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December 5, 2014

“Perdue chicken factory farmer reaches breaking point, invites film crew to farm.” (youtube.com)

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Chicken farmer who spoke out about factory farm abuses immediately audited by Perdue – The farmer faces potential disciplinary actions in what some speculate was an act of retaliation (salon.com)

“Chicken factory farmer speaks out.”

This is not a vegan issue. This is a human issue. Out of sight out of mind is the root of much evil. Awareness is the root of empathy, and joy.

Good news: this story (which is totally conventional in every grocery and restaurant unless otherwise labeled: this is not unusual) was on the front page of NY Times and Reddit today—Reddit’s one of the biggest sites in the world and one never accused of being a hippie earth mother site (!).

After 22 years of raising chickens for Perdue, one brave factory farmer Craig Watts was at his breaking point and did something no one has done before. He invited us, as farm animal welfare advocates, to his farm to film and tell his story. Ask your supermarket for Better Chicken at http://better-chicken.org.

A few amazing comments from Reddit. For the full bit, click any of the many links below:

They are going to go after him. He’s going to need an expert legal defense team and lots of publicity to stave off the wolves that Perdue is going to send to his door.

[–]jane011 880 points 

The New York Times covered this today, too. Hopefully he has a plan because I have a feeling his Perdue contract won’t be lasting much longer.

Edit: The people that made this video have a form to tell grocery stores to use humanely raised suppliers. Thought it should get some visibility!

[–]Pumpkinsweater 305 points 

It almost can’t be worse than the position he’s stuck in now. These contract farmer bear almost all the risk and get almost none of the profit from raising these animals and they have almost no control over their own operations. The way that the big aggro-business companies are run, and the dominance they have in the market, means that the farmers are constantly getting screwed. I can imagine I’d reach my breaking point too.

And that’s not even considering that you’re basically making a living by torturing animals. I’m sure they all got in to farming because they wanted to be out in the fields, mending fences and herding cattle. Instead they’re shoveling piles of dying animals in to a pile…

Edit: Thanks for the gold! If anyone is feeling nostalgic for the idea of people taking care of animals, instead of being put in these kinds of impossible situations, please check out Farm Sanctuary, they’re basically the opposite of everything in this video (and you can visit and play with happy little chickens and great big happy cows too) : http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

[–]myrightarmisstronger 593 points 

I was recently at a chicken farm in South Africa. I have some pictures for proof if you want. I was shocked watching this video. In South Africa it is really different in a lot of ways.

Firstly, the cages are ventilated after a few weeks when the chickens are old enough to handle sudden natural changes in temperatures like cold wind. What was really interesting was the fact that some chickens die of heart attacks from shock when they open the curtains in the mornings or turn the lights on. They really are fragile creatures.

Secondly, the cages were cleaned after each batch of chickens went through the growing process. This was to prevent the redness on their chests and beneath their feet and some abattoirs refused chickens with severe extents of it.

Thirdly, I was really surprised to hear that the chicken farming business was so secret. I found it extremely welcoming in South Africa. I contacted the farm and within a few emails the person said I was welcome to join. I took videos and pictures openly without anyone caring.

Really interesting video altogether.

[–]Leager95 39 points 

My grandfather had been a chicken farmer for Perdue for 30 years up until last year. I grew up helping him around the farm and raising the chickens and its made me realize how true this video is. The man in the video is almost the exact same person as my grandfather, he hates the way the chickens are treated and hates the way Perdue handles their business. This past year my grandfather spent close to 150 thousand dollars upgrading the chicken houses so that the chickens would have better conditions to live in and Perdue is supposed to give more money for the chickens each time they go out. Instead of giving him more they basically told him that there was no point in him upgrading the chicken houses at all. He had already been through so much with Perdue by then that he said he was done and decided to drop the contract and switch to Mountaire (a more local company). Hes been with them for 2 years or so and he is generally happy so far with how they treat farmers.

[–]isometimesweartweed 228 points 

The uncomfortable truth behind meat farming is simply that we all need to eat less meat. If we want animals to have happier healthy lives, if we want to lessen the huge environmental impact that rearing meat has on the environment, if we want to produce food in a more efficient fashion then we need to cut down on our meat consumption massively.

[–]Pumpkinsweater 115 points 

Eating Less Meat Is World’s Best Chance For Timely Climate Change, Say Experts

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michellemaisto/2012/04/28/eating-less-meat-is-worlds-best-chance-for-timely-climate-change-say-experts/

[–]lezarium 25 points 

especially if you consider how much water is needed in order to raise the animals and process the meat afterwards. for 1 kg of beef it’s about 15,000 liters!! calculating the equivalent amount of water for different products (also cars, clothes etc.) is summarized under the term “virtual water” – interesting stuff!

 

Intensive farming is not very good for the animals but is much better for the environment.

This isn’t even remotely close to true. “Intensive” farming causes methane and other nitrates to build up to extremely high concentrations in a small area, which nature can’t deal with. It then seeps intro ground water and contaminates it. I’ve researched this thoroughly. To call this practice more environmentally friendly is the furthest thing from the truth.

**

Relephant: 

If factory farms had glass walls, we’d all be vegan. 

5 Haunting Photos: a Bird’s-Eye View of what Factory Farms Do to Our Land.

This is Factory Farming 

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