO told USAToday last month.

And the market for this meat is only getting more crowded. Smaller chains with a similar feel-good ethos -- Shake Shack, Sweet Green and Native Foods -- are growing increasingly popular as diners demand fresh, natural and ethically raised food.

The problem is that the mass meat market, particularly the segment that caters to fast-food restaurants, is driven largely by price, said Aaron Allen, the founder of Aaron Allen and Associates, a restaurant consulting firm. "That's really the way that the industry has been oriented for the last three to four decades: How do we get it cheaper? Quicker?" Allen said. In that kind of environment, there's little reward for suppliers to spend the time and money ramping up their quality standards.

In the case of pigs specifically, converting farms to raise animals more humanely is expensive and may not be financially feasible for many farmers, said Adele Douglass, the executive director of Humane Farm Animal Care, another program that certifies farms as humane. The most controversial pig farming practice is keeping pigs in "gestation crates," which leave them with barely enough room to do anything other than lie down.

Increasing standards would mean putting the pigs into group housing or larger group pens that give them more room to move, Douglass said. Chipotle's pork suppliers also have to give their pigs outdoor access or house them in deeply bedded pens, and keep them free of antibiotics

In Douglass’ ideal world, the government would step in and offer farmers loans or grants to convert their farms. But short of government intervention, companies can help speed up these changes. The bigger the restaurant chain, the more influence it has over suppliers and the whole system. Gunther noted that restaurants can make long-term commitments to suppliers that agree to overhaul farms and raise animals more humanely.

“These companies can build these supply chains if they think it’s a good idea,” Gunther said. “It can be done, it just requires commitment.”

The risk in this approach is that restaurants might not want to get locked into a specific supplier and a specific price for a long period of time, making them less flexible.

Still, there’s hope. McDonald’s announced in 2012 that it would stop using pork that came from farms using gestation crates by 2022. The announcement came after controversy over the crates became too loud to ignore -- several states had already banned or restricted their use.

At the time, McDonald’s said it would work to help U.S. suppliers comply with the directive, but it was impossible to make the switch immediately.

“There are not enough sows housed in non-gestation crates right now,” Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, told Reuters.

10 Most Hated Companies In America

This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St.

To be truly hated, a company must alienate a large number of people. It may irritate consumers with bad customer service, upset employees by paying low wages, and disappoint Wall Street with underwhelming returns. For a small number of companies, such failures are intertwined. These companies managed to antagonize more than just one group and have become widely disliked.

The most hated companies have millions of customers. With such a large customer base, it is critical to keep employees happy in order to promote high-quality customer service. Poor job satisfaction among employees can lead to unsatisfied customers. McDonald’s and Walmart have risked alienating workers, and therefore also customers, by not adequately addressing protests against their employees’ low wages. While pay may be low enough to put some workers below the poverty line, executives at these companies often make millions. The total compensation of McDonald’s CEO Donald Thompson, for example, was nearly $9.5 million in 2013 and nearly $13.8 million in 2012.

Layoffs, or even the prospect of layoffs, can also contribute to low employee morale. Sprint announced it would cut 2,000 jobs late last year. Workers at Comcast can reasonably expect layoffs should its planned merger with Time Warner Cable receives government approval.

Many of the most hated companies angered the public because of quality issues with their products.. Comcast has long been one of the worst companies in America in terms of customer service and satisfaction. Another example is the General Motors recall scandal. GM announced a recall in early 2014 due to faulty ignition switches in a number of its cars, now believed to have cost 42 people their lives. The company’s problems were compounded by the realization that it had known about the defect for over a decade.

Nothing harms the long-term reputation of a company in the eyes of investors more than a steep drop in its share price. In the past 12 months, shares of Sprint have fallen by more than 50%, as hopes for a tie-up with rival T-Mobile were dashed while the company had little success in retaining customers.

It is worth noting that some of the companies on the list may have performed very poorly by some measures but relatively well by others. A few of the most hated companies have had good stock performances. Others have relatively satisfied customers. All of these factors were taken into account in compiling the final list.

Click here to see America’s most hated companies

Several companies from last year list have improved their public perceptions enough to be removed from this year’s list. For example, J.C. Penney is in the midst of a modest turnaround. Abercrombie & Fitch’s controversial long-time CEO Michael Jeffries resigned last December. However, the retailer still has problems attracting teenage customers.

