In all fairness, I'd rather eat a turkey that's been properly maintained and not beat around or sick. Healthy turkeys are tasty turkeys!
on the flipside... do I completely buy the turkey cruelty video that just happened to show up at Thanksgiving??? Nah. That's a good move though, to try and turn people off from a huge turkey co. Right in prime season... save the gobblers!
These animal cruelty reports come up every couple months --- and while I don't like seeing things like this, it no longer surprises me....agriculture processes have been industrialized and all concerns other than the bottom line have been thrown out the window.
Small, local operations where producers and consumers cared about where the animals came from are few and far between ..... instead these small farmer's have become sub-contractors to the large, multinational agriculture conglomerates like Tyson, Butterball, ConAgra, etc. - and if your small family farm doesn't work fast/hard enough and meet the contractee's standards, your S.O.L. and you will likely go bankrupt.
These contractor/contractee relationships have turned small towns that once had multiple family farms, a local butcher, and a local grocer to interstate operations that run with the precision and efficiency of an assembly line and it's all about the contractee's bottom line - if you're a small family farm you're now playing their game. And if Butterball contracts your farm to produce turkeys, and you don't keep up and meet your quota - you're done. Workers and animals are nothing more than cogs in a giant machine.
So when you consider that these farmer's are barely scraping by to fulfill their contract's, since even an unfavorable contract with Butterball is still better than no contract ..... and pair that with the fact these workers are often illegal immigrants paid minimum wages (if that) for these high demanding/stressful jobs, I'd probably be pi$$ed off and act that way too just trying to get my job done as fast as I could so I could go home.
Because I'm sure in the eyes of these workers, the farmers who have the contracts, and certainly the big ag-businesses, these turkeys are no longer seen as turkeys, heck they're probably not even viewed as living animals, existing as part of the natural world anymore - they're simply the widget that must be produced at the lowest cost make the most $$$
In all fairness, I'd rather eat a turkey that's been properly maintained and not beat around or sick. Healthy turkeys are tasty turkeys!
Gray - 100% agree with that. Healthy (any) animals are tasty, more "productive" animals.
Researches have been studying livestock stress for years and everything I've read/heard has come to a similar conclusion, stress can be just as damaging to animals as it is to humans.
Just do a quick google search for "livestock stress study" if you care to read more.
These animal cruelty reports come up every couple months --- and while I don't like seeing things like this, it no longer surprises me....agriculture processes have been industrialized and all concerns other than the bottom line have been thrown out the window.
Small, local operations where producers and consumers cared about where the animals came from are few and far between ..... instead these small farmer's have become sub-contractors to the large, multinational agriculture conglomerates like Tyson, Butterball, ConAgra, etc. - and if your small family farm doesn't work fast/hard enough and meet the contractee's standards, your S.O.L. and you will likely go bankrupt.
These contractor/contractee relationships have turned small towns that once had multiple family farms, a local butcher, and a local grocer to interstate operations that run with the precision and efficiency of an assembly line and it's all about the contractee's bottom line - if you're a small family farm you're now playing their game. And if Butterball contracts your farm to produce turkeys, and you don't keep up and meet your quota - you're done. Workers and animals are nothing more than cogs in a giant machine.
So when you consider that these farmer's are barely scraping by to fulfill their contract's, since even an unfavorable contract with Butterball is still better than no contract ..... and pair that with the fact these workers are often illegal immigrants paid minimum wages (if that) for these high demanding/stressful jobs, I'd probably be pi$$ed off and act that way too just trying to get my job done as fast as I could so I could go home.
Because I'm sure in the eyes of these workers, the farmers who have the contracts, and certainly the big ag-businesses, these turkeys are no longer seen as turkeys, heck they're probably not even viewed as living animals, existing as part of the natural world anymore - they're simply the widget that must be produced at the lowest cost make the most $$$
/rant
You should read "The Jungle" if you haven't already.
These animal cruelty reports come up every couple months --- and while I don't like seeing things like this, it no longer surprises me....agriculture processes have been industrialized and all concerns other than the bottom line have been thrown out the window.
Small, local operations where producers and consumers cared about where the animals came from are few and far between ..... instead these small farmer's have become sub-contractors to the large, multinational agriculture conglomerates like Tyson, Butterball, ConAgra, etc. - and if your small family farm doesn't work fast/hard enough and meet the contractee's standards, your S.O.L. and you will likely go bankrupt.
These contractor/contractee relationships have turned small towns that once had multiple family farms, a local butcher, and a local grocer to interstate operations that run with the precision and efficiency of an assembly line and it's all about the contractee's bottom line - if you're a small family farm you're now playing their game. And if Butterball contracts your farm to produce turkeys, and you don't keep up and meet your quota - you're done. Workers and animals are nothing more than cogs in a giant machine.
