Our hands catch and process the products. Our environment suffers the waste. Our communities are home to the farms, the processing plants, the farmers and workers. Our families consume the products. And our religious leaders minister to the spiritual and human needs of the poultry industry's needs.
Religious people say grace over poultry.
We have produced the product and sales that have brought an explosion of profits to the owners and corporate mangers of the industry. We have earned the right to be heard. By 1995, poultry workers could no longer earn enough wages to meet the government-defined poverty line. While the demand for the product has soared, real return to the farmers has dropped. In 1995, research indicated that over 73 percent of farmers earned a below poverty level income from their poultry operations.