Wegmans Cruelty

Wegmans Cruelty

2005, Environment  -   82 Comments
7.39
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Ratings: 7.39/10 from 49 users.

Wegmans CrueltyWegmans Cruelty is a half hour documentary produced by a small investigative team from the organization Compassionate Consumers. Organization members contacted Wegmans Food Markets to try to hold some meaningful dialogue about the conditions at Wegmans Egg Farm, and were then misled and dismissed by Wegmans representatives. The team set out to capture actual footage inside the farm and create a film based on their experience.

The film features statements from Wegmans representatives, interviews with the investigators, and footage of what life and death is like inside of a battery cage facility. Approximately 98% of all eggs produced in the United States come from hens that are housed in battery cages. Often unknowingly, customers are supporting the practices of modern egg farming by purchasing eggs.

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a 68-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. The family-owned company, founded in 1916, is recognized as an industry leader and innovator. Wegmans has been named one of the 'Top 100 Companies to Work For' by Fortune Magazine for the last several years. In 2005, Wegmans ranked #1 on the list.

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Karen
Karen
5 years ago

The was filmed in 2005. The demand for humane farm animal treatment has come a long way in 13 years. I'm interested to see what their current practice is.

Tyler Anthony
Tyler Anthony
6 years ago

Ok JoAnn posts something from the book of Proverbs that supports those of us who are against this abuse and she is in turn abused by those she is in agreement with?? WoW

"A righteous man regards the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel".

It also says the same life that was breathed into mankind was breathed into every living thing. So yes Jonathan R, they are sentient. Chickens never lived in cages like that by nature, so why would it be good now?

Stop buying wegmans
Stop buying wegmans
6 years ago

I stop buying wegmans' born free eggs after this documentary. They are never born free. Wegmans just use the gimmick to deceive customers

Tammra
Tammra
6 years ago

I just got done watching this show , okja, Lucent and have done much soul searching and have read all the previous comments. My first reaction is profane sadness. I I find it hard to comprehend that any person can think it is ok to treat other creatures as I have seen here and witnessed through research and personal experience. We do it to each other so I see the trend. I can't even fathom the argument that they feel or don't feel because as a human being I can see it is a terrible environment that they are being forced to endure. I can see the hideous acts of cruelty they have to wake up with and die in. That should be enough to know it is WRONG. What is the worst is we as a society have become complacent and pass on the responsibilities to others. We are the others whom should be watching, supervising, regulating, protecting and monitoring what is acceptable behavior. WE LET IT HAPPEN!! If you don't like something don't be complacent but speak out, vote, boycott, Quit, campaign and instill the truths in others that you believe we should behave and treat other living beings. I will start today and try to make a change and hope you will too. Every small attempt forward is so much better than sitting back and watching the horrors envelope our world. Now is your time!

Ginger
Ginger
6 years ago

@lolwut ---
>>Those chickens are agricultural products, they are not pets.<<
Aah, got it! They're "just chickens", agricultural products," so we have every right to be cruel & cause them pain...in other words, if I decide it's food, then I can pretty much do whatever to hell I want to it.
No one is trying to make them pets. We are trying to be compassionate people as opposed to some prick that feels it's quite okay to cause undo pain & misery to a living thing because it has something *you* want to eat!
As for whether they "feel" anything...do you? I don't get that impression by what you've posted here. I don't know how to break this to you but in multiple tests of cognitive & behavioral sophistication, chickens outperform not just dogs & cats but also four-year-old human children! University of Bristol’s Dr. Christine Nicol, author of the review paper titled The Intelligent Hen, explains “[s]tudies over the past 20 years have revealed their finely-honed sensory capacities, their ability to think, solve puzzles, draw inferences, apply logic & plan ahead.”
The paper includes dozens of examples of cognitive, behavioral & emotional complexity in chickens-all examples of the animals exhibiting capacities that cannot be explained by simple instinct.

