Per capita meat consumption in the United States has been slowly but steadily declining in the last few years, as more and more people become aware of the devastating impact animal agriculture is having on human health, the environment and animal welfare. Seemingly more interested in corporate welfare than the well-being of animals, or even its own citizens, the United States government announced last week that it will be buying $40-million-worth of surplus chicken flesh to help the “ailing” factory farming industry.
According to the The Wall Street Journal, the chicken bailout, combined with similar buyouts last year, gives chicken factory farmers “an extra $86 million in government chicken purchases above the roughly $100 million the USDA buys in scheduled chicken purchases for a year.” All of this government aid is in addition to the estimated $1.25 billion the chicken industry saved per year in feed costs from 1997 to 2005 due to taxpayer-funded subsidies.
The fact that the federal government is attempting to circumvent the free market by helping the failing factory farming industry stay afloat should come as no surprise to those who are aware of the immense political power that Corporate Agribusiness has in this country. But its power is fading fast, as compassionate consumers switch to healthier plant-based food options and concerned citizens lobby their elected officials for agricultural subsidy reforms.
As more Americans, including Ellen Degeneres and President Bill Clinton, take a stand against the dietary status quo by adopting healthy and humane vegan lifestyles, the cracks in the factory farming façade are beginning to show. Help us widen those cracks by voting for a kinder world every time you sit down to eat. Visit ChooseVeg.com to learn more.
