Free Range Salmonella

Chickens used for egg production typically live in one of many battery cages crammed into a long windowless shed. Ten or more of these hens are packed together in a cage that is about the size of a drawer in a filing cabinet. This causes frustration and fighting between the hens. To keep this from happening, farmers often cut or burn part of their beaks off without medicine to dull the pain. Hens who become sick are usually not given proper veterinary care and are left to die slowly and painfully. Some of the eggs laid by the hens are hatched by another industry to supply more chickens for egg production. Since the hatched male chicks cannot lay eggs, they are often killed by grinding or suffocation. When the hens grow old and stop producing as many eggs, many farmers will deny them proper nutrition to try and “shock” their bodies into laying eggs one last time. Then they are slaughtered and their bodies are used for food scraps.

Imagine never seeing the real sun. You’re stuck in this cage with artificial lighting for your whole life. Until one day you finally get to go outside. Only to be sent to a slaughterhouse. The first day you get to see the sun will sadly the last. This is the shocking reality for most caged hens, not to mention the outrageous conditions they are kept in. These conditions impact on their health majorly. In addition to non-caged eggs actually being better for you. Caged eggs should be one hundred percent outlawed.

Every year, over 58 billion farm animals are killed by humans for food production, and this astounding number does not even include sea creatures. This is known as factory farming – the system of inhumane raising of livestock for the purpose of supplying food for human consumption in the cheapest way possible. It is argued that factory farming should be illegal and banned worldwide not only because of its cruelty towards animals but also because the low quality meat can produce harmful diseases and major health concerns to consumers.

Many years ago, backyard chickens were commonplace throughout the United States of America – mainly for nutrition. During that time, backyard chickens were easy to take care of and a small number of them could feed a family with meat and eggs for a bargain. Years later, manufacturing food became the way of life and

The animals get to live longer and happier lives. On page 192 in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, Pollan illustrates how “...the Salatins try to work with the natural instincts of their animals, not against them.” The animals get to live a natural life. When the animals live happier, healthier lives, than the products from them are healthier. Joel Salatins animals are so healthy that when Pollan went to sell the eggs to a restaurant the cooks, he said, “...called his staff over to admire the bright orange color of the yolk. Art explained that it was the grass diet that gave the eggs their yolk color. I don’t think I’d ever seen people so interested in an egg yolk--they were clearly impressed.” (Pollan 219) The animals are able to eat what they want, instead of being forced to eat corn. They aren’t pumped with antibiotics, and the food they eat isn’t loaded on with fertilizers or pesticides. The animals live natural, healthy lives, which also means better, healthier

Instead of unsustainable farming destroying the land and pumping foods chock full of pesticides, the land is able to thrive in a managealbe cycle with no end in sight. Instead of being fed corn and locked up, animals are able to graze on grass and roam sunny green pastures. And so, in the end, are you going to drive through the drive through of some chain fast food joint, for an insanely low price, or buy your food from a neighbourly open farm with humane conditions and healthier food? I think the best choice is

In Chapter 14 of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan points out that “at Polyface, the Salatins try to work with the natural instincts of their animals, not against them. When Joel lets his chicken loose in a pasture, he is using their natural instinct to clean up after herbivores….Instead of treating chickens as egg-laying machines” (Pollan 192). Unlike the industrial food chain, where the chicken is kept in the factory and is forced to eat GMO soy and corn. Chickens in Polyface are free to run around in the pasture and the chickens get to eat what is naturally for them. Secondly, Pollan notes that a place called “CAFOs-Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations” contains tons on toxic waste from cows who are forced to eat GMO corn and CAFOs “are also breeding grounds for new and deadly bacteria” (Pollan 61-62). CAFOs are unsafe for cows because the feedlots contain bacteria which can possibly harm and kill animals. Different from industrial, in local sustainable farms, cows are not forced into eating corn, but instead, eat what is natural to them like grass. Seeing that cows in local sustainable eat grass, the cow manure is not toxic but instead, the manure is full of protein for the chickens to eat. Generally speaking, local sustainable farms’ animals are healthier because the animals are allowed to follow their natural instincts, free-range, and not easily exposed to harmful