So when you consider that these farmer's are barely scraping by to fulfill their contract's, since even an unfavorable contract with Butterball is still better than no contract ..... and pair that with the fact these workers are often illegal immigrants paid minimum wages (if that) for these high demanding/stressful jobs, I'd probably be pi$$ed off and act that way too just trying to get my job done as fast as I could so I could go home.
Because I'm sure in the eyes of these workers, the farmers who have the contracts, and certainly the big ag-businesses, these turkeys are no longer seen as turkeys, heck they're probably not even viewed as living animals, existing as part of the natural world anymore - they're simply the widget that must be produced at the lowest cost make the most $$$
/rant
You should read "The Jungle" if you haven't already.
Read it, hard to believe how things used to be -- but then again we know more now and should expect better. Yes this is better than it used to be but there's still certainly room for improvement IMHO
We always have the option of harvesting our own homegrown birds.
Unfortunately, most of us don't have an option. Most of us live in urbs and suburbs where we're just not allowed to raise and slaughter animals. I would if I could. I'd ditch the lawn mower for a goat, clean the shed out and put some hens and pigeons in there, get a couple hutches with a half dozen rabbits, and the whole deal. Raise critters tame, give them names, then eat them up.
I say, if you are what you eat, you should love 'em and eat 'em.
Can't. The same nitwits who ruin my Saturday with lawn mower racket from dawn to dusk would make up some lame story how my goat bleats too loud and call in a bureaucrat to make me get rid of him.
We always have the option of harvesting our own homegrown birds.
Unfortunately, most of us don't have an option. Most of us live in urbs and suburbs where we're just not allowed to raise and slaughter animals. I would if I could. I'd ditch the lawn mower for a goat, clean the shed out and put some hens and pigeons in there, get a couple hutches with a half dozen rabbits, and the whole deal. Raise critters tame, give them names, then eat them up.
I say, if you are what you eat, you should love 'em and eat 'em.
Can't. The same nitwits who ruin my Saturday with lawn mower racket from dawn to dusk would make up some lame story how my goat bleats too loud and call in a bureaucrat to make me get rid of him.
I hope you'd be raising those rats with wings for carrying messages or something. If not, don't invite me over for dinner on squab night! lol
We were putting along aboard Annie the big beemer bagger on a rainy day in the mountains of West Virginia when a turkey pullet dashed out of the brush on the left and zipped beneath our front wheel. Didn't see him come out the other side. Assumed we musta laid him out on the road. Until, several minutes later, we began to smell something fowl. Pulled over, dismounted, and found the pullet had lodged behind the headers. Was getting right roasty. Burnt feathers stink.
beatnic
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on the flipside... do I completely buy the turkey cruelty video that just happened to show up at Thanksgiving??? Nah. That's a good move though, to try and turn people off from a huge turkey co. Right in prime season... save the gobblers!
Small, local operations where producers and consumers cared about where the animals came from are few and far between ..... instead these small farmer's have become sub-contractors to the large, multinational agriculture conglomerates like Tyson, Butterball, ConAgra, etc. - and if your small family farm doesn't work fast/hard enough and meet the contractee's standards, your S.O.L. and you will likely go bankrupt.
These contractor/contractee relationships have turned small towns that once had multiple family farms, a local butcher, and a local grocer to interstate operations that run with the precision and efficiency of an assembly line and it's all about the contractee's bottom line - if you're a small family farm you're now playing their game. And if Butterball contracts your farm to produce turkeys, and you don't keep up and meet your quota - you're done. Workers and animals are nothing more than cogs in a giant machine.
So when you consider that these farmer's are barely scraping by to fulfill their contract's, since even an unfavorable contract with Butterball is still better than no contract ..... and pair that with the fact these workers are often illegal immigrants paid minimum wages (if that) for these high demanding/stressful jobs, I'd probably be pi$$ed off and act that way too just trying to get my job done as fast as I could so I could go home.
Because I'm sure in the eyes of these workers, the farmers who have the contracts, and certainly the big ag-businesses, these turkeys are no longer seen as turkeys, heck they're probably not even viewed as living animals, existing as part of the natural world anymore - they're simply the widget that must be produced at the lowest cost make the most $$$
/rant
Researches have been studying livestock stress for years and everything I've read/heard has come to a similar conclusion, stress can be just as damaging to animals as it is to humans.
Just do a quick google search for "livestock stress study" if you care to read more.
I say, if you are what you eat, you should love 'em and eat 'em.
Can't. The same nitwits who ruin my Saturday with lawn mower racket from dawn to dusk would make up some lame story how my goat bleats too loud and call in a bureaucrat to make me get rid of him.
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I hope you'd be raising those rats with wings for carrying messages or something. If not, don't invite me over for dinner on squab night! lol