EggLover
EggLover
7 years ago

What do you think Grandma did to that chicken when they wanted to eat it? Chopped it's head off, of course. Grandma didn't worry about the feelings of "Chubbie Chicken" when she did that! So maybe it was happy and frolicking when it was alive but it still ended up decapitated.

Amy
Amy
7 years ago

Buy cage free eggs. This is something that all grocery stores will have to do is evolve with the consumer. If people want cage free eggs and pastured meat then the store will carry it.

Ruth EM
Ruth EM
8 years ago

There is NO excuse,ever,for cruelty,whether it be animal or human.MY parents had a chicken farm ,chickens came and went from their house to yard. We had a cow for our personal use(milk,butter,cheese. a beautiful vegetable garden. Never had to use chemical fertilizers. Yes it took time.

No,we were not wealthy!OR greedy.Now ,I'm aware of how much has changed.

I choose to eat organic--more expensive?Yes.Life is made up of choices. There are those who could care less about food quality,but must have the latest i-phone ,and every other electronic toy known to man. Social skills? Few!

It's an unsafe world for our children.and yet parents willingly take them to eat junk food at fast food chains.Good food and sitting down to dinner as a family each evening?Can't do that--Soccer,football,hockey practice etc.

So,it gives me hope when I see the number of organic farms springing up in WNY. Farms where the kids have to help and appreciate what a real strawberry,apple,etc,tastes like. Taking care of farm animals and knowing that some of these farm animals are used for meat and will be processed as humanely as possible either by the farmer or a small slaughter house nearby.

In a near perfect world folks would be busy with the important things in life.BUT as I said,each one of us makes choices.

Craig
Craig
8 years ago

Some of these posts are so black and white. To those who do not think livestock is "sentient," it is not really worth engaging in a dialogue with you folks - years of research, and just basic common sense, would show you to be incorrect. However it is also a bit misguided to presume that supermarket chickens should be frolicking outside, and eating bugs from the dirt. Documentaries like this expose real problem - namely, that animal well-being has been largely (if not completely) neglected in the rapid industrialization of the livestock business. Simply exposing this will hopefully enlighten both consumers and operators, and drive the incorporation animal welfare into future process improvements. I don't believe we have to sacrifice cheap food by introducing a modicum of animal welfare into the process.

HeSaves
HeSaves
9 years ago

I think JoAnna is right. This is a moral question, and God is the only source of morality. It says in Matthew 23:37 "Oh Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets and stoneth them that are sent onto her! How often would I have gathered her children together! Even as a HEN gathereth her CHICKEN under her wings, and ye would not." So our Lord Jesus even acknowledged that chickens are capable of compassion....

Andrew V. Jason
Andrew V. Jason
10 years ago

I love this video. People at this farm would pressure wash the barns between flocks with a chemical that had a warning, it was not to be sprayed or atomized, yet would be aspirated in the pressure washers. This went on for years, many people became sick from this, definitely acute sickness, possibly chronic conditions. During 2003, they were building new laying house 10, (first of several new barns), lots of welding was being done in the welding shop that didn't have an exhaust or ventilation system, and the shop was inundated with other shops due to expansion and had no doors or windows directly outside. People would become sick in this atmosphere too, especially when galvanized metal was being welded. By strictly enforced policy, employees would be reprimanded and possibly terminated for smoking a cigarette in the welding shop that had no exhaust or ventilation, but that same person would arch 6013 on galvanized, and others in the shop were expected to work in it. Doctors wouldn't believe that the number one company, in the country would subject their employees to such conditions. As far as law enforcement, they were there, definitely in the mid 90s, as a 2year undercover sting operation took down the marijuana king pin of the farm (can't blame anyone for wanting to catch a buzz after working there all day). By marijuana king pin, I mean, he grew pot and sold it to workers, but law enforcement was in the company, undercover, and uniformed, they didn't care about CAFO or OSHA laws, just the marijuana, and the break in, respectively. People were being abused, laws, rules and regulations were not being followed for the welfare of humans too. Despite pleas for help, to the company, the doctors, even OSHA(who warned employees, names would have to be given to the company with time notice before an inspection, incase of a disgruntled employee). Make no mistake, employees were warned, the threat of OSHA, would be career suicide.
What a great feeling of priority the employees felt when a group of people broke into this place and exposed to everyone the abuse being done to the animals there. Or to find there co-worker was an undercover, but wasn't there to right the wrong done to employees, she was there to give out pot tickets. It's a comforting feeling knowing there is a group of people out there willing to risk themselves to expose the abuse of the animals we raise to eat, and that law enforcement will go on a two year undercover sting to protect the employees from a substance much less harmful than the substances they were breathing all day in the workplace. I LOVE THIS VIDEO! Makes me laugh.

