Dear MOTHER: August/September 2009
Readers’ letters about raising meat chickens, a Swiss chard offer, overpopulation, corn ethanol and water, and much more.
August/September 2009
Letters from our readers
 |
From breed choice to processing laws, readers responded to Gwen Roland’s article, “Raising Chickens for Meat.”
GWEN ROLAND
|
We received a flock of responses to last issue’s Raising Chickens for Meat article. Pat Bokma in New Jersey reports that some local laws prohibit home slaughter of chickens — apparently slaughterhouses are considered more humane than home butchering in the Garden State. From Oregon, Jessica Murphy suggests reducing processing time by skinning chickens, rather than plucking them. And Elizabeth Stevens in Kansas reminds us that industrial chicken breeds are abused no matter how kind their keepers may be, thanks to breeding that makes them grow so fast their legs often break under their own weight. (If we all toured factory poultry farms, sales of chicken meat and eggs would plummet overnight; the conditions are truly inhumane by almost anyone’s definition.)
RELATED CONTENT
The recipe for Essene sprouted grain bread is easy. Learn how to sprout grains for sprouted flour, ...
Gasoline-electric hybrid car technology is nothing new. In this electric car conversion, an Opel GT...
Clean air, craftsmanship and making it your way — what more is there?...
Support local, sustainable meat producers (and get more meat for your money) with a little help fro...
Let’s move back to the future with solar homes and electric cars!...
We continue to receive tons of letters about the population issue; you can read a few more here. Plus, we continue to hear from some readers who are adamant that the “global warming crisis” is a hoax.
— MOTHER
Local is Illegal?!
I enjoyed reading your June/July 2009 issue, but was surprised by your article Raising Chickens for Meat. Not surprised by the excellent article, but by the fact that you didn’t mention caution when slaughtering your own food. Doing so in my area would have the long arm of the law and the local chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) on my doorstep.
I live in a rural area of southern New Jersey on approximately four acres. We used to eat our rabbits. I will not say how they got from hutch to oven, but if we were to do as your chicken article instructed, I would have to pay a fine and go to court. I can raise any type of animal for food, but the law requires me to transport them to a slaughterhouse for processing. I wonder if I would get back my meat or someone else’s? And what would this cost?
I’m sorry to say I live in an area where your article would get me — not my chicken — in hot water.
Pat Bokma
Vineland, New Jersey
We Can Do Better
I enjoyed Gwen Roland’s very practical article Raising Chickens for Meat. It was upsetting, however, to read about chickens bred to plump up so fast in their short lives that their legs break under their own weight. This sounds like animal abuse to me. Surely we can do better by chickens and still raise cost-effective livestock, yes?
Elizabeth Stevens
Lawrence, Kansas
Yes, we can. This is one reason many people choose heritage breeds. — MOTHER
Wowed by ‘What to Plant Now’
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Next >>
