It is that time of year again, I had to go to the dentist for a cleaning. The Hygenist was behind so I grabbed a magazine to read. The Phoenix Magazine January 2011 had an article called "The Locavore's Delimma" that contained an interview with Clint Hickman about their egg production facility in Arizona. It stated that their cages are the size of file cabinet drawers and hold 7 hens, affording each hen approximately 67 sq inches of living space for the two years that they produce and are kept alive. Then they will be gassed and ground to compost. I know that I am being idealistic, but I love my girls. Their bedroom is 5ft by 8ft. Their daytime fun-sun-run is 2 ft by 40ft. I know that I could add more and there would still be more room than they need. I will get one more girl this year, making my home totally egg independant. Hickman's will not get another dime from me.
I need a farm.
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Before our panel discussion back in December (November?) I talked with Clint Hickman and a few others for about an hour. It's difficult, because the Hickman's are good people, it would be easier for me if they were jerks so I could just hate everything about them. They are very open about their process and what's involved, it just happens that it churns my stomach. I feel like they are a massive factory farm, but trying to do it the best they can. He was very honest with me about a lot of things, including the fact that when he visits the cage-free facility they have in California that it's so vile it makes him want to throw up. The birds are packed in to barns that are never cleaned for the two years the birds are alive (the nesting boxes are on a system that raises up the walls many feet as the feces they live on top of get deeper and deeper) and even though they are debeaked, over the course of 2 years, they lose somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% of the original birds due mostly to cannibalism. The only reason they have that farm is because of market pressures for "cage-free" eggs, and apparently that's the only way they can do it and make a profit. I suppose everyone can't be Joel Salatin. But then again, Joel Salatin doesn't sell his eggs to stores for 60 cents a dozen.
It's true that factory farmers want to keep their birds as healthy as possible for economic reasons, but unfortunately there is a certain allowable mortality that is factored in for the greatest possible net profit. The inhumanity of the chicken mortality/suffering vs. cost of space can be difficult to reconcile.
"But then again, Joel Salatin doesn't sell his eggs to stores for 60 cents a dozen."
Yep, and unfortunately, most consumers don't look past the price and want cheap food at all costs. Just think of the cheap slaughterhouse renderings used to make the feed that factory animals consume and the antibiotics needed to keep them alive. Consumers seem either oblivious or don't question how nourishing meat and eggs from these critters can be. The product can only be as nourishing and healthy as the animals' diets and environment. Garbage in, garbage out. Cheap food is no bargain.
I agree! I'm halfway through reading Omnivore's Dilemma, and the author makes a comment that Americans spend only 10% of their incomes on food compared to 20% in Europe and even higher elsewhere. I think not because we buy less food... but food of a much lower quality. Don't forget, in addition to the cheap slaughterhouse renderings used to make the feed, they are also fed heaps of genetically modified corn and grains which are banned in most other countries! Gross.
I love Michael Pollan's quote (I think it was his), something like, "you're not just what you eat. you're also what you eat eats".
It IS sad that we have to deal with scammers at Farmers Markets, of all places! You would think that would be a "safe" place! I love hitting up the Farmer's Market (usually Roadrunner Park) on Saturdays, but I have never bought produce there. I get all of my organic produce through the Bountiful Baskets co-op. Donna - if you're looking for clean and humane food, that may be a way to go, if you haven't heard of it. Every other week, I get a giant box of ORGANIC fruits and veggies for $25. They are sourced as locally as possible. But they also get stuff that doesn't grow here. For example they get all their bananas from a small grower in Mexico, etc. There's lots of info on their web site.
Thank you Katie,
I will check into them. I grow most of my own veggies in season, but it will be fun to look at other options.
Donna -
Thanks for sharing! I was able to read the article online. It is hard not to feel sorry for all those hens stuck in those tiny cages for 2 years! But, as the article pointed out, it is at least cleaner and slightly more humane than some other facilities (though that doesn't necessarily make it right). And I have often wondered... why are the laying hens from factory egg production facilities killed and then ground into compost or thrown in a landfill, or whatever they do with them? Why aren't they butchered and sold for food? Not that I would want to eat one of those hens. But, just curious...
On another note, I have bought grass-fed beef from the Meat Shop and it is a cool place. I've also had the peppercorn feta from Crow's Dairy. Yum!
But I share your dream of one day having a farm and raising my own chickens for meat and eggs and goats for fresh milk and growing tons of fruits and veggies... siiigggghhhhhh.....
Thank you for your comment. I worked at the mentioned farm in Glendale one Saturday many years ago. Back then
when a chicken had become a "blow out". They were grabbed from the cage by a leg, the neck or a wing and thrown into a truck. They were piled on top if each other, no matter their health or condition. When the truck was full, it carried them off to a soup factory. Sometimes they were injured in the grabbing and throwing and had a long and tortous ride.
Chickens were kept under light 24 hrs a day to cause them to lay more eggs than a normal hen. At around two years
they were no longer able to produce the required amount and were culled to make room for younger more productive hens.
I will eventually raise chickens for meat, but they will have a nice life while they are with us.
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