Alaskies
Alaskies
10 years ago

One more thing: If watching this really saddens you, then you're ******, and I'll tell you why. The reason this seems bad to you is because you're making the mistake of imagining yourself being treated like that, without also taking into account the fact that these chickens don't know anything else. They don't have computers, video games, cell phones, and entertainment. They don't REQUIRE entertainment to survive, as most humans do. So yes, if I were to be all of a sudden dragged and thrown in a cage, under the same conditions that these chickens live in, as a human being who has enjoyed all of these great things for 26 years, it would be terrible, and I would kill myself and others. But chickens don't go through life as humans do, even if they had all of the amenities that we as humans do, they would be too god damned stupid to know what to do with them. I just don't understand meat eaters who watch this and cry. You're letting PETA and all of the other vegans win.

Alaskies
Alaskies
10 years ago

Processing animals for human consumption is not a pretty sight, but isn't that an aesthetic point, rather than a moral one? It's a no-brainer, of course what chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs, etc. go through is inhumane. Killing any animal is inhumane. If you eat meat, you're part of this, you just have to own up to it and say "yeah, I don't mind animals being treated poorly that so I can eat them." There is no fairy tale way to sugar cote it, they are born for the sole purpose of getting slaughtered and eventually eaten. Period.

Ravenclaw1999
Ravenclaw1999
11 years ago

Oh God...can't even.....just awful. This makes me question their 'organic food' as well

fewoptions
fewoptions
11 years ago

shocking footage. brought tears to my eyes that this s**t happens daily. this needs to stop. the ceo of these companys that get found out should be forced to clean up these hell holes by hand so that they can see up close the cruelty they forced on these poor slave chickens. i live in uk we have choice of free range but even then i dont touch super market eggs. id rather get from a independent farmer. im lucky as i have friends who keep chickens and ducks. the taste is 10 times better, plus i know they are well cared for. support local farmers stop buying these mass produced eggs. you fuel the fire by keep buying this crap. the only way to stop this is to refuse to buy. i read a comment about it being basically a pointless doc. my reply is i would rather be informed of this. rather than just ignoring the facts. do you think consuming this crap that it wont affect your health. i use to be one of them consumer zombies that eat and drink the crap these companys produce. i stopped when i noticed i always felt ill, tired and never full up, always looking for the next snack. i changed my diet to a more natural balance of fresh fruit,veg,wheat,rice and NO fast food. i feel loads better. i have more energy and dont feel ill and tired. if you put dodgy fuel in a car it wont preform aswell may even damage the engine, thats the same principle with the human body. basically dont eat processed food or fast food as this is where your dodgy dead chickens end up. i cant believe after two years in that hell hole that they slaughter the chickens for meat. lol enjoy your kfc lol. im sure it tastes great hahaha!!!

Cindy Duncan
Cindy Duncan
11 years ago

most of those videos that animal rights nuts put out are doctored

fongy74
fongy74
11 years ago

Has there been any official response to this video that anyone knows about? It's shocking.

manfruss
manfruss
11 years ago

Always issues that develop from development! :) Industrial food production has a great many issues with it. Being a musician, I'm sure I miss several of the details that are required to advance civilization. I'm also sure that humanity can lose it's greed factor and walk

Mart Turner
Mart Turner
11 years ago

you all fail to see the propaganda in this WEGMANS is one of the last small business in USA that is doing well so the BIG BIG company's try to make them look evil IF YOU WANT FREE RANGE EGGS eggs or stuff without Monsanto or organic wegmans is waking up to this OVER AND OUT .

sknb
sknb
12 years ago

So here's a question for the random internet horde (oh man what am I getting into?)

