AT Foodies I need help!

[Carson Dyle]

yes, but what he mentions in terms of size--especially chicken--really is quite alarming. So much of the general chicken stock now comes from freak chicken that is reaching weights 3-4 times their normal size, and a lot of this is due to cramming antibiotics into their feed (to drastically increase muscle mass/time).

This is well, extremely bad. In fact, it should be outlawed because this has long been a primary culprit in generated our wonderful little super-resistant bacterial strains (in some cases, these super-resistant infections have been passed from mother to infant through breast feeding).

...but the food industry sure won't like that. Who wants normal-weight meat and normal human consumption levels at slightly more expensive prices? We'll never beat the Rooskies! (er, the Chinese, now)

Antibiotics aren't making chickens any larger. Antibiotics are necessary because the breeding has left them vulnerable to disease, and keeping as many of them alive until they're slaughtered is the only way to make a profit.

There was a fantastic episode of This American Life* a few years back, with a segment about hog farming in the US. Pigs are now raised indoors in very close to sterile conditions their entire lives because they've virtually bred all natural disease immunity out of them.

(* They produced a television version of This American Life for two seasons, twelve episodes total.)

* Edit *

Cool. Here's the whole episode on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrzMt8re3ss


.

 

[CraKaJaX]

You snooze you lose bro :awe:

I didn't lose anything IMO. I work with some Korean guys and I always ask them what I should order - LOL. Today was Doengjang Jjigae. Don't ask me to say it though.

 

[Kaido]

I didn't lose anything IMO. I work with some Korean guys and I always ask them what I should order - LOL. Today was Doengjang Jjigae. Don't ask me to say it though.

No, I just meant I got lunch before you did. That or you're stalking me :hmm:

 

[Kaido]

Antibiotics aren't making chickens any larger. Antibiotics are necessary because the breeding has left them vulnerable to disease, and keeping as many of them alive until they're slaughtered is the only way to make a profit.

There was a fantastic episode of This American Life* a few years back, with a segment about hog farming in the US. Pigs are now raised indoors in very close to sterile conditions their entire lives because they've virtually bred all natural disease immunity out of them.

(* They produced a television version of This American Life for two seasons, twelve episodes total.)

For reference, the chicken scene from Food Inc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB4flBxNpuc

 

[zinfamous]

Antibiotics aren't making chickens any larger. Antibiotics are necessary because the breeding has left them vulnerable to disease, and keeping as many of them alive until they're slaughtered is the only way to make a profit.

There was a fantastic episode of This American Life* a few years back, with a segment about hog farming in the US. Pigs are now raised indoors in very close to sterile conditions their entire lives because they've virtually bred all natural disease immunity out of them.

(* They produced a television version of This American Life for two seasons, twelve episodes total.)

* Edit *

Cool. Here's the whole episode on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrzMt8re3ss


.

It actually does promote rapid growth in individuals, and is why antibiotics are used. The problem is that this is seen as such a favorable side effect, that many producers overload on antibiotics to produce a chicken broiler in something like 3 or 4 months as opposed to the normal 6-8 months? (I honestly have no idea how long it takes a chicken to get to eating stage )

Here, from the villains themselves:
https://www.meatinstitute.org/ht/display/ShowPage/id/102248/pid/102248

Growth Promotion— The use of some antibiotics can destroy certain bacteria in the gut and help livestock and poultry convert feed to muscle more quickly causing more rapid growth. This class of use has been the subject of controversy and scrutiny, and in 2012, FDA4 asked livestock and poultry producers to phase out use of antibiotics for growth purposes. The American Meat Institute (AMI) and its members support FDA’s decision.

But this source says that such use has been phased out. ....I don't buy it. Or Perdue has just replaced antibiotics with hormones, because there is no way those turkey-sized chicken breasts at my nearby Giant are anything close to natural.


and as for the disease resistant pigs--that is absolutely disgusting. No wonder the FDA has been bowing to Big Pig and been actively shutting down small heritage pig farms, especially in Wisconsin, iirc. Which is a shame, because wouldn't it be nice to remember what an actual pig is supposed to taste like? Not this disgustingly lean, bland, over-muscled inbred line of meat that represents some 97% of our national pig supply?

 

[CraKaJaX]

No, I just meant I got lunch before you did. That or you're stalking me :hmm:

I've finally learned to decipher your words through those damn bluetooth beams from your IP. Took a couple of filters, but I got it. You're doomed.

 

[Kaido]

I've finally learned to decipher your words through those damn bluetooth beams from your IP. Took a couple of filters, but I got it. You're doomed.

Low blood sugar = incoherent posts until I eat

 

[DrPizza]

It actually does promote rapid growth in individuals, and is why antibiotics are used. The problem is that this is seen as such a favorable side effect, that many producers overload on antibiotics to produce a chicken broiler in something like 3 or 4 months as opposed to the normal 6-8 months? (I honestly have no idea how long it takes a chicken to get to eating stage )

Try less time. 6 to 8 weeks.
Cornish crosses. They have to cross the parents, because the offspring grow so fast and to such large size that they generally die of congestive heart failure before they reach breeding age. We raised them, and after the first week or so with an antibiotic feed (almost all chick starter had antibiotics in it; I don't think I've seen chick starter without it) we fed feed without antibiotics. The chickens became grotesquely large in no time at all. And bland. Holy shit do they lack flavor compared to a lot of the heritage breeds that do take months to reach butchering size.

The best part about the cornish crosses - at the 4-5 week point, they cull the flock and remove the worst of the birds. But all's not lost. These, they market as "cornish game hens" and charge you twice as much per pound for. Suckers!

Personally though, even though I can raise all the chickens I want (and we raise chickens for our own eggs - I like them a lot better than the store bought eggs) I just go to the store for chicken. The meat is bland. But, I make up for that with seasonings. I cannot raise a chicken for what it costs me to purchase one at the grocery store; and by the time you factor in my time for killing and plucking all those damn feathers... BBQ sauce, etc. works for me.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I'm not sure I've ever even eaten a non-store bought egg. Got 18 eggs the other day for 99 cents at the supermarket. Can eggs be legally be sold at farmer's markets?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm not sure I've ever even eaten a non-store bought egg. Got 18 eggs the other day for 99 cents at the supermarket. Can eggs be legally be sold at farmer's markets?

You're thinking Milk, most places require milk be pasteurized to sell