To identify the most hated companies in America, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a variety of metrics on customer service, employee satisfaction, and share price performance. We considered consumer surveys from a number of sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and Zogby Analytics. We also included employee satisfaction based on worker opinion scores recorded by Glassdoor.com. Finally, we reviewed management decisions and company policies that hurt a company’s public perception.

These are America’s most hated companies.

How To Pack For Davos, Like A Boss

A conundrum: You're going to a conference in the Swiss Alps, bigshot CEOs will be there, so will A-List celebrities. It will be snowy and cold. You want to look fantastic. You don't want to wipe out on the ice.

So what do you bring?

Welcome to the annual puzzle of packing for the World Economic Forum, a power-player conference that draws thousands of the world’s business, media and political elites. Past attendees include Google CEO Eric Schmidt, JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and actor Matt Damon.

They'll need to pack a clever mix of ski vacation garb and chic business attire.

“They’ve tried to keep it casual, but most people go for business meetings and in business meetings you don’t want to feel like an underdressed shmo,” Henry Blodget, the editor-in-chief of Business Insider, told The Huffington Post in an email. “Also, there’s a chance you’ll meet Charlize Theron or Angelina Jolie, etc., and even billionaires don’t want to blow that one.”

Here are some a few tips for getting by at this year’s conference, which runs from January 21 to 24:

Dress warm

It’s cold in Davos. Being 5,052 feet above sea level in the middle of January can be frigid. Temperatures are forecasted to drop next week to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and it may get even colder. Pack a winter coat, hat, gloves, scarves, warm boots, and thermal underwear.

Bring a day bag

Participants at the conference end up swapping slush- and salt-encrusted boots for slick dress shoes. Parkas come off and jackets come on. Sure, you can probably fit a pair of dress shoes heels in your purse. But will that be enough?

“Unless you’re Mick Jagger or Bono or a twenty-something tech god, you’ll want a suit,” Blodget said. “You’ll also want a hat, gloves, and a jacket -- it’s cold. And boots! You’re tromping around in ice and slush and salt, so you don’t want to be slipping around and ruining your dress shoes. If you’re the confident sort, you can stick with the boots 24/7, but most people carry dress shoes around and swap whenever they go inside.”

That means a knapsack-sized day bag, equipped with all your changes of clothing, could be a good addition. It may behoove men to learn how to properly fold a suit.

Get an outlet converter

In Europe, electric outlets are different. In place of the two vertical slits on American plugs are two circles. That means you will need an adapter to make sure your laptop and phone stay charged. Fortunately, they sell for as little as $2 on Amazon. In the past, the conference has provided power strips that fit with American plugs, but why risk relying on that?

Wear boots or shoes you can walk in

As Forbes’ Clare O’Connor found, it’s really difficult to book a place to stay in Davos proper. You’ll probably get stuck outside the main town.

You’re not getting a hotel room in Davos proper your first time around. They’re booked up months, if not years, in advance. No-one told the newbie this. When I started my online search back in November, I had two choices. First: a studio apartment swathed in fur throws, dotted with expensive candles and owned by a woman called Mitzi who thought Forbes might cough up $1,000 a night (ha!). The other option: a basement hostel so grim I’d rather have tried my luck sleeping on the chairlift. So I’m staying 15 minutes down the road in the resort town of Klosters. Yes, admittedly a first world problem of the highest order, but the mark of a clueless newbie if there ever was one.

Now, go hit Davos like a boss:

Why We're Picking Walmart And CVS Over Doctors' Offices

The American health care system may finally be catching up to the rest of the 21st-century economy, in which convenience is not only expected, but demanded -- and massive retailers are driving the change.

Patients suffering everyday complaints like chest colds or ankle sprains have long faced the lamentable choice between waiting days to see their family doctors or enduring time-sucking, unpleasant and expensive visits to hospital emergency rooms, especially at night and on weekends when physicians typically aren't open for business. It's one of the most annoying aspects of the way medical care is provided in the United States.

Big chains like CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are stepping in to try to correct this market failure. These and other retailers are opening hundreds of new walk-in clinics, staffed by medical professionals such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. They're betting that Americans craving speed, convenience and easy-to-understand prices will be willing to break their habit of expecting a doctor to handle all of their medical issues.

"People are demanding health care to react similarly to other service industries, where people have a need and they want it relatively easy," said Nancy Gagliano, a primary care physician and chief medical officer for CVS Health's MinuteClinic. "The traditional health care system really is not adequate to support the need."

