Listening to KUT on the way to work today, I found out that today is International Respect for Chickens Day. The purpose of Respect for Chickens Day is to "celebrate the dignity, beauty and life of chickens and to protest against the bleakness of their lives in farming operations." Chickens represent something like 90% of the animals killed for meat in this country, and the conditions they live in are comparatively much worse than what cows are subjected to (we're talking relative levels of horror, here, of course). A non-profit called United Poultry Concerns, the impetus behind Respect for Chickens Day, does great policy work on behalf of chickens, like supporting a Delaware bill to give egg-laying hens more space to live in. Their website is full of interesting chicken activist resources, and pictures and stories of nice chickens who have been rescued. Also of note is the section called Think Like a Chicken, with poems and stories written from a chicken's point of view. I am a big fan of chickens, and stopped eating them almost completely a few years ago. Did you know that some types of chickens are endangered, and that they can make nice companions? I really enjoy our neighbor's little flock of chickens (and rooster)...they were peacefully pecking around the grass this morning as I pulled out of our driveway.
So for my chicken-eating buddies out there, maybe just today you can abstain from eating chicken or eggs out of Respect for Chickens Day!
1 comment:
what about if i eat them with pesto? i feel like i am respecting the chicken by eating them with something really good rather than is some lower form, like nuggets.
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