It was hard for me to get past the hyperbole of this piece, but the frustration she has with the customers, is similar to what I experienced when I raised then sold chicken on the farm, at...
Exemplary
It was hard for me to get past the hyperbole of this piece, but the frustration she has with the customers, is similar to what I experienced when I raised then sold chicken on the farm, at farmer's markets, to stores, and to restaurants. My frustration was more towards the customer that talked all day about sustainability, but then insisted on chicken with a big fat breast.
Meat chickens are controlled by an industry that goes something like this: There are two lines (the male and female), and groups of people are responsible for breeding the grandparents separately, and then another group of people breed the parents together to produce the eggs for our meat birds. The eggs from this breeding are often hatched in yet another facility, and then those chicks are shipped out across the states to be fattened up for slaughter which happens at yet another facility. The meat chickens themselves are unable to breed mostly due to health complications they experience from their rate of growth - they are ready for slaughter in 8 weeks and if you do manage to get them to breeding age, they often don't breed true. So anyone growing out meat chickens is ultimately beholden to the genetic companies that control the grandparents and parents (when I was doing this there were 4 companies that controlled the genetics of broilers (meat chickens) with Aviagen being the market leader at the time). My state does not produce any of the lineage, so the chicks I ordered were flown to our local post office from Ohio. Egg layers are controlled in much the same way and are scrawny.
To me, there is nothing sustainable about this system. You can put these broilers on pasture, and at a certain weight they no longer utilize it, instead they just sit down in front of the feed. Even if you remove the feed they often don't have the bone structure or a large enough heart to move around much.
On the other hand there are so called heritage breeds, but most of these birds are used for egg laying, only they don't lay at the same rates as the commercial egg layers, and they do not get fat like the broilers. Even when you get larger heritage breeds, when you butcher them (even the roosters) there is a very distinct keel bone, and the breasts are small compared to the broilers. The meat also tastes different and has a different consistency because to get a heritage breed to slaughter weight takes a lot more time, and they have used those muscles (unlike the broilers) during that time.
I used heritage breeds for my egg layers and would let some of my chickens hatch out eggs. I'd put all the roosters in the cow pasture with the cows and let them do their thing till fall. My only input would be giving them a little bit of feed at night to get them to go into their coop, but the rest of the time they just foraged for food. In the fall I'd butcher all of them. They cost me almost nothing to produce, and the cost to purchase reflected that.
Not one of my "sustainable" touting customers bought more than one. I provided recipes, would butcher them up into pieces, talk about the industry, everything I could think of, but they wanted the broilers, and only the broilers - sustainability as long as long as they don't have to change or develop new tastes.
Free range laying hens that are past their prime are perfect for soups and broths. Way better than broilers that you buy at the super market. The flavors are deep and rich, but they are a hard sell, much like roosters, in the American market.
I hate broilers, and though they were the most lucrative income on the farm, I stopped producing them because everything about them disgusts me.
Oh, and when the author of the opinion piece said they were too fat to move at 9 days old, they were incorrect. They are still very much a chick at that age, and hop around like any other baby chick. It takes them a few weeks to really start putting on the weight.
Jesus what a dystopian nightmare this all is. This is basically lab grown meat, except we're still permitting them the capacity to suffer. I know with a lot of reviews of ethnic restaurants the...
Meat chickens are controlled by an industry that goes something like this: There are two lines (the male and female), and groups of people are responsible for breeding the grandparents separately, and then another group of people breed the parents together to produce the eggs for our meat birds. The eggs from this breeding are often hatched in yet another facility, and then those chicks are shipped out across the states to be fattened up for slaughter which happens at yet another facility. The meat chickens themselves are unable to breed mostly due to health complications they experience from their rate of growth - they are ready for slaughter in 8 weeks and if you do manage to get them to breeding age, they often don't breed true. So anyone growing out meat chickens is ultimately beholden to the genetic companies that control the grandparents and parents (when I was doing this there were 4 companies that controlled the genetics of broilers (meat chickens) with Aviagen being the market leader at the time). My state does not produce any of the lineage, so the chicks I ordered were flown to our local post office from Ohio. Egg layers are controlled in much the same way and are scrawny.
Jesus what a dystopian nightmare this all is. This is basically lab grown meat, except we're still permitting them the capacity to suffer.
I know with a lot of reviews of ethnic restaurants the "authenticity" police always shows up to ding the restaurant for not tasting like the food they had in Thailand or India or wherever. But how could it taste the same if this is the supply chain the restauranteurs have to work with?
I once went to a school where they decided to buy baby chicks one year. They set up a nice little area where they could run around and there was a little ramp to get into the coop. After a few...