Although still vastly outnumbered by doctors' offices and hospitals, retail clinics are spreading rapidly: There currently are almost 1,900 across the U.S., up more than sevenfold since 2007, according to data compiled by Merchant Medicine, a consulting firm that tracks the sector.

The time seems right for the health care landscape to include places such as CVS MinuteClinic, Walgreens Healthcare Clinic and Walmart Care Clinic, along with similar locations housed inside retailers such as Kroger, Target and Rite Aid.

For starters, patients appear eager for the clinics. When the Advisory Board Co., a Washington-based consulting firm, surveyed consumers last year, it found respondents valued being treated by a physician less than the convenience of night and weekend hours, getting seen without an appointment, and being able to fill prescriptions on-site.

"People are also more sophisticated than, I think, in the past, health care has given them credit for," Gagliano said. "They have a really good sense of when the MinuteClinic-type visit is appropriate for their needs and when it's worth waiting for their doctor for a more complex issue or more chronic and preventative-care follow-up."

CVS Health's MinuteClinic, the market leader with close to 1,000 locations in 31 states and the District of Columbia, had more than 18 million patient visits in 2013, up from 5 million just two years prior, according to the company. It plans to have 1,500 clinics by 2017.

Eric Knudtson of New York might be the prototypical retail clinic patient. Knudtson, a 23-year-old student, visited a clinic inside a New York City Duane Reade -- owned by Walgreens -- last week for a check-up. He opted for the clinic because it was convenient and because he doesn't have a regular doctor in the city, he told HuffPost.

"I just came here because it was on my way home from school," said Knudtson. The two times he used the Duane Reade clinic weren't as time-consuming as visiting a physician's office, he said. His visit last week took less than an hour, including wait time. "It seems like it's gone pretty quickly."

Locations like these offer basic check-ups plus vaccinations and treatment for minor ailments, and their medical professionals can write prescriptions. Unlike the pharmacy and grocery chains, Walmart is positioning itself as a true primary care provider, while both Walmart and Walgreens tout their services for patients with chronic diseases. Walmart sets a flat price of $40 per visit (or $4 for company employees), while CVS Health and Walgreens charge less than $100 for most treatments. Lab work, drugs, vaccines and other things carry additional fees.

Retail clinics can't replace the physician's office or the emergency room, retail executives emphasized. Doctors are better-trained than nurse practitioners and physician assistants and are more knowledgeable about their patients' medical histories. ERs are equipped to handle life-threatening medical problems that retailers cannot, and can admit the sickest patients directly to the hospitals. Retail clinics also typically offer a less-comprehensive set of services than urgent-care centers, and don't have as much high-tech equipment.

Medical societies like the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics have expressed other concerns about these clinics.

Records of what services a patient gets at a retail clinic may not be shared with their doctors, even though retailers can transmit them electronically or on paper. That could lead to problems such as unsafe mixing of medicines, physicians being unaware of changes to their patients' health, or tests and treatments being needlessly duplicated.

But there's also a well-documented shortage of primary care physicians in the U.S., making it harder for people to get timely appointments or even to find a family doctor. And medical schools can't churn them out quickly enough to meet the demand. This problem could become even more acute as millions of Americans get health care coverage because of the Affordable Care Act. Inadequate access to doctors also has prompted some states to loosen restrictions on what non-physician practitioners are allowed to do.

Between 40 percent and 50 percent of the patients who have visited the clinics at CVS, Walgreens and Walmart reported they have no regular primary care provider, according to executives at those companies.

At the same time, health insurance -- from employers and from the Obamacare exchanges -- increasingly requires patients to pay more when they get medical care. Retail clinics offer services at clearly marked prices that often are lower than at physician's offices and hospitals.

"We have what I term as a new age of consumerism," said Patrick Carroll, the chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinics and a primary care physician. "They're making choices based on convenience and economics."

Another draw is that Americans are working longer -- and less flexible -- hours. Employers and employees alike welcome retail clinics that can treat workers' minor ailments quickly and get them back to work sooner, said Jennifer LaPerre, senior director of health and wellness at Walmart U.S.

"It's hard to leave work during the day hours when you need to get care. But if they need to, they certainly don't want to be gone long," LaPerre said.

For the struggling retail industry, medical clinics offer both a new source of revenue linked to the massive and growing U.S. health care market, as well as a means of driving foot traffic into their stores, where customers may buy other products.

"We really want to be able to serve that audience who probably is shopping in our stores, but who may not have access to affordable health care," LaPerre said.

Jillian Berman contributed reporting.