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For Advocates of Cage-Free Eggs

"Throughout the whole of the industry, there’s 30 million of these chicks and the males do not produce eggs and we can’t get an economic cent (?) out of them so unfortunately they are depleted."

"Now this is standard to dispatch of the male chicks in egg-laying industry across all systems: organic, free range, battery caged. All chickens, all countries around the world, this is a fact of life."

Then they kill the chicks.

"This is a sad reality of where your eggs come from in all systems."

"We don’t burn these. . . . They go into pet food, they’re fed to reptiles" (which he proceeds to do and the audience is initially upset. Someone actually says, "Oh no no no!" but Mr. Oliver manages to diffuse the moment and it ends with giggling and laughter).

The comments section for this video on YouTube includes lots of mean-spiritedness and ignorance as you might imagine. There are also some surprises, however, such as the people who claim that Mr. Oliver shot this segment as an endorsement for cage-free eggs, as he uses only "humane" products, or the people who say this is exactly why they buy free-range products.

evilempire96 writes: I gurantee (sic) you by Jamie Oliver doing this many people in the UK will change their thinking and start buying free range eggs.

tolman33 writes: Jamie Oliver is creating awareness in the UK for this to be stopped. For
people to buy free range eggs and chickens because of how cruel the
industry is.

askegg writes: This is a sad reality of life. In order for some to live, others must
die. In a world of limited resources this is the only way. It drives
evolution and triggers our empathy. I will still eat eggs, chickens,
meat, and milk. but I would rather be alive and sad than dead.

(And let me just say that last one makes no sense to me–none).

Statements like the above demonstrate that people can hear something–twice–within a couple of minutes, then come to the opposite conclusion, presumably because they just can’t take the truth (that they just heard twice within a couple of minutes). For those who missed it: It is standard to kill the male chicks across all systems. No matter who supplies your eggs, the males were killed. The males are killed within a day or two. Always. Period. I’m not sure phrasing it different ways helps when someone simply doesn’t want to hear the message, though.

The next time someone tells you they buy only cage-free or organic or free-range eggs because, you know, they’re "humane," ask them if they have three minutes to watch a video by a mainstream celebrity chef-type whom they probably already know and love. And of course, send them to Peaceful Prairie’s "The Free-Range Myth" to show them what the hens from their "humane" egg production facilities look like.

Thanks to Michele from Peaceful Prairie for telling me about the above video.

8 Comments Post a comment
  1. Also, for those who only watched the embedded video:

    "Jamie Oliver talking about battery chickens"…
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct88kerYYs0

    "Jamie Olivers Shows The Truth About Chickens" (slaughter)…
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20W_R-wWFA8

    Overall extremely welfarist and not helpful, unless someone is there to provide context with an unequivocal vegan message. In all three videos, it is a forgone conclusion that the eggs and flesh of chickens will continue being eaten. The empathy clearly felt by the audience, well at least by those displaying the female gender, is washed away by this forgone conclusion and talk of "welfare", "quickly and humanely", "a great life", and so on. Disastrous, just like P-TA's latest victory… http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/435073

    June 2, 2008
  2. Thanks, Nathan.

    My jaw dropped when I read the following quote by Canada's KFC President in the article you reference:

    "Once I got involved and we actually met face to face, we found out that we had no differences of opinion about how animals should be treated," Langford said.

    No differences of opinion? How is that possible? Didn't the PeTA representative say we shouldn't be using animals? Didn't that person say that slaughter isn't acceptable "treatment?"

    I guess not.

    I swear, PeTA really did used to be an animal rights organization 20 years ago.

    But not anymore . . .

    June 3, 2008
  3. Bea Elliott #

    On (forget about) PETA – because of my intense distrust of the industry -I'm hesitant to believe Langford's evaluation of the conversation regarding "similarities" in thinking… but, you never know….. it might be true. After all "consessions" must be made for menus that include vegan "chicken".

    And what is it with these "happy meat" chefs anyway? A few months back Gordon Ramsay documented the raising and slaughter of pigs leading to a show that cooked them! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOf0GvLexWM

    At first I'm horribly disappointed that people don't know who thier "meat" is….. Then I'm bitterly saddened that they are unmoved after a grand "introduction". Ratings go up, people feel absovled in their "free-range", "humanely grown" choices. The voyeuristic appetite of the audience also seems satisfied….. For me it feeds my misanthropy to the point of disgust.

    June 3, 2008
  4. Roger #

    My jaw dropped when I read the following quote by Canada's KFC President in the article you reference:

    "Once I got involved and we actually met face to face, we found out that we had no differences of opinion about how animals should be treated," Langford said.

    No differences of opinion? How is that possible? Didn't the PeTA representative say we shouldn't be using animals? Didn't that person say that slaughter isn't acceptable "treatment?"

    Gary Francione picked up on the same thing…

    http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/?p=144

    June 3, 2008
  5. Bea,
    What's with happy meat chefs is that they have been handed a win-win situation by none other than animal welfare groups. Wolfgang Puck's veal dish is now one of his most popular items. I'm just waiting for "humane" foie gras and "humane" shark fin soup. Sorry. That probably doesn't help your misanthropy.

    Roger,
    Thanks for the link. It's going to help me with tomorrow's post!

    June 3, 2008
  6. Bea Elliott #

    "Wolfgang, foie gras, shark-fin" and now "humanely" gassed KFC, "guilt-free" yummies! Wonderful news too for KFC and the chicken "food" industry for they are going to market these goodies yet more profitably!

    KFC's happy, workers are happy, PETA's happy, consumers are happy. Even folks looking to "reduce the fat in their diets" with veg "chicken" are "happy". Pity, the birds have to "sleep" through this "happy, happy" event!

    And Mary, you do help with my misanthropy…. your blog is therapy.

    June 3, 2008
  7. I left a comment on YouTube. Thanks for letting me know about this.

    I think that getting KFC Canada to introduce a vegan chicken dish on its menu, in two-thirds of its stores, is one of the biggest advances in the mainstreaming of veganism ever. KFC is practically synonymous with fast-food chicken. I hope that the dish tastes decent (that should be easy to do), and that KFC at least occasionally mentions it in promotions and advertising. I hope we take advantage of this potentially huge opportunity, regardless of our personal feelings about PETA.

    June 4, 2008
  8. Dan #

    Gary Francione has an AWESOME perspective on the PETA-KFC Canada deal that is a MUST READ:

    http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/?p=144

    June 5, 2008

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