1. Ch. 3, Slaughterhouse Blues

2. Poultry Production & Consumption in the Early Twentieth 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)

3. Production & Consumption 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

4. 1914 Restaurant Menu Crabmeat Supreme$.60 Prime Rib$1.25 Imported Venison $1.50 Broiled Lobster$1.60 Chicken$2.00

5. Birth of the Modern Poultry 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

6. 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

7. Chicken 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. War & 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

11. Industrialization 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

12. 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

13. Vertically 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

14. Education & 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=1G0stojwYjI

15. 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 winnerRunner Up (Cornish New Hampshire) (White Plymouth Rock) The White Plymouth Rock became the standard because white feathers were easier to see & pluck

16. 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)

17. Contract & 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

18. Big Chicken Comes to Roost in 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

19. 19901.5 million broilers 1998178 million (154-fold increase) 2001231 million Cost = $135,000 - $140,000 each

20. The Sky Is Falling By the early 2000s a number of broiler houses were standing empty Energy prices soared in 2001

21. Shawn made $36,000 on his 1 st flock With his 2 nd flock, payment for loans on his 1 st 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

22. 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

23. Misinformation 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

24. “Serfs in a Post-modern 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