I once went to a school where they decided to buy baby chicks one year. They set up a nice little area where they could run around and there was a little ramp to get into the coop. After a few days (weeks maybe? Can't remember perfectly it was 14 years ago), the chicks got really fat and they'd break their legs going up the ramp and falling. They'd be found dead in the evening. Over a few days there was fewer and fewer chicks since they were dying.
I think what they got was the broilers when they meant to get the heritage ones.
I have not seen it, but have seen other films about the commercial chicken industry. The industry gets a lot hate for good reason, but the broilers feed to meat conversion really can't be beat...
I have not seen it, but have seen other films about the commercial chicken industry. The industry gets a lot hate for good reason, but the broilers feed to meat conversion really can't be beat when talking about animal protein.
She's seeming to imply that once you remove the breasts the rest of the bird is simply discarded. I for one buy thighs and legs because they're cheap. Wings used to be cheap until people realized...
She's seeming to imply that once you remove the breasts the rest of the bird is simply discarded. I for one buy thighs and legs because they're cheap. Wings used to be cheap until people realized you can put hot sauce on them and serve them at bars. The neck, bones, and the rest of the carcass can be made into stock which can be sold as well. In an industrial-scale operation the skin and organs and everything else would be sold to dog food companies, the bones would be ground into bonemeal to use in fertilizers, etc. Just because there's a huge demand for breasts doesn't mean the rest of the animal is wasted. It means the rest of the animal is subsidized by the sale of the breasts. The only reason chicken thighs are so affordable is because breasts are in such high demand. I for one take advantage of this subsidy and it's how a lot of poor people can afford animal protein.
Well, this person is writing from the perspective of working in a butcher shop, not an industrial-scale operation. So, they might not have the infrastructure to repurpose the other bits of bird as...
Well, this person is writing from the perspective of working in a butcher shop, not an industrial-scale operation. So, they might not have the infrastructure to repurpose the other bits of bird as you describe.
At Hudson & Charles, chicken breasts make up a significant portion of our monthly sales, enough that the owners accept them as a compromise to get customers in the door. From there, it is up to us, the butchers, to convince customers to buy something, anything else. I will talk about the superior flavor of a crispy pork cutlet or even offer to break down a chicken into parts if they will just buy the whole bird. It is futile, though, because for each person I sway, there are at least 20 more intent on buying chicken breasts.
i.e. They're frustrated about having to conform to pressure from an industry much bigger than their small business. The business model that works for the big players puts the small players in stressful situations, all the while the folks who have grown accustomed to breast cuts are unaware of the consequences of this way of dividing up an animal.
Beyond that, some recipes basically require you to use dark meat. You can try to make a chicken stew or curry with breast meat, sure, but the quality that results is dramatically different than if...
Beyond that, some recipes basically require you to use dark meat. You can try to make a chicken stew or curry with breast meat, sure, but the quality that results is dramatically different than if you used dark meat. There's entire categories of recipes that are designed to take advantage of the properties of 'less than prime' cuts of meat.
After this bold comparison I was expecting her to say that chicken breasts have some kind of health cost for the consumer, but (unless I missed it) she makes no such claim.
Sometimes I feel like one of those doctors selling cigarettes in the 1930s, who knowingly undermine the health of their patients for a check from the tobacco company.
After this bold comparison I was expecting her to say that chicken breasts have some kind of health cost for the consumer, but (unless I missed it) she makes no such claim.
I think the comparison was with respect to the lives of the chickens themselves. Industrial chicken farms are pretty horrible. It's that kind of moral quandary that must accompany the territory of...
I think the comparison was with respect to the lives of the chickens themselves. Industrial chicken farms are pretty horrible.
It's that kind of moral quandary that must accompany the territory of sacrificing virtues for a paycheck.
We all do it, either as a producer or consumer, whether or not we'll acknowledge it.
I don't get the chicken breast obsession myself. I'll take dark meat any day of the week. I'd wager that it's the secondary meat processers (nuggets, etc) that primarily drive this white meat...
I don't get the chicken breast obsession myself. I'll take dark meat any day of the week. I'd wager that it's the secondary meat processers (nuggets, etc) that primarily drive this white meat demand, for uniformity reasons.
The industrialization of agriculture definitely needs to be scaled back, if not for climate reasons, but for animal welfare as well. Farm animals used to be part of a symbiotic agricultural production. They consumed pests and waste and provided resources in return...textiles, dairy, fertilizer. Those animals lived fuller lives and far less of their bodies were wasted.
I was always under the impression that a lot of the secondary meat processing 'innovations' were developed largely to figure out what to do with the rest of the chicken.
