Back to the Farm… The History of Poisoned Chicken
Back to the Farm…
The History of Poisoned Chicken
Today we are going back to the farm… but not a nice one with rolling fields, happy grazing animals, and family members working hard to get by – no, we are going back to visit the idea of the factory farm because we uncovered yet MORE information you might not know about in regards to your factory farms and your chicken!
“What do you mean your chicken is $11.00 a pound?”
The man who asked this was red-faced, with both his eyes and a large vein in his forehead looking like it was about to burst. He glared at the poor young meat-cutter who was apprenticed to the butcher… and he was trying to stammer out a response about quality, about food safety…
Basically, trying to say anything at all that was going to keep this man from trying to stare him down… but nothing was coming out.
The opening did the damage… the man with his very pronounced vein took the silence as some type of an admission of guilt and blurted out, “I can get the same exact meat at Walmart for $3.99 a pound!” He was practically spitting as he said this, and the result was that the young man was frozen…
And the red-faced man left, probably heading to Walmart to get his chicken.
Now, the above is not a true story… at least not here at Wayside. However, we can guess that this has happened to someone, somewhere.
The man was both very correct in one way, but very wrong in others… and we will explain why as we move forward…
Why the man was RIGHT
In many cases you can get chicken at Walmart for about $3.99 a pound, and the meat in question was priced at $11.00 a pound.
(and that is all he was right about!)
Why the man was WRONG
Seriously… based on the scope of the conversation above it is easy to see that the man did not have all of the information to say what he said about “getting the same exact thing at Walmart”.
While that statement might seem like it is a simple misunderstanding, it is so much more than that, and the reason is the love and devotion to the animals that is lacking in factory farms.
Let’s talk about Chicken
Chicken is an excellent source of protein, and it is pretty inexpensive and easy to raise. Chickens also provide us with eggs, which is a nice secondary benefit to having them.
Basically, raising chickens is like getting a two for one deal, and it is getting a two for one deal that takes up an average amount of space of a standard sheet of paper.
So, of course, as a nation we love chicken. This is further emphasized by the fact that the American people consumer about 9 billion (yes, with a “B” – that is not a typo) chickens per year.
However, while we love to eat chicken, and we love the numerous ways we can prepare it, there is a dark secret to chicken.
OK – so these days with the power of the internet it is not so secret, but it is important to report on, anyway.
Your chicken, if it was purchased in a standard grocery store, has a 55% chance of containing arsenic.
Yes, this is a real thing
Back in the 1930’s, when factory farms begin to become more common, feeding chickens food that was laced with chemicals was common because it made the meat pinker and plumper, and the food that was laced with these chemicals was cheaper.
However, the approval of the use of these chemicals also caused there to be small amounts of arsenic consumed by the final purchaser of the product.
The result?
Does the scare you?
Well, it scares us!
Avoiding the risk
This is where we dive into the fact that the man with the bulging eyes, veins, and very bad attitude was blatantly wrong…. If he was at a local butcher shop, then it is likely that the owner of the shop bought the meat from a reputable farm.
By reputable, we mean NOT a factory farm – more of the small butcher shops use locally sourced meat from suppliers that they trust, and making sure that the food they buy is high-quality is how they build trust with their consumers.
Really, what are we saying here?
We are saying that the chicken that would have cost more was not the same because it definitely did NOT contain arsenic.
We know that because the butcher knew the farmer, and the farmer went out of his way to provide his animals (chickens included) with feed made from corn grown n his own farm, and he made certain that the corn was grown naturally without pesticides.
This is the truth – with the majority of factory farmed chicken containing arsenic, it is simply not wise to consume it. Choosing to eat healthier and support smaller local farms not only ensures your health, but it allows these smaller farms to be able to take a stand against big farms.
The result of this will be a nationwide movement to improve food quality. Support your local farms and butchers, and let’s all do our part to protect our health, the healthy of our loved ones, and the sanctity of the family farmer!