This information has swayed me to understand that organic food is the much better option when considering our natural well being and the environments. Likewise, Mr. Pollan has educated the audience enough to know that “free-range” or “organic” foods do not always mean what their are connotation may make them out to be. Organic foods may include no pesticides or chemical fertilizers, but what about all of the other chemicals that animals must inhale to keep from getting sick. As Michael Pollan puts it “When chickens get to live like chickens, they'll taste like chickens, too.” (Pollan 270.) This quote directly correlates with humans as well. When we eat processed foods or anything that does not stem from the environment that we live in we are changing our bodies into something it was unintended to be. Likewise arose the quote by Victor Lindlahr “You are what you

Layers practically spent their youth to maturity confined in cages no bigger than their bodies. The cages are densely packed next and on top of one another. Laying hens are frequently starved to maximize their eggs production. The goal is to maximize production with amount of effort. The way I see it: It is like life in prison for those hens. They cannot move and even flap their wings. Living in overcrowded area, it is a natural tendency for the birds to peck at each other. To solve that problem, new born chicks will get part of their top beaks cut off without any painkillers. Many chicks experience pain and unable eat for days. When hens can no longer produce eggs, they are killed and sent elsewhere. Why would one kill those hens? Can we still use them for

Multiple people are switching from non- organic to free range organic chicken, but many people may ask what that means. Free range refers upon how the chicken was raised. Mass production farms shove as many chickens as they can in one small area with no exposure to sunlight or fresh air at all. On the other hand, free range chicken have many benefits such as exposure to fresh air and sunlight and also have a very healthy diet. Some farmers would think of out doors as a cement slab on the side of the building, but in 2010 the access to pasture rule was created.

As a land owner, I value every individual under my roof and monitor their finances. Since Jonathan Swift proposed everyone to consume the most insignificant members of our society, I believe we must follow through to see the most improvement. Our economy would flourish. Markets would use the skin and the meat to sell for multiple reasons, overpopulation would decrease, and

Chicken, lamb, turkey, milk, pork, eggs, fish, etc., all contribute to the environmental problems facing the planet. The fossil-fuel energy consumption to protein output for these livestock are as follows: chicken has a 4:1 ration, lamb 50:1, turkey 13:1, milk protein 14:1, pork 17:1, and eggs at a 26:1 ratio. This averages out to almost eight-times more “fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein” (Pimentel). In addition, each animal has its own benefits and downfalls. Pigs propose a lower carbon footprint but if raised in ideal free-range environments they can pollute the soil with nitrogen (Goffman 5). Chickens pose the threat of spreading bacteria through rivers and streams and spurring algal growth which create “dead zones”,

It is no secret that meat plays an enormous role in the diet and culture of many countries. Each year, approximately 56 billion land animals are raised and killed worldwide for human consumption (Edwards). By 2050, this figure is predicted to double, making animal production growth rate higher than any other agricultural sub sector in the developed world. Over the last decade, small and medium livestock farms have been replaced by large industrialized factory farms, raising large numbers of livestock indoors in conditions intended to maximize production at minimal cost (Edwards). These sentient beings suffer from intense confinement and as research reveals, we are being forced to either change our ways or face devastating consequences as discussed in this paper. Meat, egg, and milk production are not only focused on the slaughtering of farm animals, but the animal agriculture sector also includes feed grain production and energy expenditures to transport feed, live animals, and animal products, which requires large amounts of

The ethical dilemma is we’re cheating the system. Five minutes of outdoor time give us the ability call our chickens “free range”, created a problem of trust with your consumers. Your consumer may actually buy the chicken because they think it’s actually free range, but if they find out that you are lying or using a loop hole, there is a chance they will stop buying.

Poultry plays very important role for mankind through food supply, income and employment generation, providing raw materials to some industries, facilitating research works etc. Family poultry makes up to 80 percent of poultry stocks in low-income food-deficit countries (Pym et al., 2006) where owners raise poultry in small numbers ranging from single birds up to a few hundred.