My parents are in their 60's, my dad almost 70. They love Wegmans. They drive over 40 minutes to go to one and eat at their buffet and sit upstairs and watch all the people below. It's like a cafe for them. They make a whole romantic day of it. They've both been really sick lately.

Part of me really wants to give them this information (they would never watch the documentary even if I asked them to) but part of me thinks perhaps I shouldn't. Sigh.

My brother and I are both vegetarian, but we are not evangelical about our vegetarianism. This puts people off and makes people resent vegetarians. I'm not out to convert anyone but I feel a strong protective instinct about my parents.

Only informed sensitive answers please.

Yusiley S
Yusiley S
12 years ago

Poor chickens... they're so abused that they're docile when handled (they just don't care any more). This is, in some way, very alarming, since most chickens tend to not want to be handled and hand fed... at least not the ones who aren't handled and hand rare by humans. I doubt these caged chickens are handled at all or have contact by humans, which is why I find it strange that they're docile when they are handled. Such sweet beings should never live like that. This is why I buy free roaming chicken eggs. I am researching for local farmers markets for true caged free animals and animal products. Those are the best and one will be supporting cruelty free animal products. You'll also feed the local economy and support local farming communities. Local Farmers Markets are all win. ^_^

g isaac
g isaac
12 years ago

They are touching decayed chickens with their bare hands!

Rocky Racoon
Rocky Racoon
12 years ago

FYI: Researchers at the University of Chicago set up a series of experiments with two rats in a shared compartment one rodent was allowed to roam free and the other was trapped in a tiny cage.
After the free rat learned how to open the cage's door and liberate its distressed companion, it did so almost immediately in each trial.
Even when freeing the caged rat offered no social reward - and even when a chocolate reward was offered as an alternative - the free rat still chose to end the trapped one's distress.
The authors of the study, published in the journal Science, claim this is the first evidence of empathy-driven behavior in rats.
"There are a lot of ideas in the literature showing that empathy is not unique to humans, and it has been well demonstrated in apes, but in rodents it was not very clear," said Jean Decety, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Chicago. "We put together in one series of experiments evidence of helping behavior based on empathy in rodents, and that's really the first time it's been seen."

Danielle Hendrickson
Danielle Hendrickson
12 years ago

Why do they think that this is different than any other chicken farm? Cry me a river, honestly. I with this had more of a center on America's chicken farming as a whole, not just Wegmans. They're a business. What do you really expect? It's your fault for keeping them on such a high horse to begin with.

I would like to say that this is not how the chickens are treated on the Research Farm. They have room to run, have a huge coop, but, are still at the mercy of foxes/random animals in the area.

It's America's fault for needing things at such a fast, cheap rate. The average person doesn't care how things are made - they prefer to live in ignorance. I'm an outrageous pessimist because I really feel like things are only getting worse and our feeble attempts at "showing people the light" are being lost and not making a difference at all.

BeardHero420
BeardHero420
12 years ago

Man this ruined my day. I love my Wegmans.

Kinda feels like my cake and brownies are guilty of multiple homicide.

Martijn de Graaf
Martijn de Graaf
12 years ago

very brave investigation

Anthony Wrifford
Anthony Wrifford
12 years ago

this will be how people are treated some day....bet

panthera f
panthera f
12 years ago

What a filty way to make a buck.
I hope Wegmans chokes on it.

Jorge Ruiz
Jorge Ruiz
12 years ago

Infuriating. I am a vegan because of this. I ate meat, eggs, and dairy for my whole life. Those industries betrayed me and I will never support them again. In fact, I work to end them with all my energy. I only hope that karma will catch these "farmers".

