Messed Up Chicken Trade Policies

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 19:51:36 PM PDT

Senate-passed bill would allow Chinese chicken imports

China bans U.S. pork, poultry plants

Here's a bit of background info about the U.S. debate on keeping Chinese chicken banned. Here's some of the article about the Senate vote on the Chinese chicken ban:

The Senate on Tuesday passed its version of a funding bill for USDA and FDA which would allow chicken imports from China with additional oversight.

The Senate bill would require approval of plants in China that wish to export to the United States, plus annual inspections of those plants and increased inspection of incoming product at U.S. ports, according to Reuters.

The House-passed version of the bill would keep current restrictions on Chinese chicken imports in place.

The World Trade Organization last week agreed to China's request that it investigate and rule on whether the U.S. ban violates international trade rules.

Personally, I don't mind if China bans our factory farmed meat (and I am absolutely for our ban on Chinese chicken). If other countries want cheap factory farmed meat, why should the American people have to live with the pollution generated by its production?  

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Tyson) and Chinese Chicken

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 04:56:28 AM PDT

Over on the House side, I believe Rep. Rosa DeLauro is more or less in charge of this decision, as she chairs the Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee. She passed a bill leaving the ban in place. Pryor's attempting to put language in the Senate bill that would:

...ease the ban by allowing the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service to develop and implement regulations for importing cooked poultry products from China. The measure would require on-site inspections at Chinese facilities in addition to reinspections at ports of entry.

In other words, he wants to legalize it. With additional inspections, to make sure it's safe. What's really at stake here is our meat export market to China. China doesn't want American chicken unless America will accept Chinese chicken. China is our largest export market for poultry, and they account for 12 percent of Tyson's international sales. In other words, this move to legalize Chinese chicken has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with helping Tyson.

Personally, I have a problem with exporting factory farmed meat. It's such a destructive industry, both for the environment and also for rural economies, that I think we get a crummy deal when we export it. America gets left with the manure, the stench, the decreased property values around the smelly factory farm, the antibiotic resistant bacteria, and (often) the impoverished factory farmer; Tyson gets the money; and the foreign country gets cheap meat. I think if they want cheap meat, then they should also have to deal with the consequences of cheap meat, instead of shifting those onto us while Tyson or another multinational corporation pockets the profits.

The question now, if the Senate passes the bill with Pryor's language included, is what will happen when the bill goes to conference.

RIP Foghorn Leghorn, Killed By Industrial Ag

by: JayinPortland

Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 13:10:47 PM PDT

The article goes onto mention that -

At least 19 heritage breeds, such as the white Delaware with the mottled neck, the white-egg laying Holland and black mottled Houdan, have been designated as critically threatened, which means there are fewer than 500 left. Dozens of others are in danger of disappearing without a market to sustain them.

[...]

If a human baby grew as quickly as a five-week factory fryer, he would weigh 349 pounds by age 2, a University of Arkansas study found.

The article also goes on to mention this scary fact -

Since the arrival of industrialized agriculture, more than 95 percent of vegetables that had been grown in the world have disappeared, according to the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture.

You'd think we'd learn a thing or two along the way...

The North Carolina group American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is currently working to protect these birds and other breeds of livestock and poultry currently threatened with extinction by industrial agricultural practices.

"Good quality, high-flavor food has always been a part of my life," Hayes said.

Let's hope it's always a part of our future generations' lives, too...

Is Cheap Chicken Worth the Price?

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

"When I left school and started working the land, this stuff was seen as farmer's gold," said Mr. Richardson, 38, a fifth-generation chicken grower, explaining that the waste was an ideal fertilizer for the region's sandy soil. "Now, it's too much of a good thing."

That's Lee Richardson, no relation to me, who was quoted in an NYT article ("In Maryland, Focus on Poultry Industry Pollution ") last year. Another great quote from the article:

"We don't let hog or dairy farms spread their waste unregulated, and we wouldn't let a town of 25,000 people dump human manure untreated on open lands," said Gerald W. Winegrad, a public policy professor at the University of Maryland who is a former state senator. "So why should we allow a farm with 150,000 chickens do it?"

The bottom line?

State officials have started to realize that there are consequences to being able to sell skinless, boneless chicken breast for just over $2 per pound when virtually no other protein source with so little fat is that cheap, Mr. Winegrad said.

I looked on Google news to see if I could find any follow-ups to this story, but without any luck. Anyone know if Maryland has done anything about its chicken poo problem?

How The Chicken Gets to Your Plate

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 13:52:27 PM PDT

Source of info in this diary: The Economic Organization of U.S. Broiler Production by James M. MacDonald, USDA ERS

The Injustice of Factory Chicken Farming

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Check out this article in the LA Times: Recession closes in on chicken farmers. It tells the story of the recession from the point of view of one farmer, Andrew Meeks. Four years ago he borrowed $500,000 to build 3 chicken houses. On just 25 acres, he could raise up to 60,000 chickens.

The deal farmers like Meeks make is described well in one of my favorite articles, "Finger Lickin' Bad:"

The companies provide local growers, who work under contract, with chicks, feed, medicine, and transportation. Growers take care of the rest, investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction, maintenance, and labor costs. When the company requires upgrades, the costs fall to the growers. The massive amounts of manure, too, are their responsibility. (In Arkansas alone, chicken farms produce an amount of waste each day equal to that produced by 8 million people.) Payment is results-oriented, based on measures like total weight gain of the flock. It's a system, says the United Food and Commercial Workers, that leaves 71 percent of growers earning below poverty-level wages.

If growers protest, companies can cancel their contracts, leaving farmers responsible for incurred debt, says Laura Klauke, director of contract agriculture reform at the North Carolina-based Rural Advancement Foundation International.

That's what happened to Meeks and 800-900 other chicken farmers, mostly in the South. Chicken sales are down, so the integrators are cutting off many of their farmers. And ya gotta wonder - why is it that farmers like Meeks take such huge risks when the predictable outcomes are so bad???

Tyson Thinks You Are Shit All Stupid

by: webranding

Tue Nov 25, 2008 at 06:34:59 AM PST

Of course Tyson Foods is the second largest chicken producer in the United States. They openly admit engaging in this practice. In response, the USDA told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label. The company has sued over its right to keep using it.  

Salmonella Outbreak (Again)

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 12:13:31 PM PDT