I'd wager that it's the secondary meat processers (nuggets, etc) that primarily drive this white meat demand, for uniformity reasons.
I was always under the impression that a lot of the secondary meat processing 'innovations' were developed largely to figure out what to do with the rest of the chicken.
Is chicken skin really that unhealthy? Never heard of it. It’s quite tasty when roasted. We seem to eat all parts of the chicken around here (Brazil). Even the liver, and the heart (delicious when...
Is chicken skin really that unhealthy? Never heard of it. It’s quite tasty when roasted.
We seem to eat all parts of the chicken around here (Brazil). Even the liver, and the heart (delicious when barbecued). I don’t think anyone believes the breast is any healthier than the dark bits. And a lot of people prefer those parts. Breast is generally considered one of the drier and less tasty parts, actually. But we eat those too.
America is quite terrified of fat, and doesn't seem to get it's purpose. Fat is flavor. If you remove fat, you must add something else to get more flavor. Most of the time that translates to salt...
America is quite terrified of fat, and doesn't seem to get it's purpose.
Fat is flavor. If you remove fat, you must add something else to get more flavor. Most of the time that translates to salt and/or sugar, which have just as many (if not more) health problems.
This could really use some sort of call to action for the layperson. What am I, someone who eats chicken, supposed to do about it? Buy thighs and wings, sure--I prefer dark meat anyway--but what...
This could really use some sort of call to action for the layperson. What am I, someone who eats chicken, supposed to do about it? Buy thighs and wings, sure--I prefer dark meat anyway--but what about the other parts? If the breasts aren't a cut the author would ever consider buying, then what does the author buy and what does she make with it? Does she want me to buy the whole chicken? How whole?
It was hard for me to get past the hyperbole of this piece, but the frustration she has with the customers, is similar to what I experienced when I raised then sold chicken on the farm, at farmer's markets, to stores, and to restaurants. My frustration was more towards the customer that talked all day about sustainability, but then insisted on chicken with a big fat breast.
Meat chickens are controlled by an industry that goes something like this: There are two lines (the male and female), and groups of people are responsible for breeding the grandparents separately, and then another group of people breed the parents together to produce the eggs for our meat birds. The eggs from this breeding are often hatched in yet another facility, and then those chicks are shipped out across the states to be fattened up for slaughter which happens at yet another facility. The meat chickens themselves are unable to breed mostly due to health complications they experience from their rate of growth - they are ready for slaughter in 8 weeks and if you do manage to get them to breeding age, they often don't breed true. So anyone growing out meat chickens is ultimately beholden to the genetic companies that control the grandparents and parents (when I was doing this there were 4 companies that controlled the genetics of broilers (meat chickens) with Aviagen being the market leader at the time). My state does not produce any of the lineage, so the chicks I ordered were flown to our local post office from Ohio. Egg layers are controlled in much the same way and are scrawny.
To me, there is nothing sustainable about this system. You can put these broilers on pasture, and at a certain weight they no longer utilize it, instead they just sit down in front of the feed. Even if you remove the feed they often don't have the bone structure or a large enough heart to move around much.
On the other hand there are so called heritage breeds, but most of these birds are used for egg laying, only they don't lay at the same rates as the commercial egg layers, and they do not get fat like the broilers. Even when you get larger heritage breeds, when you butcher them (even the roosters) there is a very distinct keel bone, and the breasts are small compared to the broilers. The meat also tastes different and has a different consistency because to get a heritage breed to slaughter weight takes a lot more time, and they have used those muscles (unlike the broilers) during that time.
I used heritage breeds for my egg layers and would let some of my chickens hatch out eggs. I'd put all the roosters in the cow pasture with the cows and let them do their thing till fall. My only input would be giving them a little bit of feed at night to get them to go into their coop, but the rest of the time they just foraged for food. In the fall I'd butcher all of them. They cost me almost nothing to produce, and the cost to purchase reflected that.
Not one of my "sustainable" touting customers bought more than one. I provided recipes, would butcher them up into pieces, talk about the industry, everything I could think of, but they wanted the broilers, and only the broilers - sustainability as long as long as they don't have to change or develop new tastes.
Free range laying hens that are past their prime are perfect for soups and broths. Way better than broilers that you buy at the super market. The flavors are deep and rich, but they are a hard sell, much like roosters, in the American market.
I hate broilers, and though they were the most lucrative income on the farm, I stopped producing them because everything about them disgusts me.
Oh, and when the author of the opinion piece said they were too fat to move at 9 days old, they were incorrect. They are still very much a chick at that age, and hop around like any other baby chick. It takes them a few weeks to really start putting on the weight.
