Poultry is a huge demand in America. Sure, we eat quails and turkeys from time to time, but chicken is the bird that's number one. We need it, we crave it; we just want more, because we really like it. The demand for chicken is high. A graph on pbs.org (Taken from the USDA) shows us the rise of just how many pounds of chicken were consumed from the early 1900's to 2000. "While beef consumption was declining, the consumption of chicken was greatly increasing. In 1976, the year that beef consumption peaked, the average American ate 29 pounds of chicken. By 2000, that number stood at nearly 50, an increase of more than 70 percent. In fact, between 1910 and 2000, per-capita consumption of poultry (which includes turkey) increased 450 percent, jumping from 12 pounds per person to 67."
This year, the National Chicken Council estimated that Americans would eat 1.23 chicken wings over the course of the Super Bowl weekend - and only the weekend. The site says, "To put that into perspective, if 1.23 billion wing segments were laid end to end, they would stretch from Candlestick Park in San Francisco to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore… 27 times." We don't need to consume so much chicken. If we were to stop, there would be less injections and antibiotics given to chickens and there would be no need to mass produce. The chickens don't need to be cramped up in tiny cages with their beaks ripped off. We just need to stop feeling like we need to have chicken. This way, I feel, would be a step in the right direction.
Links:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/safe/howmuch.html
http://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/americans-to-eat-1-23-billion-chicken-wings-super-bowl-weekend/
Cheyenne!
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of chicken. I am kind of blown away by the evidence you have gathered here. Nice work.
Post Score: 29/30
Cheyenne,
ReplyDeleteI wonder what you think would happen if we all suddenly stopped eating chicken. Where would all the chickens being raised for food go? Do you think they'd be able to survive in nature? Would we end up with an overpopulation of chickens pumped full of antibiotics?
AAden, that sounds like the start of a really scary science fiction movie. You could be on to something.
ReplyDelete(Just because I'm reading through these) LmL ^^ ~Zippy
DeleteI like what you're saying but the idea just seems way too unrealistic. Sure, we all know how animals are treated and we seen the documentaries depicting how the animals are injected and killed. But those have been around for a while and there have been protests against these kinds of things online or in person, but we can't just stop. It hasn't stopped now and it probably won't ever stop. It's a pleasure that a lot of people can indulge in and we like it because we can. Why shouldn't we take the chicken? And who's to say that, if we stop eating chicken, that another animal won't be victimized just the same? You're evidence exactly represents how much we consume chicken so it's not exactly fair that we should have to give it up. And I know, that sounds hypocritical because we don't take into consideration how unfair it is for chickens who just live to die but sometimes, we, as humans, have to accept we are the dominant species. We are the main species that is to thrive and live on and if I want to spend my time eating some chicken wings on a Sunday night, so be it. I agree, chicken isn't a necessity. But neither is art, or music, or reading. We don't need to, but the want is there to draw, or listen to music, or eat chicken. We are able to ascertain these things so we do.
ReplyDeleteThis is something I found that shows yearly how much of these foods yearly. Kinda shows why we can't just stop.
http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/faen/poultry%20facts.html
-Edmund Rospigliosi
Comment Score: 18/20
DeleteCheyenne, if we were to stop mass producing the chickens wouldn't we just move on to another animal? The way the world works now, the second something goes out of style, we move on to the next best thing. We'd just move on to pork, fish, beef. There's no way to really stop this. The only way this could happen is if everyone were to suddenly become herbivores. I'm pretty sure that this point has been brought up before, but what could we do? What's the "perfect" number to mass produce chicken? You can't just quit mass producing chicken cold turkey. People love chicken. Also, mass producing meat is a large, money making industry. There's absolutely no way that these companies would stop. You have a great point, but it's not something that i can see happening.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wfad.org/treatment.htm
As shown on the site above, chickens are the most produced animals, but the next two animals are moving just slightly slower. Stopping one will increase the other! Also, that was back in 2008, just imagine how fast it is now!
(Open on Firefox)
--Joseph
HA!
DeleteQuit producing chicken cold turkey. You slay me.
Comment Score: 19/20
This idea is impractical and unlikely. It would be impossible for it to be an overnight occurence. Though if this were to happen, farmers would stop impregnating their chickens and its population would probably decrease dramatically. The chickens which are injected with hormones and carry diseases would die off. Without human intervention, chickens are prone to quick extinction. The only reason they are still alive today is because we use them. This industry is supply and demand. If people no longer demanded meat or chicken, it would not be supplied. Chickens are genetically altered for human consumption.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.avianweb.com/chickenmassproduction.html
Comment Score: 18/20
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