Poultry

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1996:

U.S. frozen chicken
exports to Russia soared from
marginal significance in 1992 to
$500 million worth last year, making
Russia the biggest export market
for the American chicken
industry, and infuriating Russian
poultry producers, who are contending
with soaring grain prices in
the wake of the worst harvest in
1995 since 1965. On February 7,
Russia warned the U.S. that the
traffic might be halted on March
16. Said Russian Agriculture
Department chief veterinarian
Vyacheslav Avilov, “We need
guarantees that these birds are disease-free––that
there is no salmonella,
no bad chemical additives,
or the like.” Reported Lynnley
Browning for Reuter, “The U.S.
birds are on the same market as
Russian ones, which are scrawny,
grey, and unappealing. Chickens
from both countries are often sold
from barely refrigerated containers
or on the street in cardboard
boxes.” Browning described a
salesgirl separating frozen chicken
parts by stomping on them. The
Clinton administration, with reputed
close ties to the Tyson chicken
empire, applied diplomatic muscle,
and on March 6 announced that
Russia would not interfere with the
chicken sales. Related negotiations
began March 22.

Foie gras c o n s u m p t i o n
reportedly dropped 70% i n
France during the 1995-1996 holiday
season––but due to a trucking
strike, not to a great awakening to
the cruelty inherent in force-feeding
fowl to produce it.
Promotional flyers from
D’Artagnan Foie Gras, in upstate
New York, boast that, “The farm
creates a comfortable and clean
environment to allow the ducks to
partake in this ASPCA approved
feeding.” The November 1995 edition
of ANIMAL PEOPLE
described the American SPCA’s
refusal to prosecute D’Artagnan for
cruelty, despite the opinion of
some critics that it should.
Former French labor
minister Martine Aubrey o n
February 8 announced that her
Action Against Poverty Foundation
would open a string of fast food
chicken restaurants to create jobs in
areas of high unemployment.