Two weeks ago, I noted changes to the USDA rules regarding poultry that include as a solution to hygiene issues the spraying of chemical baths in lieu of washing all the shit off your dinner.
An article on the site Nation of Change reminded me of something my man Reece, of Cluckin’ Awesome Coops, made me aware of last September: American chickens are going to China!
On one hand, I find this exciting. All Americans should travel to the far abroad to expand
Yum yum. I found this photo with a related article at The Gaia Health Blog.
their horizons and see how their fellow creatures live. But in this case, the chickens will already be dead, so they will have no functioning eyes to take in fellow creatures or horizons.
The gist:
- New rules at Obama’s USDA will allow chickens raised and slaughtered in the U.S. to be shipped to China for processing before being shipped back to your neighborhood grocery.
- These birds will not be labeled. You will not be able to tell which bird was prepared according to Washington’s hygienic standards and which according to Beijing’s.
- The USDA will inspect birds as they come in—perhaps according to the same rules soon to govern States-side poultry plants—but will not be present in the Chinese facilities.
The specifics: The USDA public affairs specialist explained the situation, saying, “We’ve deemed China’s poultry processing equivalent to the process in the United States.” This a particularly fantastic statement because recent food SNAFUs in China include 300,000 children poisoned by melamine-tainted milk, selling $1 million-worth of rat meat labeled as lamb, discovering live chickens infected with bird flu, and waking up one morning to a few thousand dead pigs mysteriously floating in the waters of Shanghai.
“But how in the world is this economically sound?” you might ask. Tom Super, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, claims that it, in fact, is not. “I don’t know how anyone could make a profit,” he said, shipping dead chickens 7,000 miles to be processed and then 7,000 miles back to be sold. Apparently, the National Chicken Council has been involved in rules changes that it will be unable to take advantage of.
Much seafood from the U.S., however, is already processed in such a manner. Maybe the miles shaved off the trip because the ships are already on the high seas make it worthwhile. Or maybe, in the case of our chickens, this process works because, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average poultry processor in the U.S. makes $11 an hour while the average processor in China makes between $1 and $2.
Incidentally, imports of Chinese-raised chickens have been banned since mass outbreaks of bird flu. And, coincidentally, American-raised beef has been banned from China since some cows in Washington State came down with mad cow disease. Could the Obama White House be tossing China some livestock-processing business to encourage China to give the U.S. a little more of the same? Perhaps, young padawan, perhaps.
What to do? Sign this petition to the USDA. It’s easy.
What else to do? Eat vegetarian more often. Or buy chicken from a local farm. Or buy a Cluckin’ Awesome coop and raise your own.
What’s that you say? You’re poor and can’t afford “artisanal chicken”? Well, stop being poor then, by God. Geez Louise.