sunlightisnolessso.Thedoorswillbeflungopenandthe
birds,accustomednowtosemidarkness,aregrabbedbythe
legs, carried out upside down,and summarily stuffed into
crateswhicharepiledonthebackofatruck.Thentheyare
driventothe“processing”plantwherethechickensaretobe
killed,cleaned,andturnedintoneatplasticpackages.Atthe
planttheyaretakenoffthetruckandstacked,stillincrates,to
awaittheirturn.Thatmaytakeseveralhours,duringwhich
time theyremain withoutfoodand water.Finally theyare
takenoutofthecratesandhungupsidedownontheconveyor
belt taking them to the knife that will end their joyless
existence.
Thepluckedanddressedbodiesofthechickenswillthenbe
soldto millions of familieswhowillgnaw ontheir bones
withoutpausingforaninstanttothinkthattheyareeatingthe
deadbodyofaoncelivingcreature,ortoaskwhatwasdone
to thatcreaturein orderto enable themto buyand eatits
body.Andiftheydidstoptoask,wherewouldtheyfindthe
answer?Iftheygettheirinformationfromthechickentycoon
FrankPerdue,thefourthlargestbroilerproducerintheUnited
States,butdefinitelyfirstinself-promotion,theywillbetold
thatthechickensonhis“farm”arepamperedand“leadsucha
softlife.”^22 HowareordinarypeopletofindoutthatPerdue
keeps his chickens in 150-yard-long buildings that house
27,000 birds? How are they to know that Perdue’s mass
productionsystemalonekills6.8millionbirdsaweek,and
that, like many other broiler producers, he
cutsthebeaksoffhischickensinordertopreventthemfrom
becoming cannibals under the stress of modern factory life?^23
Perdue’spublicitypromotesacommonmyth:thateconomic
rewardsforthefarmerandagoodlifeforthebirdsoranimals