Thesis:
Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin” ad tells people to consume more chicken and less beef; this claim is clearly defended by the nutritional facts but neither the meat nor poultry industry is better or more humane than the other.
Body Paragraph:
Chick-fil-A’s ad gives the impression that the company would rather kill chickens than cows. Both the meat and poultry industries are very discreet about what goes on in the slaughterhouses and the lack of humanity that is exhibited there. In Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, he mentions that there is only one small window looking into the slaughterhouse. (172) The chickens that are owned by companies such as Wayne Farms, Chick-fil-A’s poultry provider, live their, albeit, short lives in over-crowded quarters. Most of these poor chickens never see the light of day and are barely able to walk. K. Ghareeb and J. Bohm wrote the article Fear Behaviour, Ease of Capture and Performance Traits of Growing Meat Type Chickens which described how poor chickens are raised to be afraid of their handlers because the more fearful the chickens are the easier they are to capture and transport. (1) Not only does this constant fear affect the birds but also because they live in such tight living conditions the chickens tend to become very anxious and peck each other. This can lead to death in a few of the chickens. As for the cows, they live in their own filth which can cause them to become very sick because of the immense amount of ammonia they are exposed to. The chickens that survive go on to the slaughterhouse. When they arrive at the slaughterhouse the chickens are grabbed by their legs and hung upside down. The action of hanging the birds upside down can break their fragile legs. They are killed by having their throat slit by a machine. According to Gary Comstock author of Life, Science, Ethics some chickens move before their throats are slit and are alive when they are put into the de-feathering machine.(347) Cows, on the other hand, are killed manually by a person shooting them in the head. Although neither method of killing is acceptable at least the cows are dead before the next phase of their slaughtering begins. As Comstock says, poultry companies such as Wayne Farms believe that since the rights of chickens are not defined in the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act that their actions are excusable but they are clearly misguided. (356) This unimaginably poor treatment of animals is supported by companies such as Chick-fil-A who buy their products from companies who allow their animals to die in the cruelest of ways. When they post an ad that shows cows telling people to eat chicken instead of beef they are basically telling people that killings cows is cruel but killing chickens is acceptable.
I learned that the slaughter of chickens are much worse conditions than that of cows. I think that the ad claim to eat more chicken is just trying to promote chik fil a because all they serve is chicken not beef. I like the way the sources were incorporated.
ReplyDeleteGreat research Capilgre. I was able to learn how chick-fil-A buys their products form companies that allow for the chickens to get raised and die in a harsh way. I agree with your argument because I am not a supporter of animal cruelty and am against any type of a harsh slaughter. Your work was able to give another identity to chick-fil-a putting it in a negative light. Great work!
ReplyDeleteAlthough chickens may go through as much pain and suffering as cows, I'm not sure that that is exactly what the ad was portraying. It could simply be an ironic and humorous take on the perspective of a cow, or it could even be implying that cows are smarter than chickens because they are capable of unionizing for a common cause. I doubt that they would be implying that it's somehow justified to treat chickens worse than cows, seeing that chains such as these try their best to hide the process of the creation of their meats.
ReplyDeleteI found interesting the information you presented about how the animals are treated in the slaughter houses. I agree with your position on this topic. I liked the way you incorporated your sources in your text.
ReplyDeletePathos was exhibited amazing throughout the paragraph. It was vere similar to HSPCA type commericals. Also Eric Schlosser's points are capitalized in proving your point. Also,the idea you presented in the end is fresh and intresting. I never ever thought of that until now. Good Job!
ReplyDelete1. Your argument that beef or chicken is still inhumane is very interesting.
ReplyDelete2. I liked that used Fast Food Nation as your source to establish the credibility of your argument because we did learn a lot about the meat industry and poultry industry as well.
3. Describing what the chickens have to go through is horrible, but I enjoyed learning more about it! Good Job :)
I love your thesis and you state how whether eating chicken or beef, there is no moral difference. I also notice that, like some people think its okay to kill snakes, but not okay to kill dogs. They are both still wrong (for recreational purposes). Also, I love your research, it makes the paper look professional and legit, like you know what you're talking about.
ReplyDelete