Peta Campaigns Against Kfc

Springtime in your city may bring a visit from an animal rights group that wants to protect chickens from what they say is excessive cruelty by Colonel Sanders. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Springtime in your city may bring a visit from an animal rights group
that wants to protect chickens from what they say is excessive cruelty
by Colonel Sanders. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:


People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says KFC restaurants serve
chickens that suppliers have killed inhumanely. So, PETA is revving up
its Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, holding protests outside KFC
outlets, with PETA workers often dressed in costumes.


Lindsay Rajt sometimes wears a police uniform so she can do a mock
arrest of someone else dressed as Colonel Sanders. Rajt wants KFC
suppliers to switch to technology that slowly withdraws the air around
their live chickens.


“And it will actually basically put the birds to sleep… it’s the most
humane method out there.”


Rajt would also like Congress to change the Humane Slaughter Act, so
that it would no longer exempt chickens. KFC’s corporate parent has
repeatedly said it does not tolerate animal abuse by any of its
suppliers. But PETA says it plans to take its message to hundreds of
cities this year.


For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Epa Rules on Meat Processing Waste

  • To go from these chickens... (photo by Romula Zanini)

The largest meat and poultry processing plants in the country must follow new rules regarding how much pollution they release into waterways. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Weber reports:

Transcript

The largest meat and poultry processing plants in the country now must follow new
rules regarding how much pollution they release into waterways. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Tom Weber reports:


The new rules apply to about 170 plants in the country that turn cows and chickens into
hamburgers or filets. Wastes will have to contain fewer nutrients like ammonia and nitrogen
before it’s released into water. Mary Smith heads a division within the Water Office of the
Environmental Protection Agency. She says the rules are not as strict as when first proposed.
That’s in part because of concerns from the industries that it would cost too much. Smith
says the limits are tougher than what the law was before. But she adds these aren’t the only
industries that release waste into the water.


“So we can’t really kind of single out the meat industry, necessarily. Everyone, in a sense,
needs to do their part. But it’s another piece of the puzzle in terms of getting cleaner water.”


The new rules mark the first time poultry plants will have these kinds of limits. The EPA
estimates meat and poultry plants use 150 billion gallons of water each year. That water needs
to be cleaned of wastes like manure, blood, and feathers before it’s discharged.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tom Weber.

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Poultry Farmers Protect Flocks From Avian Flu

Poultry farmers in the Midwest are taking extra precautions after the discovery of avian flu among chickens in Pennsylvania and Delaware, but there are some things the industry can’t control, as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:

Transcript

Poultry farmers in the Midwest are taking extra precautions after the discovery of avian flu
among chickens in Pennsylvania and Delaware. But there are some things the industry can’t
control, as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:


Most commercial poultry farmers practice state-of-the-art biosecurity because of what’s at stake.
Some avian flu is relatively harmless, but if a lethal variety breaks out, the farmer’s entire flock
has to be destroyed. So birds are isolated from contact with visitors and delivery trucks, and
workers frequently change clothes and disinfect their shoes.


Paul Wiley is with Michigan State University’s agricultural extension service. He says
that’s not the case with city émigrés to the country who raise chickens as a hobby.


“The first thing they want to have is two horses, the second thing they want is some kind of flock
of poultry, and they are clueless about poultry!”


Wiley says more backyard flocks could threaten the health of the large commercial flocks. Still,
he says the situation is not nearly as bad as in some Asian countries. There, birds are sold live at
markets, which brings them into frequent contact with people, other birds and wild animals.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.

Developing a New Test for West Nile Virus

Almost 6300 Americans contracted the West Nile virus this year. And 133 of them died. Each season, health officials scramble to predict where the virus will strike before it affects humans. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports on a experimental approach being used in Canada that might make that information faster and easier to collect:

Transcript

Almost 63 hundred Americans contracted the West Nile virus this year. And one
hundred 33 of
them died. Each season, health officials scramble to predict where the virus will
strike before it
affects humans. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports on a
experimental
approach being used in Canada that might make that information faster and easier to
collect:


(sound of chickens)


Stephen Burgess stands in front of a chicken coop. He holds an egg carton in one
hand while
slowly lifting the coop’s plywood cover. He carefully collects a dozen eggs that
have rolled into a
trough at the back of the cage.


From here, he’ll visit thirty more sites around Ottawa, Canada’s capital.
Collecting eggs from
small farmers as well as test flocks set up around the city. It’s a new form of a
common early
warning system that’s used for the West Nile virus – the sentinel chicken flock.
But in this case,
it’s the eggs that are tested, not the chickens.


“Many states in the United States are using chickens but they are taking blood
samples from the
chickens every one to two weeks. The approach that we’re doing is we’re able to
monitor for
West Nile virus by looking for specific proteins in the eggs.”


Burgess says this offers researchers some distinct advantages. Blood sampling
requires the use of
trained technicians – one to hold the bird while the other draws blood. This causes
stress to the
chicken. And it poses a danger to the humans who are handling the blood samples.


Two people have been infected with West Nile virus while collecting chicken blood.
Burgess
says the nice thing about eggs is that they pose no risk to humans, and they’re easy
to get.