God
God
13 years ago

I made chickens for you to capture, breed, imprison,then eat. It's in that book they wrote about me somewhere, I just can't remember where.. genesis maybe? Who reads that crap anymore anyway.

So the chicken prisons werent my mistake, but giving people like JoAnna Cannon a mouth was, so with great haste, i must apologize and resign.

-god

thank me later

toddy
toddy
13 years ago

and to think we call ourselves civilizied. Animal cruelty in any form is wrong. Since i moved to western NY I haven't really shopped at wegmans( i don't eat or like cooked eggs I use them for baking purposes only), I think they are a little high priced. This gives me a another reason not to. Big props to lollypop farms for being involved in the production of this insightful clip. I'm lucky enough to have a neighbor who shares some of his hunting with me and it's some of the best tasting meat around( happy animals that live free tend to be free from horible conditions so they are in better health taste better), and a couple of years back i had some free range chickens the flavor was more intense( almost gamey) than any store bought chicken.

valeri1274
valeri1274
13 years ago

Alexandra and Jack1952- bravo - really enjoyed reading your posts. You two summed things up very nicely. Oh and tank girl. Bravo for catching on to the "Monsanto" commenter. Alexandra- you are so right in saying that people do seem to becoming less compassionate. I guess when the up and coming generation has been brought up on processed garbage, food additives(MSG,etc.), GMO's, irradiated crops and what have this is the end result- quasi humans. Deficient in thought processes, vitamins, minerals, uncaring, unintelligent and greedy. What hope does are civilization have when we are actually not evolving human kind in this country but devolving it?

jack1952
jack1952
13 years ago

4 chickens kept in a suburban back yard living off table scraps, back yard insects and chicken feed will provide 3 or 4 eggs daily. In less than 2 weeks you will be giving eggs to your neighbors. Add a small garden and it will surprise most people how much food they can grow themselves. A great percentage of people spend more time and energy on their lawns and flower beds that shows no tangible return on their investment.

Large factory farms are a danger to every one. Increases in tainted meat and ecol i in our vegetables are on the rise. Concentrated farming increases the chances of communicable diseases spreading quickly. The larger the farm the more food is in danger of being tainted. The industrialized countries have a population that likes the fact that our food is inexpensive and requires no effort. We may regret this attitude some day.

"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast" may be religious quote but it does apply. If a person can be unnecessarily cruel to a animal then he may also demonstrate that cruelty towards another human being. No worry about them going to hell, though. They seem quite capable of creating hell on earth.

Mackenzie
Mackenzie
13 years ago

Why are we concerned about a food market that is concentrated mainly in Western NY.I happen to be from the hometown of Wegmans; Rochester. I feel this is a misleading documentary. Many people I know, know the Wegmans and they love their animals. Also they produce superior products. This has got to be BS for anyone who is familiar with Wegmans

Webster
Webster
13 years ago

Government is the solution? Like thats workd so far!! The real solution is small farms with less regulation. The reason we have mega farms providing us with sub standard food (less nutrition and more bacteria) is that large corps. like monsanto and tyson lobby government into more and more regulation that small farms cant afford. On a small farm (family run size) it is possible to provide cleaner and healthier food while the animal gets to live a good life with one bad day as opposed to a crappy life until its finally put out of its misery. Read "The Omnivores Dilema" and check out the Joel Salaten method of Poultry production. Chickens and cows live symbiotically, equal factory production, and have very low petroleum use for production

JustinLee
JustinLee
13 years ago

"It’s the government’s job to supervise the processing of chickens and other livestock, so that private citizens don’t have to take the time to do it."

LOL and GRINNING i'm straight up whaling over your statement....just grand...f@#$%^& grand

Robert Allen
Robert Allen
13 years ago

The thesis of this documentary seems to be that we consumers have a duty to involve ourselves in the plight of the animals which are raised as food for us. Personally, I have other things I wish to do and can't be bothered with every cause which assails me!

