Research investigating occupational stress has concentrated on its effects on employees in various settings, including both white collar and blue collar occupations. Studies have generally focused on associations between workplace factors (e.g., job control and worker support) and health outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, high blood pressure). Subsequently, this increase of research examining the mental health of employees reflects an integration of clinical and health psychology with the development of preventative strategies to decrease rates of workplace injury and illness, job turnover, and fatalities. With regard to the U.S. meat industry, which reveals an intermingling of politics, civil rights, and free enterprise from the 19^th century to present time, the current study has drawn upon the current literature as a basis for further understanding the psychological effects of occupational stress on a multicultural sample of animal agriculture and slaughterhouse workers from beef and hog slaughter operations in the United States. Employees in the U.S. meat industry have jobs in which they repeat the same motions over and over during their shifts, lift heavy objects, and/or perform other tasks involving exposure to extreme heat and noise. However, compared with workers in all U.S. industries, meatpacking employees sustain higher rates of injuries than workers of other industries, supporting the contention that workers in this field are at a significantly greater risk of physical and mental disturbances. The goal of the present study, therefore, was to examine whether these employees express elevated anxiety, hostility, and depression, as well as decreased hope, than normative samples of adults. Forty-five male and nine female workers (N = 54) from three U.S. meatpacking operations and two concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) provided sworn affidavits (or gave videotaped interviews) in connection with investigations by Gail Eisnitz for the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Farming Association. From the affidavits and interviews obtained by Ms. Eisnitz and provided to the principal investigator, 33 affidavits and 21 interview transcripts were selected for computerized content analysis by the computer software known as Psychiatric Content Analysis and Diagnosis (PCAD 2000). The present study has found that Caucasian and Hispanic U.S. meat industry workers exhibit heightened levels of hostility directed outward, and that Caucasian workers exhibit more anxiety when compared to respective normative samples. Another important finding of the current study is that U.S. meat industry workers express significantly varying levels of hope, according to ethnicity. Improving worksite-based mental health services based upon sound research examining the occupational stress U.S. meat industry workers face on a regular basis, should remain a long-term goal for meatpacking plant and CAFO management personnel. For U.S. meat industry workers, strategies may be developed to assist supervisors and managers—as well as the employees themselves—in the prevention of occupational stressors that could potentially result in further psychological strain for the employees.