“If you want to go and look at a particular county, you can say, go out and collect
every egg from
every backyard flock this week and you can have a flash snapshot of what is the
status throughout
the county and that was totally unfeasible using previous approaches.”


Burgess is leading a pilot project to test out this approach in the Ottawa region.
He’s a biochemist
by training and runs a company with Hugh Fackrell, a microbiologist at the
University of
Windsor. The two had been working in the lab, trying identify antibodies in animal
blood. This
spring, they stumbled upon a method that they say reveals the complete immune
profile of a
chicken by examining its egg.


For now, they’re keeping that method a secret – until it’s patented. But it was
enough to convince
Ontario’s Ministry of Health to fast track a pilot project for this fall.


Dave Jensen is a spokesman with the ministry.


“We’re interested in testing out this approach because it offers both a less
invasive way of getting
test results and a way of getting more of them than doing it the way we have been.”


The project has also attracted the attention of researchers at the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control.


Jennifer Brown is a scientist at the CDC’s West Nile headquarters in Fort Collins,
Colorado.


“This is very new work and it’s very interesting. We’re really looking forward to
hearing the
results of this pilot study, but I think it’s too early to say how useful it’s going
to be in future West
Nile surveillance efforts.”


For instance, Brown says it might require a redesign of the sentinel chicken cages
that are
typically used.


“If you had an egg that was positive for West Nile antibodies, you would want to
know which
chicken it came from and you would want to know how many chickens in the flock were
laying
eggs that contained West Nile antibody.”


At this point, the pilot project is not that specific. Researchers are looking for
evidence of West
Nile in each flock, rather than the individual birds.


But Stephen Burgess, the pilot project’s director, is taking the idea into account.
He plans to
deliver a final report on the project in December. He’ll consider what worked, and
what needs
improving. And he hopes to demonstrate that testing eggs can provide a safer, and
less expensive
alternative for tracking the West Nile virus.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

Poultry Farmers Look to Cogeneration Plant

People who live next to poultry farms often complain about the smell, and environmental groups often complain about the pollution. Now farmers are looking for solutions. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Michael Leland reports that one group of farmers wants to convert farm animal waste into energy:

This story was researched and written by Corie Wright.

Transcript

People who live next to poultry farms often complain about the smell. And
environmental groups often complain about the pollution. Now farmers are looking
for solutions. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Michael Leland reports that
one group of farmers wants to convert farm animal waste into energy:

The group is calling itself West Michigan Co-Gen. Co-Gen stands for co-
generation – a process that takes one form of fuel and converts it into two forms
of energy. In this case, farmers are looking into building a plant that would
convert poultry manure into electricity and steam. Chuck Pistis is with
Michigan State University’s Agricultural Extension. He says not only could the
plant reduce odors, it could also reduce pollution from poultry waste.


“This plant would result in reducing
the volume of this waste by 70%, so you’d be able to
generate steam and
electricity and then the 30% of the waste that’s remaining would be further processed
by fertilizer manufacturers.”


Pistis says Co-Gen must perform a feasibility study to see if it would be cost-
effective and practical. If the plant becomes a reality it could be the first co-
generation facility in the region to use poultry manure as fuel.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Michael Leland.

Chicken Farm Encounters Opposition

An Indiana-based egg producer is trying to find a place to build a 47 million dollar chicken farm somewhere in the Great Lakes region. But Midwest Poultry Services is running into opposition in one of the proposed communities. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Matt Shafer Powell has the story:

Activist Video Sparks Food Safety Concern

Two animal rights activists who recently shot footage of chickens at two of Ohio’s largest egg farms are not getting what they bargained for. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles has more:

Transcript

Two animal rights activists who recently shot footage of chickens at two of Ohio’s largest egg farms are not getting what they bargained for. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles reports.


(sound of chickens)


These chickens are shown in cramped cages….often featherless from abuse…in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. The activists say they had hoped the sight of this would spark an all out investigation into the way the farms treat their livestock. But it’s done something else. The head of the Ohio Livestock Coalition wants to know why the activists were able to trespass onto the farms to get this footage….especially these days when food security is a major concern.


“It’s an example of how a bio terrorist might try to introduce something to the livestock.”


Dave White is backing a plan that the Ohio senate has already approved. It increases penalties for trespassing onto and vandalizing farms. The bill is expected to pass the Ohio house the first of next year. Meanwhile, the activists are trying to get lawmakers to take an equal interest in the well being of the hens at Ohio’s major egg farms.

Pastured Poultry Caught in Red Tape

Consumer interest in healthier foods continues to grow. And
now, spurred on by the success of this market, some farmers are trying
their hand at raising chickens more naturally. But as the Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports, many of these farmers face a
rocky road getting their chickens from the farm, to your table:

Kids Pluck Lessons From Business

For years, people have grappled with the age-old question: Which
came first, the chicken or the egg? Of course, there’s no definitive
answer. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson
reports, at one elementary school, the chickens always come first:

Disagreements Over Manure Runoff Policy

Environmentalists are concerned that big business agriculture will weaken a government proposal to reduce pollution. The federal government’s proposal would make large farm feedlots come up with a management plan to dispose of animal manure. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Lester Graham reports that some farm groups are fighting it: