you know how to live and eat what you eat chicken? 
Il 26 agosto del 1789, in piena
Rivoluzione francese , venne emanata la
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen . After two hundred years and countless strides in terms of "progress", October 15, 1978 was proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Paris
animal rights with which it is determined that all animals are born equal and have the face of life same rights to existence (Article 1). If the animal is bred for food must be fed, housed, transported and killed without it being in fear or pain (Article 9).
In those same years, animal rights activists were very critical of factory farming;
Ruth Harrison , author of Animal Machines
(1964), denounced the system of intensive production of calves, pigs and poultry, claiming the five freedoms of the animal: get up, lie down, turn around, stretch their limbs and groom themselves without difficulty.
17 pounds a head Until the fifties of last century the chickens grew about 2 kg in 63 days. Today, however, a chicken industry (the broiler, a breed specifically selected according to the needs of industrial livestock production: quantity, speed, low cost) is "ready" in just 33 days, a development that thickens too quickly to excess bone lungs, heart and body.
"I can not stand on legs - tells of a modern chicken -
limp and we're often sitting on soiled bedding, many contracting skin diseases. To prevent diseases that could affect our sales, we stuffed with antibiotics " (From
What eats the chicken you eat? - Arianna Editrice).
In Italy the chicken industry is thriving - such as the ruddy face of a nice gentleman accent Romagna from television screens that invites us to eat cooked turkey roll insurmountable practical and chicken cutlets and spinach. Companies are 250 breeding, livestock 5586 (rising in 8382 if we also count those eggs), the incubators 114, they are added to 116 slaughterhouses, 451 cutting, 158 cold stores and 55 centers repackaging (updated in June 2009, Ed)
In 2006, the ' poultry meat industry had a turnover of € 2.58 billion (equivalent to 2.3% of the food business) with 32,836 tonnes exported and 6071 imported (non-EU countries). They raised 149 million chickens distributed between Emilia Romagna (21%), Lombardia (22%), Veneto (26%) and other regions (5%). The entire poultry production amounts to 1,048,800 tons with more than 400 million animals slaughtered, of which only 372.19 million broilers. With a purchase
medio di 2,14 kg e un consumo pro-capite di 17,1 kg (nel resto del mondo è di 12,3) la spesa per l’acquisto di carne avicola copre il 27% della spesa mensile di una famiglia media italiana.
Cotoletta batteriologica La rivista
Altroconsumo , organo dell’omonima associazione di consumatori, ha proposto, nel fascicolo 220 di novembre 2008, un’inchiesta sul pollo d’allevamento:
59 campioni di broiler (acquistati e trasportati in laboratorio con furgoni frigoriferi, per non interrompere la catena del freddo)
sono stati sottoposti a dettagliate analisi di conservazione, igiene e patologia. Il risultato?
«Ci would be to get his hair - writes
Altroconsumo -
chicken and banish from our tables. " Bacterial contamination in meat is mainly attributable to growth "exponential" they are subjected to the broiler: bloated, cumbersome and unable to move, are vulnerable to pathologies of the feet and skin.
The analysis showed the presence of salmonella bacteria that, if transmitted to humans, causing fever, diarrhea, muscle pain, cramps and vomiting.
The problem of disease from the herd begins and lasts for the whole chain up to the counter of the supermarket: the chicken should not be exposed to changes in temperature and the cold chain must be more efficient. The samples analyzed by
Altroconsumo were purchased in different outlets in the traditional workshop under the house and in modern retailing: the chicken was bought at the butcher's better than the supermarket.
