Beware: Soap Box Alert!!

I'm so fired up, so grossed out & so very sad all rolled into one. Can it be true that chicken farms are so grotesquely managed that millions of chickens are kept in the pitch-black dark during the day? That none of them have their complete set of feathers due to plucking each other in the rear? Can we seriously buy mass-produced chicken meat that is raised in such extremes that the hundreds-a-day dead are counted & thrown into buckets, compost, or incinerators? Seriously? It's shit. And we're shitty for supporting it with every $$ we throw at Tyson. ugh. Makes me sick.

In the boonies of MS, when I was supposed to be learning to use a compass, I discovered a row of 6 chicken houses that were operated by Tyson Farms. I, of course, was beyond curious to see all aspects of this business up-close & personal; my compass was quickly tossed aside. I wandered up to one of the doors and creaked it open, not really knowing what I would see next...it scared me, even the 2 inch space I was peering through. Chickens were everywhere!!!


The huge buildings were COVERED with chicken bodies in the dark ( my pics don't show the depth of these buildings). No cages, no infrastructure, just long water pipes and feeding bins. As I opened the door more, letting in more and more sunlight, the chickens became scared to death...from the closest to the farthest away, they started squawking in fear, climbing over each other to get away. The dead were literally trampled on even more. I didn't even go in, I just looked and looked and looked. I was in shock! This was real. I literally couldn't believe it. I became angry that this was the reality we supported. A cycle of anger, then sadness, then outrage, then pity....on and on. I even went so far as to quiz the feed-delivery man (this was the only person around) on what his views were of the business he was supporting. His answer was that he'd never even looked inside...what????

I've read so many books and heard so many stories, but seriously --- seriously --- you can't appreciate it (is that the right word?) until you see it for yourself. I'm not advocating that no one should eat chicken. I am simply requesting that if you should choose to eat this meat, then please eat ethically raised chickens. Anything less is not only not good for your body, but certainly can't be good for your soul.

**Some books to check out:
Slaughterhouse Blues
Slaughterhouse
Meat Market
and my all time favorite: The Ethics of What We Eat

And, as my final plug, I have to make mention of the very ignorant, nearing asinine, comment the guy I was with said : "If I don't look, then I don't have to know." Needless to say, I had to bite my tongue.

Educate yourselves people & act accordingly! This is total (chicken) shit!!