I believe I was 14 or 15 years old when I spent a summer working for a large poultry farm in rural Michigan. Me and a group of locals were instructed to clean the tiny cages between the loads of broilers (meat birds). I will never forget those experiences. The horrors of seeing dead birds that fell in "the pit" (where the manure falls below the stacked cages), the horrors of opening the doors first thing in the morning and not being able to open your eyes because of the sting of ammonia. Don't even get me started on the bathroom situation... Then cleaning cages with chickens' legs caught in the food dispensers, and seeing genetically mutated birds with three legs left after the "good ones" were taken to slaughter; or the dying yellow chick that lay on the ground after it was accidentally stepped on. These are just a couple of the scenes that haunt me to this day... and what encouraged me to get my own backyard hens.
I do want to note that I do not blame the farmers. Though I was too young to understand it at the time, they were no doubt under the grasp of manipulating contracts of large brands seen in supermarkets. The farmers were trying to make a living... and had to do it the way they were told. I don't blame them. They were in no way making it "rich" by choosing the path of large scale food production. If people valued their food more and paid farmers more they wouldn't have to do it this way...
There was no choice for me, I had to go there the mornings. I had to distance myself from the living creatures stacked in rows that I was walking past... I had to play mind games to make myself believe they weren't real, and just "stop thinking about it," and "get through the day." And I did. I got through the days with a paycheck in hand and sights that will never leave me...
These experiences are why I support small sustainable farms. I am not a vegetarian. I enjoy eating meat... but I VALUE the life that gave it to me, and am willing to pay more to the farmers who treat it with the dignity and respect it deserves. We pay a lot more than supermarket price for our meat, and dairy products and thus eat a bit less than we would normally. This is OK with me and my family. We know our money is supporting something we believe in rather than getting a deal that causes suffering (for large-scale farm families and their livestock).
I was one of the workers in those long, white barns you pass down the back roads of America. I know there is a better way to do it... if people just spent a little extra on meat, dairy, eggs... and a bit less on soda and potato chips.
