WARNING! DISTURBING CONTENT! Viewer discretion is advised!
Mercy For Animals presents Farm to Fridge. Narrated by Oscar-nominee James Cromwell, this powerful film takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration behind the closed doors of the nation's largest industrial farms, hatcheries, and slaughter plants -- revealing the often-unseen journey that animals make from Farm to Fridge.
Have you ever realized there's no such thing as a vegan refrigerator? Try opening the nearest fridge and you'll find an egg rack along with a clearly marked butter tray and meat drawer. Eating animals and animal by-products is not just accepted, it's expected. As I've documented here several times, what's expected is not always grounded in reality.
1. Chicken Abuse
Most people don't know this, but chicken are inquisitive and intelligent animals. Chicken abuse not only happens in the U.S., it happens all over the world.
2. The Free Range Myth
As the good folks at Compassionate Over Killing explain: "The popular myth that 'free-range' egg-laying hens enjoy fresh grass, bask in the sunlight, scratch the earth, sit on their nests, and engage in other natural habits is often just that: a myth. In many commercial 'free-range egg farms, hens are crowded inside windowless sheds with little more than a single, narrow exit leading to an enclosure, too small to accommodate all of the birds at once. Both battery cage and 'free-range' egg hatcheries kill all male chicks shortly after birth. Since male chicks cannot lay eggs and are different breeds than those chickens raised for meat, they are of no use to the egg industry. Standard killing methods, even among 'free-range' producers, include grinding male chicks alive or throwing them into trash bags and leaving them to suffocate."
3. The Protein Myth
How much protein do you think we need? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says 2.5% of our daily calories should come from protein. According to the World Health Organization, it's about 5%. How does that work out in grams? A lot lower than the US average of 100 grams a day, that's for sure. "To consume a diet that contains enough, but not too much, protein, simply replace animal products with grains, vegetables, legumes (peas, beans, and lentils), and fruits," clarifies the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. As long as one is eating a variety of plant foods in sufficient quantity to maintain one's weight, the body gets plenty of protein."
4. Cholesterol
Read More : 4 Ways to Replace Eggs in Your Diet
This is the reality for millions of chicks in Britain every year.
Fluffy yellow youngsters travel on conveyor belts at hatcheries dotted across the country – half to their death, the other half to egg farms.
The males are immediately discarded – and either gassed or thrown into macerating machines, which kill instantly.
Undercover filming by the campaigning welfare group Viva has captured the reality of the early days of factory farm chickens.
Once hatched, the chicks are placed onto a conveyor belt system to be sexed and sorted.
Bleak existence: Once hatched the chicks are placed onto a conveyor belt system to be sexed and sorted
Immediately killed: These male chicks have been gassed and are falling out of the machine
While the females will survive this initial process, their heads are placed into machines that will automatically clip away the ends of their beaks and inoculate them against disease.
In some hatcheries the tips of the beaks are removed using a hot wire.
This is done to ensure the birds do not peck and injure each other out of the frustration of spending their lives in cramped wire battery cages.
The same machine will inoculate them against various diseases common in the cage systems used on farms in Britain and around the world.
Even chicks going into other systems, such as free range, will have the end of their beaks cut off.
There was nothing illegal in the activities witnessed by Viva's undercover team, however the images demonstrate the reality behind the idyllic farmyard pictures plastered over supermarket egg boxes.
Viva is a pro-vegetarian organisation and would prefer people to turn their back on eating eggs. The filming took place at two hatcheries in this country in August.
At one, the male chicks are gassed in a machine before the bodies are then packaged to be fed to reptiles.
Life and death: This woman is sorting males from females to catch any that were missed in
the gassing room and is pictured flinging a male chick from the conveyor belt into a crate
Coming up for air: This little chick's head was poking out of a crate
At the second the male chicks are picked up in handfuls and dropped alive into a mincing machine in a process known as IMD - Instantaneous Mechanical Destruction.
Even chicks going into other systems, such as free range, will have the end of their beaks cut off.
The official line of the UK egg producing industry is that this destruction method is uncommon.
However, the recent footage demonstrates IMD is routinely used by at least one major hatchery.
Both of these slaughter methods are approved by Government's food and farming department, Defra, and the Humane Slaughter Association.
Viva campaigns manager, Justin Kerswell, said: 'It is the hidden horror that the egg industry does not want you to see.
'For the first time ever in the UK, the egg industry’s number one secret has been exposed: what happens to male chicks.
'In egg production male chicks are surplus to requirements, which means that they are sorted from the females in vast warehouses and then killed in their thousands at just a day or two old.
'Identical to the chicks you see on Easter greeting cards, these uncomprehending young birds are either sent on a conveyor belt to be gassed or thrown alive into electric mincers.
'Our undercover investigator has revealed the awful truth that underpins the British egg industry.'
He said: 'The female chicks don’t get it much better. Roughly sorted from the males, they too are transported on a seemingly never ending conveyor belt.
'However, they are vaccinated and have the tip of their beaks cut off, which is potentially painful to these young animals.'
Mr Kerswell said the conveyor belt system in the egg hatcheries is not unique to the chicks that go into battery cages.
The same system is used to sort those which move to barn, free range or even most organic egg farms.
'It is an unimaginable waste of life – and all just to bring an egg to your morning table,' he said.