It's the government's job to supervise the processing of chickens and other livestock, so that private citizens don't have to take the time to do it.

To extend the logic of this documentary, maybe private citizens should be concerned over the conditions of the hot house tomato.

Alexandra
Alexandra
13 years ago

WOW!!!!!! What a world and the world is fine but society and the people are not. Everything is the way it is thousands or Millions of years ago. Today, people have a big problem and people who do not believe in GOD and I feel for them very deeply.

I agree with all the above who say chickens are part of the universe and deserve to live life according to the nature's of the law. Those are 100% right, and nobody would not like it if they were stuck in elevator even with the light on and filled with people.

That goes for chickens and people who do this should be ashamed of themselves. People today are so uneducated and becoming so arrogant and cruel. Mother nature knows how to deal with people and after she has enough of everyone crap.

People just do not get it and our weather system is so haywire and everything else is out of whack with nature. I suggest people should watched the following: Super size Me, Fast food Nation, and Food Inc. I feel people need to be educated and what we are putting into our bodies.

All I can say is from life experience is the following: When I was young in my childhood and grew up in the Bronx, NY and we lived. We had chickens and rooster in the back yard and we had fun and they had fun as well. We had a pool, we played canasta, and monopoly, and went to the beach, and the pool without a cell phone. We had a clothe line, and everyone had hard wood floors. We were green and we even had milk man and used olive oil.. We had fun and we all went to school and learn something of ourselves, nation, and GOD.

The most important thing was the fact that, we did not have homeless, obese, or health problem and nobody popped pill like today. Moreover, nobody had all the problems like we have today. Now that something to think about!!!!!!.

When we ate food it was very different then today poison food that we eat. When my dad came home for lunch and he would bring home ham, and french bread and tomatoes, and food was very different then today foods. Today, forget it and we are so screwed because people do not even know what they are eating today. Very sad, so before you even start to talk about the chickens and please start to look up the fake soy and the artificial sugars that they put into sodas, and all the foods, and medications. All the hormones that they add to the cows and feed the animals corn. Well that goes into your body and every notices why people are more fatter. Europe and Asia does not even do this to the animals and refuse to use lots of products as well that we use. We are very toxic nation and time we start to be non toxic thank you. Please, do some research... See my point was,
we were organic and we did not have all these issues and problems; before all this chemicals and toxic products hit our markets. Now today, we have so many problems and I wonder why...... Greed!!!!!!

One more thing, I do not care if you believe in GOD or whatever, We Do Get Our rights from GOD!!! Why because our Declaration of Independence talks about the creator and the Constitution back it up. Your belief system is fine and that what you want to believe in and that OK. Do not hurt animals of any kind and you do not like them and find a heart to help them.

Also, one of the best movies that people can rent is Temple Grandin and great movie... Whole Foods has adopted her system.... Wonderful movie.........

Just remember a divided nation is fallen nation like the Roman Empire and we ourselves are not that far away from it. So when a company treat the live stock like that and shame shame..... Eventually, we all have to pay for what we do.......

another reader
another reader
13 years ago

same goes for those animals' rights....we had to fight for them, nothing is "god given" other than (if you believe it) life.

another reader
another reader
13 years ago

i appologize in advance if i offend any of you religous type that have posted here sofar....but i have one big correction.....

GOD...did not give us any rights whatsoever....

if it were just god that had given us these rights, then what was the sufferage movement, or abolishionists, or any of the rights that PEOPLE had to FIGHT AND DIE for....

No...God does not give us rights....we give us rights, and WE take them away, nothing is a "god given right," if it were, there would be no fight for the rights that we do have.

Pistol
Pistol
13 years ago

Yea thats right... I said it! Worry about the chickens later. Lets learn how to be humane to our own speiecs first eh?

Pistol
Pistol
13 years ago

I have to say this. I worked in a chicken plant for some 6 years. Most of that time was spent in the slaughter house section of the oragization. Some 50k plus chickens died everyday while I worked at this business.

