Do we really need dignity for the animals we kill to eat?

This is kinda an extension of the pro-farmer rant I just posted. Someone
sent me a story about the chicken "death camp" KFC uses to raise and
slaughter its chickens. KFC processes (according to the protesting web
site) 850 million chickens a year. Anyone have any idea how many freaking
chickens that really is? Wrap your mind around that number, 850 million.
That's like 1 chicken for every Catholic in the world. It's kinda funny
that there are also 850 million people who go hungry every year. Guess there
isn't a KFC near by.

Anyway, so this story was complaing about how none of these chickens have
any dignity before they are killed and eaten. I am curious how much all
this complaining winds up costing the consumer in the end. If its anything
like the auto industry, it costs the consumer alot. It costs like $2000
bucks to produce a car, so why do cars cost so much. Litigation, insurance,
government safety standards. So the question I pose is, how much extra does
chicken diginity wind up costing us?

<img src="http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0108/fig9.gif">Material &
labor costs fo a few cars.

Read Users' Comments (0)

Corn prices are high too...apparently -- Lets start a war with the farmers

As someone who never really buys corn, I couldn't tell you what's the going
price for a cob. However, Forbes and Food Engineering have both told me
that corn prices are super high. As a result, prices of all kinds of other
stuff is going up. Apparently, corn is fed to farm animals. We eat farm
animals in abundence. Granted PETA would take issue with me calling them
farm animals, since farm conjours up a pretty picture. PETA would prefer I
call them death camps. Whatever, as long as its tasty and not too full of
hormones. Back to my point. So since ethonal is made of corn, and there is
a big corn crazy, food like beef, chicken, n eggs are higher priced due to
the rising cost of feed (made out of corn).

So should we start a war with the corn farmers and try to install a faux
government while we beat democracy into them. Oh wait, we are Americans, we
don't care about democracy anymore, just capitalism. Guess we should
through some more subsidies and tax breaks at them instead. Soon farmers
will be screwing us as hard as the oil people are...maybe.

Of course, if America would pay attention, keep property taxes down, highly
restrict eminent domain, buy American veggies n cows, allow for more local
oil drilling, and maybe even wake up to genetically modified veggies that
are easier and cheaper to grow, maybe stuff that comes from farmers wouldn't
be as expensive.

Read Users' Comments (0)

High gas prices bad for your wallet, Good for your family

So I just read a short editorial in the June 2007 edition of Food Engineer.
Appears the Food marketing Institute took a survey on consumer habits.
According to this survey consumers are making an effort to cook more meals
at home. One correlation is due to the rising gas prices, people aren't
going out as much. So while it is rediculous to pay like $3 bucks a gallon
for gas, maybe it will be good for the family in the long run. More time
together is good right, sounds like thats the direction we are headed
temporarily. Of course, as a single guy, gas prices arent changing anything
about my habits. Except that I know I can find the bored housewives at the
supermarket more often now.

Read Users' Comments (0)