Ch. 3, Slaughterhouse Blues
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Transcript of Ch. 3, Slaughterhouse Blues
Ch. 3, Slaughterhouse BluesCh. 3, Slaughterhouse Blues
Poultry Production & Poultry Production & Consumption in the Early Consumption in the Early
Twentieth CenturyTwentieth Century• Down on the farm:
– Chickens were part of daily life– Mothers raised chickens for eggs & meat– Egg money – an independent source of cash
for women• Occasional luxury items• Treats for children• Clothing, groceries
– Fried chicken was a treat (work to kill, remove feathers, eviscerate)
Production & Production & ConsumptionConsumption
• Chickens came to America with the first colonists– Easy to transport, eat anything,
reproduce quickly• When old hens no longer laid eggs they
were eaten– Tough meat for the family– A byproduct of egg production
• Cockerels (young roosters) culled each spring & provided tender meat for sale to the city
• Chicken was a delicacy
1914 Restaurant Menu1914 Restaurant Menu
Crabmeat Supreme $ .60
Prime Rib $1.25
Imported Venison $1.50
Broiled Lobster $1.60
Chicken $2.00
Birth of the Modern Birth of the Modern Poultry IndustryPoultry Industry
• Mrs. Steele’s Chicks (Ocean View, Delaware)– Spring 1923 ordered 50 chicks
from a hatchery
– The hatchery sent her 500 chicks by mistake– She kept them, built a shed, & raised them as
broilers– After 18 weeks, 387 surviving chicks weighed 2
lbs. each & sold for 62 cents/lb. ($5 by today’s standards)
– They were sold to the northern hotel & restaurant market
Mrs. Steele, cont…Mrs. Steele, cont…
• The next year she ordered 1000 chicks• By 1926 she was raising 10,000• Word spread and within 10 years the
region was producing 7 million broilers per year
• This meant a sharp drop in price growers received
• In 1934 farmers were paid 19 cents/lb., 1/3 Mrs. Steele’s 1926 price
Chicken GeneticsChicken Genetics
• Chickens mature quickly• 1930s Development of chicks
that grow bigger, faster• Improved feed efficiency• 1927 – 2.5 lbs in 16 weeks• 1941 – 2.9 lbs. in 12 weeks• Amount of feed required fell 1/2 lb.
per lb. meat
• Corn is the main ingredient in chicken feed
• Pillsbury, Ralston Purina opened feed mills and sold pre-mixed feed– Also funded research on poultry
nutrition
• Chickens need vitamin D to prevent rickets & ensure bone growth
• Chicken houses prevent vitamin D absorption from sun, but chicks fatten faster without exercise
• Cod liver oil & vitamin D are added to feed
• Thousands of chickens are grown in doors, safe from foxes, hawks, etc.
War & ChickensWar & Chickens
• “Armies march on their stomachs”• WW II – chickens mature in a fraction
of the time as cattle & hogs• The Delaware region produced 2/3 of
the nations broilers• The War Food Administration placed
price controls on chickens & channeled production for the armed forces
• Production shifted to Georgia, Arkansas, & North Carolina
Industrialization of ChickenIndustrialization of Chicken
• 1935 John Tyson bought chickens from Arkansas farmers & hauled them to Kansas City & St. Louis
• He bought a hatchery to sell chicks to farmers & supplied chicken feed
• 1958 he built a processing plant in Arkansas
• Arthur Perdue began to raise hens for eggs on his Maryland farm in the 1920s
• In the 1940s he began raising broilers• His son Frank in the 1950s signed
contracts with farmers to grow broilers• In 1968 he built a feed mill & purchased
a chicken processing plant
Vertically Integrated FirmsVertically Integrated Firms
• “started in their backyards & built regional & national operations… [managing] production of eggs, hatching chicks, milling feeds, raising, slaughtering, processing, & marketing of the product within a single company”
• Combining production, processing, & distribution in the same firm
Education & PoultryEducation & Poultry
• University extension agents provided farmers with the latest research findings
• Poultry companies funded university research on genetics & nutrition
• 1946 A&P joined the USDA, Poultry industry, & university extension to form the National Chicken of Tomorrow Committee to find the ideal broiler
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVnaheWzquE
• 40 breeders submitted their eggs in a national contest
• The winner was the red-feathered Cornish New Hampshire crossbreed– “A breakthrough for American
agriculture”The winner Runner Up(Cornish New Hampshire) (White Plymouth Rock)
The White Plymouth Rock became the standard because white feathers were easier to see & pluck
• 1968 Perdue Farms branded its chicken & ran commercials to convince shoppers its chicken was worth paying more for
• “It takes a tough man to raise a tender chicken”
• Chicken became transformed from a delicacy reserved for Sunday dinner to an everyday, inexpensive meat
• Chicken replaced beef on the American dinner table– Annual per capita consumption = 77 lbs.
(vs. 68 lbs. beef, 53 lbs. pork)
Contract & Factory FarmingContract & Factory Farming• 95% of broilers are under
contract• Company provides chicks,
feed, medications, technical assistance
• Farmer provides houses, utilities, labor
• Guaranteed payment is tied to feed-conversion ratio
• Farmers can no longer market eggs & birds—integrators own the broilers & the eggs
Big Chicken Comes to Roost Big Chicken Comes to Roost in Kentuckyin Kentucky
• The broiler belt faced problems of relations with growers, disposal of manure, thus expanded into new areas
• Kentucky: low education & income, decline in industry & unemployment, tobacco came under attack, tax incentives, minimal environmental regulation, small plots ideal for poultry
• 1990 1.5 million broilers• 1998 178 million (154-fold
increase)• 2001 231 million
Cost = $135,000 -
$140,000 each
The Sky Is FallingThe Sky Is Falling
• By the early 2000s a number of broiler houses were standing empty
• Energy prices soared in 2001
• Shawn made $36,000 on his 1st flock• With his 2nd flock, payment for loans on his
1st flock came due• He spent $2,800 for electricity for his 6
houses• And $25,000 to heat the flock• Tyson extended the time between flocks
to 20 days• Tyson terminated his contract in 2002,
since he had not made $10,000 in improvements required by Tyson
• His final payment was $33.22
The Sky is Falling, cont…The Sky is Falling, cont…
• Since vertical integration of the industry in the 1960s growers have complained about powerlessness
• Research on poultry growers in 13 states found that new growers earn $8,160 on average (half the poverty level)—until their loans are paid off (~10-15 years)
• Less than half were earning enough to cover costs
MisinformationMisinformation• Companies attracted farmers by
describing poultry production as “part-time work for full-time pay”
• They informed farmers they could earn $7000-$10,000 per house per year, with 1.5-2 hours work per day– Farmers claim it is a full-time job
• The industry depends on its 30,000 growers, but growers are at the mercy of some 50 companies– 4 companies own half of all broilers
““Serfs in a Post-modern Serfs in a Post-modern Feudal System”Feudal System”
• Stories of abuse:– “if the company is against you, you’re
out of business”– Integrators can send sick birds, short
flocks– Can send a short feed supply– Can short-weigh the birds– Can report arrival of dead birds– Can cancel the contract