Now this was not my first choice of employment but what was a staving youth to do right? But anyways that is not my point. Without a doubt this situation played on me mentally. I could not help but to feel bad for these animals. More so after witnessing the treatment some on these aniamals recieved. But at the end of the day, the fact is, people have to eat.

So the system of enterprise we have today has invented this system of factory farming. Pleding to people to act against factory farming in order to solve this problem is nothing more then a pipe dream. Factory farming is not the root of the problem. In my opinion there is nothing more inhumane then some of the social systems we have with us still today. Fix that and all else well fall into place... is there a verse in the bible about that? lol just joking!

Alexandra
Alexandra
13 years ago

Could not watch the movie very disturbing and I cried. Agreed with the majority that all in favor of animals and the rights of animals.

I want to leave you with one thing. My pet pee is, that we as man must respect the animal and give the respect as we want respect. Yes it is animal but we treat the animal with kindness and dignity that we would also like to be treated ourselves. We should pray for the animals as well. Something is so wrong today, and until man can honestly respect the animal and maybe, just maybe, we would be able to respect ourselves and our fellow neighbor.

One more thing, Our rights come from GOD the creator and furthermore, we are the ones to help the animals and so we should respect them. For the person who said the Bible has great wisdom and they are absolutely correct.

If we only start to have a little compassion for ourselves and our fellow man and maybe we would find peace in this world.

Do not allow greed to come into our hearts and minds.

kramdo
kramdo
13 years ago

What a joke. I expected something wayyyyyyy worse than this, maybe some angry workers breaking chicken necks for fun or sick humor or something. Do you really think the chicken gets the same pleasure running through a field that you do? Don't impose your standards of living on livestock, it doesn't measure up. When children on food stamps depend on a high quality food like eggs at a low cost to make them affordable I chose the children over the chickens everytime.

tankgirl
tankgirl
13 years ago

lolwut's statement comes across to me as a propaganda statement from Monsanto, or other meat butchering farms who try to convince the modest and poor people of the world this is how we need to operate to feed mouths. I live on a farm, am a member of a locals farmer's market, I come from a family background of farmers. I can tell you that I do not know one local small farmer anymore who uses battery cages; they all use free range, or coupe/and fence ranged production methods. The main reason being, it is logic that a unhealthy enviornment creates unhealthy food, and commercial farming on that scale increases a average farmers costs to the point where one cannot make a profit, and they cannot continue to farm. Commercial farming on that scale is used to create food that is below market prices, which is paid to the farmer that produces the product (often the amount paid is well below the price it costs to produce) so in turn they can be shipped out of the United States, or sold to food companies, who process, box and sell you a morning box of dried cereal with vitamins added, since food created in this way is now void of most nutrition. You do not need to raise food in this manner to feed the planet, nor country, as science can and does support that. Most responsible farmers understand that, product in, affects the product out. If you treat your "product" with suffering conditions, whether it be a plant or animal, you get a product that creates suffering for the food chain consuming the product. Easy example is, when you remove beaks that cause bleeding or keep an animal caged in a tight enviornment they cause injury to themselves. These animals have no immune systems due to unhealthy conditions, and get infections the consumer will inevitably ingest. If in the rare case the producer wants to spend the money for a treatment, that too ends up in the mouths of the consumer. Those products as well cause harm, as science can document. Farmers in this country know that most of the food they produce ends up out of the country, as we produce a huge amount of food surplus. Farming on that commercial scale is not a necessary operation, it is, in fact, a sought after situation perpetuated by the companies of the world who want all the profits to themselves and loathe any farmer who does not jump on their bandwagon, and work for them to produce this toxic waste they call food. Farmers do not need people, who are oblivious on how to feed their own mouths, spreading campaigns for us on how "farming should be done, or is done, because this is how you do it". The fact is, the human race was feeding their own communities and families long before large monoculture farms came along. Oil, and chemicals came along, we made the consumers stupid, and lost touch of how humanity has fed it self for a long time. People don't raise their food for two main reasons these days. They don't how (ignorance), or they don't want to (laziness). Please, don't speak for farmers, just eat the food they produce for you and speak only when your speaking for yourself. I find it offensive for people with no regard or respect for ANY kind of life to even dare try to represent a farmer and tell others "how its done" for us. I would never sell any person produce that comes out of my farm that is damaged or even, had a chance of damage done to it. Why? Because when the human race destroys most of the planet, I might have to eat you. =] =} =}

