Do you think food is expensive? Go to http://www.collective-evolution.com/2010/04/19/food-inc-2/ to watch a video that will make you SO angry that perhaps you will finally DO something about the POISON we are being fed at the supermarket. I’ll supply tips and contacts at the end of the article.
Food production changed more in the last 50 years than it has in all of human history. No longer does our food come from “family” or “community” farms but from mega-factory farms or ONLY factories. Virtually all of the 40,000 products in the local grocery store are manufactured by only a handful of mega-corporations.
For example, in 1970 about 11 different packers controlled most of the meat produced, now only 6 companies, Tyson, Cargill, Swift, IBP, National Beef and Smithfield
On the “family” farm, chickens could run free, scratch the ground, eat bugs and the heads off grass, rest under a shade tree or bask in natural sunlight. In 1900 most “broilers” (chickens raised specifically for meat not laying eggs) were raised in back yards, now less than 5 mega-corporations are responsible for all the “broilers” on the market. Now chickens never see the light of day. They are raised in “Chicken houses” which are about 50’ by 500’, completely enclosed where the air is circulated by huge fans near the ceiling. The “corporate” decision to use lightless chicken coops is because when it is dark, the chickens will set or lay down, making them easier to catch. They are fed cracked and powdered corn laced with artificial vitamins and minerals and loaded with antibiotics, because easily 10,000 to 100,000 chickens will be housed in one building so that the chickens are literally beak to tail and body to body. They’ve been genetically engineered to have more breast meat than ever before and they grow to maturity in less than half the time (40 days as opposed to 90). This causes these chickens to have very weak bones and under developed internal organs. “Modern” chickens can’t even walk more than 3 or 4 steps before they fall over because of their tremendous weight ( pre engineered chickens seldom weighed more than 4 pounds, feathers and all, now a 5+ pound chicken is normal). It is not uncommon for a chicken farmer to gather 40% of the flock as dead, unsalable chickens from a house with 10,000 birds in it. Because the chickens are constantly fed antibiotics (because of the stress of their lives) this results in antibiotic resistant germs and viruses. It also causes a major health hazard for the farmer. Many chicken farmers are now allergic to ALL antibiotics and can not take them. What happens if the farmer gets bacterial pneumonia (without antibiotics this is usually fatal) or a small cut gets seriously infected? Chickens walk in their own feces and by the time they’re harvested they usually are covered in feces. (Now you know why packaged chicken can be coated in salmonella.) I have personal knowledge that this is true because I worked at an “egg farm” for one day. One day was all I needed! The “new” chickens walked on clean straw or wood shavings, the older the chickens were, the deeper the droppings and “fresh” footing became. In the “old” chicken house the smelly mess on the floor was easily 8” deep! On a commercial “broiler” farm, this mess is only cleaned out when the chicken house has a chance to be empty … maybe once in 10 years.
But chicken farming for one of the big companies is profitable, right? NO! The chicken farmer lives in debt constantly. A new chicken house can cost over $150,000 to build but the farmer only grosses $18,000 a year, and the profit to debt ratio is projected to decline even more in 2010. (cite: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FarmIncome/wealth.htm) They do what their buyers tell them to do or they loose their contract and eventually everything they own. But slavery does not exist in the US
What about the other two major meat sources, bovines and swine? If you have any illusions that animals used for meat are treated with the nobility of “Babe” or “Wilber” in “Charlotte
Most Americans know Tyson as the “big” chicken company, Swift and Company (Now owned by JBS, a Brazilian meat packer and the Number 1 meat packer in the world) and Smithfield Smithfield aren’t any better and worse … Smithfield openly recruits Mexican nationals, imports them to the US Smithfield workers, all illegal Mexican nationals, for processing back to Mexico Smithfield Mexico
Not as much is known about the others. Cargill’s biggest complaints have been from competitors claiming that Cargill is trying to “corner the market” on supplying food and bio-chemicals to the world. That distinction belongs to JBS who is the number 1 handler of packaged meat in the world and getting bigger as they just acquired Pilgrim’s Pride in 2009. Pilgrim’s Pride was the #3 distributor of chicken products in America
But our packaged food is safe, right? Where have you been? “We estimate that food borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States
E. coli O157:H7 is a new, very resistant strain of bacterium, and it is an important cause of acute renal failure in children (6,7). It was identified in 1982 and its first appearance was in 1975. This particular strain of very poisonous E. coli came into being because of the way commercial meat is raised and treated between birth and the shrink wrapped pieces in the grocery store. It is believed that E. coli O157:H7 serotypes apparently arose as a result of horizontal gene transfer of virulence factors. (cite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_O157:H7) How many times have you seen a news report about an outbreak of E.coli in hamburger served from some fast food chain? Guess who provides that meat? You got it, JBS, Smithfield , and Cargill.
So, what can we, the consumers, do about the atrocities? BOYCOTT! The most effective way to change the way a company does business is to loose business. Do not buy foods from companies whose environmental, human and animal rights activities and share of the marketplace you do not like. Make it known that these companies should be boycotted. Tell all your neighbors to boycott them also. Write to the companies and tell them your opinions. Watch the news and surf the web for information on the companies you want out of business and bring anything you find about them to the attention of all your neighbors.
AND
VOTE! Write to your state and federal governments to curtail the allowances of these companies and bug the government to either abolish the FDA or set guidelines that would help to curb the graft and favoritism, which MUST be adhered to by the organization. Sign petitions to limit the scope of the FDA, such as : http://dev.healthfreedoms.org/content/reject-s-3002-nutritional-supplement-prohibition-act to keep the FDA from setting unreasonable requirements on Supplemental and Organic products.
JOIN :
http://www.freshfarmmarkets.org/ (A DC area based farmer’s market, join their mailing list)
Also find out who are your elected officials and let them know you want the “food cartel” broken NOW. For Federal representatives go to https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
For your state representatives Google® your state name and “representatives” then you’ll find a list. If you don’t know what district you are in look for a chance to enter your zip code on that page.
It is a requirement that Town Hall meetings are generally open to the public unless a vote is happening. Being a good American means being involved in your government at EVERY LEVEL so attend at least one Town Hall meeting every 3 months. Get to know who is making the decisions for you and your children. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
There will be further information in the next article. Look for it.
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