The actor Martin Shaw, who starred as Judge John Deed is a vegetarian and supporter of Viva. He described the footage as 'shocking'.
He said: 'This exposes the mass murder and mutilation of thousands of baby chicks – at the hands of the British egg industry.
'Supporting this cruel industry sees the continuation of the slaughter of male baby birds for no reason, other than their sex.'
The British Egg Information Service defended industry practises.
Despite the evidence of the Viva footage, the organisation claimed it was unusual to put live chicks into mascerators in this country - although not illegal.
It said: 'In the egg industry, on hatching, chicks are immediately segregated into the male and female sexes by feather colour identification. Obviously, only females lay eggs.
'In the past the male chicks were used for poultry meat but the broiler meat industry has now developed specific strains of chicken which grow quickly. The male chicks from egg-laying breeds are not suitable.
'It is therefore necessary to dispose of the male chicks using a method approved by DEFRA and monitored by the Government's Animal Health Agency.
'Disposal is normally carried out by exposure to carbon dioxide or a mixture of carbon dioxide and argon, which is quick and painless, following a Code of Practice approved by the Humane Slaughter Association.
'The male chicks then provide a valuable source of food for other species such as reptiles and birds of prey.'
It said hatcheries are required to have mascerators by law, but said these are mainly used to dispose of unhatched eggs.
'It is not in the industry's commercial interest to throw chicks alive into mascerators, although this is not illegal,' it said.
'Masceration of live chicks is common in other countries including the USA.'
Source: Mail Online
Is it healthier to eat raw veggies or to cook them? Is fresh broccoli more nutritious than frozen? Is eating iceberg lettuce a waste of time?
You may be surprised by the answers to these seemingly simple questions. In fact, there are several misconceptions when it comes to vegetables. The one universal truth is that most of us could be eating more of them.
As summer approaches, we have more vegetable choices than at any other time of year. Here's a guide to what's fact and what's fiction when it comes to eating your veggies.
Myth: Fresh vegetables are more nutritious than frozen
Fact: Studies show that sometimes you can get more nutrients from frozen veggies, depending on variety and how old the vegetables at your supermarket are. That's because produce starts losing nutrient quality as soon as it's picked.
Frozen vegetables are flash-frozen right after harvest so they are preserved at their peak of freshness when they are most nutritious. Your best bet in terms of taste, nutrition, and the environment is still local in-season produce. When that's not an option frozen can be a better choice (from a nutrient standpoint) than spinach that takes two weeks to reach your table.
Myth: Cooked veggies are less nutritious than raw
Fact: It depends on the vegetable. "Cooking destroys some nutrients, but it releases others," says Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat. It destroys vitamin C and folic acid, according to Nestle, which is why it's not a great idea to cook oranges.
On the other hand, she says, cooking releases vitamin A and the nutrients in fiber and makes them easier to digest. It's also easier for your body to absorb more lycopene, a cancer-fighting antioxidant, in cooked tomato sauce than from raw tomatoes.
Steam or roast veggies instead of boiling, which leaches out water-soluble vitamins into the cooking water.
Myth: Iceberg lettuce doesn't have any nutrients
Fact: Iceberg lettuce is mostly water so it's hardly loaded with vitamins, but a large head does contain small amounts of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
You'll get more nutrients from other greens that have less water such as romaine or butterhead lettuce, but contrary to popular belief, iceberg lettuce does have some nutritional value.
Myth: Local vegetables are always cheaper
Fact: It's certainly true that local produce can be good for your budget. This is especially true during the peak of harvest when farmers need to get rid of an abundant crop and there is a lot of competition.
However, there are no guarantees. Local food "is not in any way subsidized so you are paying the real cost of producing the food, and the economies of scale are not there," says Nestle.
Some tips for finding the best deals at your local farmers' market: Shop at the end of the day when farmers are likely to mark down their prices in order to get rid of their inventory. (Go early in the day if selection is more important than price.) Ask your farmer for a volume discount if he or she doesn't already offer one. Take advantage of special deals on bruised or overripe veggies. Prices vary from farmer to farmer so shop around before buying.
Myth: Potatoes make you fat
Fact: Potatoes are virtually fat-free and low in calories. These delicious and inexpensive root vegetables contain a healthy dose of fiber, which can actually make you feel satisfied for longer and help you lose weight.
It's not the potatoes themselves that make you fat. It's how you cook them and what you slather on your spuds that can cause you to pack on the pounds.
Myth: Bagged salads are squeaky clean
Fact: They're not nearly as clean as you may think. Consumer Reports tests found bacteria that are "common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination" in 39 percent of the 208 packages of salad greens it tested. It didn't find E. coli 0157:H7, listeria, or other disease-causing bacteria in its samples.
But it's still a good idea to give greens a good rinse to remove residual soil before eating even if the bag says they're "pre-washed" or "triple-washed."
Myth: Farmer's markets only have organics
Fact: Just because a vegetable (or anything for that matter) is sold at a farmers' market does not mean that it's organic. It still must be certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a guarantee that it was grown without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Some farmers will say they are in the process of getting certified, they grow crops without synthetic chemicals but can't afford the certification process, or they only use chemicals when they have no choice and don't use them when it's close to harvest time. It's your call on whether you trust that farmer.
