269 Deaths per Second

At lunch one day last week I was reading a blog by Jasmin Singer, the National Advocacy Organizer for Farm Sanctuary. She has the number 286 tattooed on her left wrist. Purpose? According to Singer "it helps me put things in perspective and stay focused." The meaning of the number? It's the number of chickens killed for food in the US every second. That's 23 million chickens per day, just in the US alone. I Googled this to verify it and the web site for the organization Viva! gave the figure 269 deaths per second. So yes, it's accurate, not some shock value sound bite invented to deceive.

I found this a rather difficult statistic to wrap my brain around: 269 deaths every second. And all for the progress and greater glory of . . . . well, nothing really, just our insatiable gluttony for chicken meat. Maybe you're shrugging your shoulders and asking "so what, it's just chickens, what's the big deal?" Well, ask yourself this: for what am I willing to kill 269 lives per second? World peace? My family's safety? Ending world hunger? No, merely for the convenience of having a chicken sandwich any time you want one.

Killing for convenience. 269 times a second, 23 million times per day, non-stop. Does this not seem excessive? Better yet, ask yourself: when will it be excessive? How many chickens killed per second--all so you can have a chicken sandwich whenever the mood hits you--is too many? Where would you draw the line between your convenience and "this is getting out of hand"?

And the killing is just the final indignity to a life spent in misery for these factory farmed chickens. You do know that probably most, if not all, the chicken you eat comes from factory farms, right? Where chickens spend their entire lives in overcrowded, filthy, inhumane conditions, all so the owner can turn a profit and you can have a chicken sandwich whenever you want. Here's a link to Viva!'s web site where you can read about what they saw inside chicken factory farms: http://www.vivausa.org/campaigns/chickens/index.html

In addition to the killing and life spent in misery there is the simple issue of creating life simply to exploit it. There is no benefit to the chickens in their "relationship" with humans: we use them for our own purposes with no consideration for their well being or their right to live the lives that God has given them. Our ends--a full wallet for the factory farmer and a full belly for us--justify the means, so far as we're concerned. Have we not already passed the point at which we should be asking ourselves "who died and left us to play God with the lives of others?" If you won't answer that question because you don't subscribe to a religious paradigm for your world view, then simply ask yourself this: is "might makes right" the way I want the world to run? Do I believe that the best way to live my life is to be a part of the powerful exploiting the weak? When I die, I sure hope my headstone says "he ate well and always put himself first" and not "he sacrificed and showed mercy and compassion to the weak."

Luke 6:38 tells us that we will receive the measure which we have given. Even popular wisdom advises "you get what you give" and "what comes around, goes around"; something to keep in mind when you eat that next chicken sandwich.