This is a very great video to start thinking about what your food goes through before it gets to you. It’s also a reminder that your food was once living and can feel pain just like you. To begin with, its a shock for many people to figure out that a broiler chicken (one farmed for meat) only lives for about a month and a half, and often, even less. The farms are only out to make money, and the less time and less effort needed, the better. Many of the things the chickens are put through would be illegal if done to humans and at times, the footage is a little disturbing. However, we can’t just ignore the truth because its scary or ugly.
part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGy9oTfH27s
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lhoF0T9Ay8&
-Simon
Eat for the Earth 
Dear Simon,
What a wonderful blog you’ve started. So important to understand our food in the days of factory farming, regulation, antibiotics, and industrialization. There is lots of good literature out there about farming, policy, and practice. I recommend, to start with, everything by Bill McKibbin, Michael Pollon, and Joel Salatin (most hardcore, actual farmer). All somehow tied to the current environmental collapse and/or insanity.
As for broiler chickens- they’re not kept for 6-10 weeks because that’s the fastest and greediest method, it’s because it’s the most tender meat and best time to process for quality. if you let the broiler grow too much more, the meat will be stringier and less delicious than what you’re used to. What’s greedy is using growth hormone, antibiotics, and 23 hour lighting to speed up the growth process unnaturally.
I only have laying hens, but we ate 3 of our roosters, as they were being vicious towards the hens and each other. Also- one kept waking me up at 4 am! They were 5-6 months old when we slaughtered them, and they were delicious. Look at the fat on the next chicken you eat. If it’s white- the chicken ate grain and processed feed; if it’s YELLOW- that chicken ate chlorophyl while it was alive. I was shocked to find yellow fat, until i know that it was a good sign. Our chickens are pastured, meaning they have access to greens, seed, and nutritious bugs, as well as the Organic feed we buy them (a must to supplement calories)
ALL the food we eat has been manipulated in some way, be it corn (thousands of years of selective breeding) or GMO Soy. It’s a big spectrum with a lot of grey. The more I learn the more I reverse my previous binary judgements.
Yeah I seriously have a lot to go as far as knowledge goes, but that’s interesting about the broiler chickens and the fat color. My family doesn’t really eat chicken, but it’s definitely something I’ll look for at the school lunches. And about your last comment, it’s seriously something I think about all the time. Sometimes, it just seems pointless to try to even be selective at all. I so wish I could just go out and hunt and pick my food so I can know exactly where its coming from. I was so excited to learn about your farm and I’d love to get some stuff from it. To see a legitimate banana or corn plant (pre-artificial selection) is crazy http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7051/fig_tab/nature03863_F1.html and http://ambiguitytheories.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/inside_a_wild-type_banana.jpg You’ve probably seen those before but still.