That's my chicken rant.
Jesus what a dystopian nightmare this all is. This is basically lab grown meat, except we're still permitting them the capacity to suffer.
I know with a lot of reviews of ethnic restaurants the "authenticity" police always shows up to ding the restaurant for not tasting like the food they had in Thailand or India or wherever. But how could it taste the same if this is the supply chain the restauranteurs have to work with?
I once went to a school where they decided to buy baby chicks one year. They set up a nice little area where they could run around and there was a little ramp to get into the coop. After a few days (weeks maybe? Can't remember perfectly it was 14 years ago), the chicks got really fat and they'd break their legs going up the ramp and falling. They'd be found dead in the evening. Over a few days there was fewer and fewer chicks since they were dying.
I think what they got was the broilers when they meant to get the heritage ones.
That is terrible. I imagine that being very traumatic for the teacher and many of the students.
Looks like the kids accidentally got an education
Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! is about the chicken industry. I found it informative. Have you seen it?
I have not seen it, but have seen other films about the commercial chicken industry. The industry gets a lot hate for good reason, but the broilers feed to meat conversion really can't be beat when talking about animal protein.
I see.
Morgan Spurlock actually raises his own chicken and opens a fast food restaurant at the end. So I assumed it had some valuable insight.
That's really cool! It's always nice seeing people buck the system.
She's seeming to imply that once you remove the breasts the rest of the bird is simply discarded. I for one buy thighs and legs because they're cheap. Wings used to be cheap until people realized you can put hot sauce on them and serve them at bars. The neck, bones, and the rest of the carcass can be made into stock which can be sold as well. In an industrial-scale operation the skin and organs and everything else would be sold to dog food companies, the bones would be ground into bonemeal to use in fertilizers, etc. Just because there's a huge demand for breasts doesn't mean the rest of the animal is wasted. It means the rest of the animal is subsidized by the sale of the breasts. The only reason chicken thighs are so affordable is because breasts are in such high demand. I for one take advantage of this subsidy and it's how a lot of poor people can afford animal protein.
Well, this person is writing from the perspective of working in a butcher shop, not an industrial-scale operation. So, they might not have the infrastructure to repurpose the other bits of bird as you describe.
i.e. They're frustrated about having to conform to pressure from an industry much bigger than their small business. The business model that works for the big players puts the small players in stressful situations, all the while the folks who have grown accustomed to breast cuts are unaware of the consequences of this way of dividing up an animal.
Beyond that, some recipes basically require you to use dark meat. You can try to make a chicken stew or curry with breast meat, sure, but the quality that results is dramatically different than if you used dark meat. There's entire categories of recipes that are designed to take advantage of the properties of 'less than prime' cuts of meat.
After this bold comparison I was expecting her to say that chicken breasts have some kind of health cost for the consumer, but (unless I missed it) she makes no such claim.
I think the comparison was with respect to the lives of the chickens themselves. Industrial chicken farms are pretty horrible.
It's that kind of moral quandary that must accompany the territory of sacrificing virtues for a paycheck.
We all do it, either as a producer or consumer, whether or not we'll acknowledge it.
I don't get the chicken breast obsession myself. I'll take dark meat any day of the week. I'd wager that it's the secondary meat processers (nuggets, etc) that primarily drive this white meat demand, for uniformity reasons.
The industrialization of agriculture definitely needs to be scaled back, if not for climate reasons, but for animal welfare as well. Farm animals used to be part of a symbiotic agricultural production. They consumed pests and waste and provided resources in return...textiles, dairy, fertilizer. Those animals lived fuller lives and far less of their bodies were wasted.
I was always under the impression that a lot of the secondary meat processing 'innovations' were developed largely to figure out what to do with the rest of the chicken.
Is chicken skin really that unhealthy? Never heard of it. It’s quite tasty when roasted.
We seem to eat all parts of the chicken around here (Brazil). Even the liver, and the heart (delicious when barbecued). I don’t think anyone believes the breast is any healthier than the dark bits. And a lot of people prefer those parts. Breast is generally considered one of the drier and less tasty parts, actually. But we eat those too.
America is quite terrified of fat, and doesn't seem to get it's purpose.
Fat is flavor. If you remove fat, you must add something else to get more flavor. Most of the time that translates to salt and/or sugar, which have just as many (if not more) health problems.
This could really use some sort of call to action for the layperson. What am I, someone who eats chicken, supposed to do about it? Buy thighs and wings, sure--I prefer dark meat anyway--but what about the other parts? If the breasts aren't a cut the author would ever consider buying, then what does the author buy and what does she make with it? Does she want me to buy the whole chicken? How whole?