i'm not certain exactly what the world is coming to. chickens specifically bred to not have feathers. the benefits are said to be the following: lower plucking costs (i.e. none), less waste product (i.e. feathers), lower cooling costs (i.e. no feathers equals naturally cooler birds). now chickens are certainly not the most noble bird. in fact, i had more than my fair share of unpleasant run-ins with this breed of fowl during my stint on the farm in my teen years. but even chickens deserve a little dignity. my god.

the continued industrialization of our food supply is making me sick, pun intended. the food processing industries are turning herbivores into carnivores, feeding bits and waste of animals back to them. of course, this is illegal but the USDA lacks the wherewithal, both financial and institutional, to enforce the law. don't be surprised when the country is decimated by mad-cow. agribusiness has been gobbling up family farms for a generation, planting genetically modified you-name-it, engineering to grow faster, bigger, etc for less. farm subsidies, ostensibly designed to help smaller farms compete against the economies of scale of corporate agriculture, more often end up financing buy-outs of struggling family businesses by said transnational giants. all to keep a value meal at mcdonalds under five bucks.

but don't take my word for it. take his.