Chickens love to take dust baths, peck around the yard and groom themselves in the sunshine. On factory farms, all natural behaviors are thwarted.
Six egg layers are crammed into wire cages the size of a folded newspaper.
Many times “cage-free” means thousands of chickens packed into windowless sheds. A part of the birds’ beaks is burned off to stop the stressed birds from cannibalizing and self-mutilating, causing many to starve – merely a profit loss to the industry. Chickens’ lungs are burned from the ammonia from thousands of birds.
After spending 12 hours in trucks, chickens are held upside down at the slaughterhouse, passing through an electric current that paralyzes, but does not render them unconscious.
Chickens contain as much artery-clogging cholesterol as beef, with one egg as much cholesterol as a hamburger.
Up to 90 percent of all chicken flesh sold in the U.S. contains salmonella, campylobacter and other dangerous bacteria, infecting as many as 4 million with salmonella “flu” each year and causing approximately 500 deaths from complications.
The broiler and egg industries use a lion’s share of precious water and generate tons of chemical-laden manure, detrimental to the environment.
World hunger could be alleviated if all livestock grains were given to humans instead.
Why kill when so many tasty and healthful alternatives to chicken and egg exist? For information on a plant-based diet contact 1-888-VEG-FOOD, 224-1361, TryVeg.com or GoVeg.com.
Barbara Bonsignore
Concord