Otah
Otah
13 years ago

lolwut i do not want to come across as abusive with this reply but i fear it might. Please acknowledge that i mean this as a means to teach not to degrade.

Agriculture is a science.. a natural one. The systems that exist in nature to provide abundance are there to be manipulated for the benefit of all species involved. Look up permaculture or read up about soil. There are ways of mass producing more than enough food for the entire world in just the United States alone. Plus using permaculture concludes each growing season with land and ecosystems that are stronger rather than weaker like modern commercial farms. Point being that this type of treatment is NOT necessary for large production of ANY agricultural product and believe it or not human physiology and general health levels are suffering for it. Remember the old addage you are what you eat.. Well i for one think this type of food is poison... intellectually, spiritually (not religiously), and metaphysically.

And no i have never dealt with chickens but i am a farmer...

"Life feeds on life.." - Tool

So treat all life with care cause you never know when your gonna have to eat it!

louiseiiid
louiseiiid
13 years ago

Johnathon R. Not only does it sound heartless, it IS heartless and pretty ignorant too.

Did you actually watch this film? How then can you doubt that these animals are suffering horribly. I really do not find chickens at all endearing, but you can see that they have spirit and deserve to be treated with respect.

These lovely people handle these poor creatures with such care, I admire them so much. I am a veggie for the last 25 years, but I think I'll go back to veganism. You can't trust manufacturers to tell the truth about how the animals are really treated. I always buy 'organic', but how can I be sure?

All and any caging should be banned, unless it's a deluxe cage with a garden.

Frank
Frank
13 years ago

Well, I shop at Wegmans. I'm not a big egg buyer but after seeing this will never buy another dozen eggs from them. Gotta tell you though some of these comments are daft. Agriculture is a science??? Yeah, so were the death camps in Nazi Germany. Guess that made them OK. Cruelty is cruelty and there is no excuse for it including economic profit. Anyone who views this and continues to purchase the product has some pretty questionable ideals. If the sh** hits the fan in this nation from our massive debt load, I hope none of you are my neighbors. Be afraid I'd end up as your meal one hungry evening. As for me, I'll vote with my dollars.

lolwut
lolwut
13 years ago

Yeah, this is basically a standard chicken farm. If you don't like it, DON'T BUY THE EGGS OR CHICKEN from this company or others like it! Its that simple.

Those chickens are agricultural products, they are not pets. The bleeding hearts in this video and on this comment board sound like a bunch of city dwellers who have never seen a modern farm operation up close... Some of the conditions seemed a bit dreary to say the least, but this is the reality of modern mass-market agriculture. Like it or not, granny tossing handfuls of corn to the free-range hens is NOT how you feed a nation of 300 million, let alone a planet of 7 billion.

Even small-time family farmers interested in modest poultry output use facilities that are at least somewhat similar to this. The picture you have in your heads of granny feeding chickens in the barnyard is for family hens, sure, or maybe enough to sell a few dozen eggs to your neighbors, but if you are a farmer interested in starting even a modest operation with the intent of selling on the general market, this is how it gets done.

This is the 21st century. Agriculture is a science. Maximize product output while minimizing resource input. Keep in mind that if you want to provide all those chickens with more square footage per bird, fresh air and daylight, or other amenities, YOU (and all other consumers) will pay for it, not the businesses.

Yavanna
Yavanna
14 years ago

Aww but I like quoting extracts from Tolkien :(