Today I went to lunch four other people. During casual conversation, I was surprised to discover that I was the only one in the group who ate pork. Now, I realize there are a number of reasons why people don't eat pork, but it seemed the consensus was mostly because pigs are filthy animals. Ok, I'll concede the fact that they are definitely not the cleanliest animals around. Still, when I voiced my opinion that chicken, which everyone ate, are equally as filthy. As I recalled the smell of the chicken farm on a warm summer afternoon up the road from aunt Vic and uncle Jim's house, I couldn't believe that no one shared my understanding of it. As most of us know, chicken is the most highly consumed meat in the United States. Due to the demand, chicken must be
PRODUCED to keep up with that demand. This method of 'growing' chickens has led to the coining of the term, broiler chickens. Broiler chickens are pumped with steroids so they grow quicker, and therefore the suppliers can keep up with the demand. Because of the steroids pumped into these chickens, they grow so quickly that their organs cannot keep up and many die. On top of that, there is such a large volume of chickens within these production plants, that for their entire lives, these chickens live in eachothers excrement. The excrement comes from the extreme overcrowding, where the chickens, which are generally clean animals, are forced to urinate and deficate on one another. After a life of overcrowding, filth, and misery, the chickens are put to slaughter. To put a bit of a legal twist on this, chickens are exempt from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. The act states "livestock must be slaughtered in a humane manner to prevent needless suffering, research methods on humane methods of slaughter, the nonapplicability of these statutes to religious or ritual slaughter, and the investigation into the care of nonambulatory livestock."
USDA The act specifically lists "in the case of cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, swine, and other livestock, all animals are rendered insensible to pain by a single blow or gunshot or an electrical, chemical or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut<.>"
7 U.S.C. Sect. 1902 This leads the chickens to be slaughtered in often extremely inhumane ways. Many are shackeled, hung upside down, have their throats cut, and then hosed down with boiling water to remove the feathers. Now, any way you look at slaughter, it is often gruesome. However, a lot of the chickens are not dead after their throats are cut. We have all heard the cliche, "running around like a chicken with its head cut off." So essentially, a number of our feathered friends are boiled to death. I don't know about you, but having my throat cut and dunked in boiling water isn't on my top ten list of 'ways to go.' By all means, everyone has the right to choose what they will or will not eat. I am by no stretch of the imagination attempting to get anyone to eat anything they don't want to. I just feel bad for the swine. They get a bad rap and on top of that, they are delicious.
This link is to a youtube video that chronicles the life of a broiler chicken. I wanted to find a video that would depict the problems we are currently experiencing in the chicken industry. Be warned, it is somewhat gruesome, but if you eat chicken, I thought you should know where it comes from. Until next time, happy eating.
