I don't anymore, and if you do, this blog by a former poultry plant worker may change your mind: http://www.cyberactivist.blogspot.com/ Some of the archives about common practices, such as 'sh1t fights' make especially illuminating reading.

The 'free market' strikes again.

The 'free market' strikes again.

Indeed it does. Consumers can exercise the choice not to buy Tyson chicken.

But the problem here is that people don't exert the choice, because if they were smart enough to do all the reserarch into the consequences before buying a damn chicken, the problem wouldn't be here in the first place.

How many people get their chicken in a preprepared form? It's hardly as though they know where it's coming from.

And the whole factory-farming and meat-packing industries are so chock full of externalities, it affects far more than the people who buy the chickens.

But the problem here is that people don't exert the choice

Its not the role of government to save fools from their folly...

Ok, I skimmed through that, watched the video interview with Virgil, and looked at the gallery of pictures, but what are the health risks of eating commercially produced chicken? What are some reasons aside from animal cruelty to avoid that kind of food?

I never understood why people become vegetarians after seeing things like that. You can get meat that comes from animals that are raised 'naturally'.

Ok, I skimmed through that, watched the video interview with Virgil, and looked at the gallery of pictures, but what are the health risks of eating commercially produced chicken? What are some reasons aside from animal cruelty to avoid that kind of food?

The very intensive conditions the chickens are raised in are ideal breeding grounds for diseases such as avian flu. The mechanised gutting machines and pluckers that are used inevitably result in feces being splattered in the body cavity, as a result, some studies have shown that 1 in 3 chickens are infected with salmonella. The antibiotics that are commonly fed to promote growth are a major cause of the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the growth hormones have been implicated in things such as lowered sperm count.

In addition, chickens have been so intensively bred that they reach slaughter size at 6 weeks old. The resulting chicken is tender, but also very bland and lacking in nutrients; the growth rate is so fast that the legs can't support their weight and they often break.


I never understood why people become vegetarians after seeing things like that. You can get meat that comes from animals that are raised 'naturally'.

I'm not a vegetarian, I eat red meat which tends to be raised better and doesn't really allow such casual cruelty, but I only eat poultry which has been killed by someone I know and free-range pork.

I have heard that pig butchering is also a rather dirty affair, do you know anything about that?

Butchering anything is a rather dirty affair.

Its not the role of government to save fools from their folly...

But the problem is that it is not just the fools who are harmed by their folly.

I buy chicken from Costco. Until I notice any big health consequences to me, I will continue to do so. I do not care about cruelty to chickens and I do not buy into every little health scare drummed up by PETA types to scare people away from all meat for their own ideological reasons. Even though you don't like my choice, it's still my choice.

I buy chicken from Costco. Until I notice any big health consequences to me, I will continue to do so. I do not care about cruelty to chickens and I do not buy into every little health scare drummed up by PETA types to scare people away from all meat for their own ideological reasons. Even though you don't like my choice, it's still my choice.
Bro the guvment should stop you from doing so.

Do u agree?

The government would be appalled at all the sanitation rules I break in my household every day. They need to come save me from myself.

The government would be appalled at all the sanitation rules I break in my household every day. They need to come save me from myself.

Biography:
I pay my workers 2 cents an hour, throw them into the street, then send them off to die in my wars
Location:
A big house

Interests:Sipping wine and smoking cigars
Occupation:Waging War against the Proletariat
Ideology:Capitalism
Ethnicity:Bourgeoisie
Confession:Anything that keeps the masses down will do
Gender:Female

Its just too bad your married :D .

I don't really care about cruelty to chickens, and I haven't died yet so I don't think the health problems can be that significant. I'm no doctor, but I think the human body may be able to put up with a lot. Copious amounts of alcohol consumption should be proof of this :p These things only catch up to most people when passed the age of 50. And worrying too much about how healthy you will be later on takes some essential fun out of life.

My habit of gardening and touching things on the train, then eating things with my hands without washing them may be pretty disgusting, but why does "flu season" always pass me by while others think they're going to die if they don't put antibacterial soap all over themselves if they touch a doorknob? I'm more worried about getting hit by a car than getting sick from chicken.

You have a garden?

I think this is the age of obsessive compulsive hypochondria. Anti-bacterial soap is recommended, but then there are theories saying it somehow washes off whatever it is that creates your natural defense to germs.

I find it more disgusting to touch the soap dispenser in a public bathroom than to not wash my hands at all. That is the thing other people touch before washing their hands. OTHER PEOPLE. :|

Well, it's a backyard with some herbs and raspberries. "Gardening" consists of sitting around in the grass trying to dig up dandelions by hand because we're too preoccupied to go buy weedkiller.

People are just pansies nowadays about "germs". You'd think they never heard of an immune system.

IMHO the biggest problems with the factory farming industry are the environmental consequences and the heavy use of antibiotics.

The former will impair the ability of humans to live on the planet, because contaminated water sources and whatnot are hardly good things.

The latter means that diseases are building up resistance to antibiotics. This, coupled with the fear of germs (some germs are necessary for the immune system, as anything in the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" category is), means that the world is being set up for some sort of killer pandemic.

What with the huge amounts of transportation over long distances (disease heaven) something like, say, ebola could make the influenza near the end of WWI look like party games.

I buy chicken from Costco. Until I notice any big health consequences to me, I will continue to do so. I do not care about cruelty to chickens and I do not buy into every little health scare drummed up by PETA types to scare people away from all meat for their own ideological reasons. Even though you don't like my choice, it's still my choice.


Hear, hear! Pass the BBQ sauce!

Free-range meats taste better. If the animal gets to move around, eats a more natural diet, the meat is more flavourful.

The best damn chicken I ever had was a Rowes free-range.