Yet, after a search of Italian food culture created in 2007 by the expert
Daniele Tirelli, showed that consumers, in terms of food security, he prefers the chicken GDO (the big supermarket chains): about 80% of respondents were satisfied with value for money chicken from the supermarket, not considering that the low cost is synonymous with inefficient supply chain. The investigation of
Altroconsumo ball manufacturers and distributors to poor hygiene and poor storage of broilers in the different steps in the process and provides tips on how to avoid the dangers associated with the disease: it is better to buy the chicken and eat in a day, keep it in refrigerator covered with cellophane or within its own package, wash your hands and utensils after handling raw chicken, cook it thoroughly to more than 70 degrees and check that it remains raw.
farm life begins today in his way a concept of animal welfare seen as well-being both physical and mental condition must be a physical and psychological adaptation or harmony between the organism and its environment characterized by deprivation, injury, illness, behavioral disorders, aversive stimulation, or any other limitation imposed man that adversely affects the efficiency of an animal.
The problems of animal health vary at different levels, depending on the species, the rearing conditions and the degree of intensity. In the past, for example, in industrial poultry chickens were reared in battery cages, while the chickens were kept on the ground. It followed a low consistency of the meat on one side and dirty eggs in feces dall’altro che erano la causa primaria di numerose patologie. Recentemente, il pollo è sceso a terra per accrescere la consistenza della carne e la gallina è salita in batteria per ridurre i problemi igienico-sanitari: mentre il pollo può, teoricamente, correre, svolazzare e irrobustirsi per fornirci una carne più sostanziosa, le galline non calpestano più gli escrementi e l’uovo viene deposto su un nastro trasportatore.
Anche il
broiler è allevato a terra senza gabbie ma in un ambiente chiuso, controllato da parametri produttivi che puntano alla massima crescita nel minor tempo possibile.
Le critiche nei confronti dell’allevamento industriale sono rivolte ai programmi di intensive feeding and continuous illumination, which is associated with the lack of physical activity, forced squatting on the litter problems and the skeleton leg and injuries to the skin. breeding density determines whether or not healthy chicken and is the primary cause for the increased risk of disease in case of mismanagement or improper eating habits. In recent years, the European Scientific Committee
health and animal welfare noted that the exponential growth of the animal species does not go hand in hand with a satisfactory level of welfare. For this reason,
July 12, 2007 was published in the Official Journal Community European Directive 2007/43/EC contains the minimum standards for the production of poultry meat , to which all member states must comply by June 30, 2010. The EU's attention has been focused on intensive farming type, that is, those with more than 500 poultry farms: the new rules establish a maximum density of 33 kg / square meter (in Italy for the space density by more than 10% less, while in Denmark and the Netherlands up to 40-42 kg/m2).
As established by law, the chickens have the right to have: • troughs of efficient and accessible;
• availability of food;
• la lettiera asciutta e friabile in superficie;
• una sufficiente ventilazione;
• un basso livello sonoro e una situazione climatica adeguata;
• dei controlli e delle ispezioni due volte al giorno per valutare il loro livello di salute.
Il proprietario dell’allevamento ha l’obbligo di tracciare il sistema produttivo su appositi documenti in cui vanno specificate la dimensione delle superfici occupate, i sistemi di ventilazione, di raffreddamento e di riscaldamento, l’alimentazione e l’approvvigionamento d’acqua, i sistemi di allarme e di riserva in caso di guasti delle apparecchiature, il tipo di pavimentazione e di lettiere usate. La direttiva prevede anche proper training of poultry physiology (behavior and requirements), the handling of poultry (catching, loading and transport), the emergency care (killing and killing) and the bio-safety.
Despite these improvements the question on the quality of chicken meat is still present on our tables, and the question arises whether it is logical and healthy consume over 17 kg per head per year, perhaps it would be appropriate to reduce our consumption of animal protein and rediscover the taste of chicken, maybe once a week and enjoyed not one day yes and one no.
To learn how to recognize a "real" chicken are useful indicazioni anche in rete: sul sito
www.biozootec.it si può consultare il
“Manifesto del Pollo ruspante e biologico” che elogia l’allevamento estensivo in quanto capace di coniugare
«biodiversità e legame con il territorio, competitività, diversificazione, rintracciabilità, integrità dei suoli e protezione dell’ambiente, salubrità delle carni e resistenza alle malattie». Articolo estratto dal
Consapevole n° 19.
(^__^)
