Rap against KFC grows
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/ ... 0231c.html

Simmons rips slaughter

By BRIAN KATES
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Rap mogul Russell Simmons has added his multimillion-dollar voice to the growing chorus of African-American leaders calling for blacks to shun Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Simmons called slaughter practices used by KFC suppliers "grossly inhumane" and told the Daily News he has filmed a commercial "showing some of the very worst abuses chickens undergo" before landing on customers' plates.

He said he has talked with officials from Yum! Brands, KFC's parent company, and warned he will release the spot and organize a boycott if the company does not make "reasonable reforms within a reasonable time."
Simmons, chairman of Def Jam Records, said KFC is "very, very big" in the black community. But he added, "When a company targets our community, disrespects us as consumers and sells us products ridden with negative energy and laced with toxins, that is our business."

There are about 250 KFC stores in the five boroughs.

Comedian and activist Dick Gregory and former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume also have been highly critical of KFC.

Celebrities from Pamela Anderson to Paul McCartney have rallied to the cause.

The movement is gaining steam as the fast-food industry is reeling from threats of mad-cow disease and avian flu and the national obsession with low-carb food. Nevertheless, Yum! Brands - also the parent of Long John Silver's, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell - posted a 6% increase in profits last year.

Simmons, a vegetarian, has promoted an animal abuse hotline for the ASPCA. In making his case against KFC, he cited information from the radical animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA activists have demonstrated outside KFC suppliers with signs reading "The Colonel's Secret Recipe: Live Scalding, Painful Debeaking, Crippled Chickens."

Yum! Brands vice president Jonathan Blum said PETA has unfairly singled out KFC.

"We buy our chickens as do other companies from the same trusted brands like Tyson and Perdue," Blum said.

"We have an independent panel of outside experts who set our high standards. They are the same standards that all our competitors use to insure humane treatment of poultry."

The company uses about 16 suppliers with 52 facilities around the country.

PETA claims the 750 million chickens raised each year for KFC are "often fully conscious when their throats are cut and when they are dumped into tanks of scalding water to remove their feathers." The group also maintains that arsenic used to kill intestinal parasites in chickens is harmful to humans.

In September 2000, PETA backed off an 11-month campaign against McDonald's after the company agreed to a number of reforms, including increasing living space for chickens, meeting other standards of more-humane treatment and halting purchases from suppliers that failed audits.

McDonald's also has agreed to study switching its chicken suppliers to those practicing so-called "controlled-atmosphere killing." That involves using a cocktail of nitrogen and argon mixed with carbon dioxide to ensure that chickens are dead before their throats are cut.

Blum said Yum! performs "announced and unannounced audits" of its suppliersand requires them to correct any deficiencies. He said "the jury is still out" on whether controlled-atmosphere killing is more humane.

related article-Beastie Boys fight KFC for the rights of chickens
http://au.launch.yahoo.com/050209/10/3ahj.html

:::must contain myself from making obvious racially inappropriate remark:::

:::must contain myself from making an obvious lack of intelligence remark:::

When they say there are 250 KFC locations in the five boroughs, are they counting "Kennedy Fried Chicken" stores as well? Anyone from NYC knows that if you see a Kennedy Fried Chicken joint, you are in the 'hood.

--PunkDavid

Does PETA suggest maybe anesthitizing all the chickens before they are slaughtered??? My grandparents raised chickens and I never saw them attempt to kill one 'humanely'...it was either wring the neck or chop the fucker off and let the thing run around in circles for a while...

Hahahahahh. I'm sure its a real tough sell for KFC.

so which is more harmful, internal parasites, arsenic, or unsanitary conditions at KFC?

It really has been too long since we had a good KFC thread.

it has.

how long til you think this turns into a PETA thing?

Omigosh, you mean chickens get their heads chopped off before eaten?!?!

How inhumane!

Sorry to quote myself, but I thought this was a fun page and I thought I'd share.

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SIGNS/fried ... hacks.html

All about how KFC didn't set up restaurants in black neighborhoods, so many independent chicken shacks showed up, often with names that parodied KFC. SOme of these are pretty funny.

Also, here in Milwaukee, on North Avenue and 17th Street (in heart of the higgity hood), there's a place called New York Fried Chicken. I've always wanted to go there, but I've just never wanted to park my car out front.

--PunkDavid

The question we all love to ask.

Do I have to boycott Bojangles, Church's, and Popeye's as well?

Putting these conditions aside for a moment, I hate KFC anyway simply because their food is awful.

i love their food, and how the chicken dies before it gets to my plate is of little importance to me, i have other stuff to worry about

Isn't KFC owned by Pepsi these days?

I don't eat chicken generally, maybe once every 5 months or something,... I just don't like the thought of them getting particially beheaded and stuff.

The same sort of thoughts make me feel the same about beef, but I have had a much harder time not eating a t-bone steak once in a while.


Bean Burritos for Everyone!

c-

I don't really like their regular fried chicken. However their twister wraps are awesome. The only problem I have with them is, one isn't enough to fill me but two is too much. I always ended getting two and can never stop eating before I've had too much.

The lard injection is a bit much. It might be tasty at the moment, but within 5 minutes of having it you think to yourself "Oh God why did I do that.... I'm going to pay for it into tomorrow"..... I haven't been there in well over a year. I can't think of any reason to go - the corn on the cob is "okay" but always mushy. If they said "boycott" I'd be like "sure, no problem for me to do that, I sort of already am anyway because its just not good food."

Both the poultry and the beef industry, and probably pork and other meat processing companies, all really need to rethink the process by which they slaughter the animals. I understand they are raised to be food, but that doesn't mean they should be getting cut up while still alive, etc. Most of the resistance is simply because the companies don't want to spend the money to upgrade their stuff to ensure the animal dies quickly and that the waste products aren't getting into the food supply.

Its just another case of, "we don't want to give up any profit to do the right things, and as long as people keep buying our product, we don't have to".

It blows really. Maybe since most people who posted either don't eat their anyway or arent' interested, the next time they are looking for lunch, they will just avoid KFC. Shouldn't be too hard considering all the options out there.

It seems many of the newer grocery store in my area are making sandwiches and salads and stuff available for lunch anyway, so I just run over to the grocery store at lunch time and grab a salad and a piece of fruit, and sometimes even sushi. Way more cost effective than going to KFC.

What they aren't saying, however, is that KFC isn't the only problem, but the poultry industry in general has the same problems. I think we as a nation would be alot thinner if we made an effort to each less meat generally. I know if I avoid beef and any white flour based baked goods (which usually contain lard), I weigh 4 to 7 pounds less, and have more energy generally.

Just some thoughts, I'm rambling,....

c-

I don't think you can eat bean burritos either. Taco Bell is owned by the same company as KFC, TRICON. They also own Pizza Hut. And, although they don't own Pepsi-Cola, they're in a long-running exclusive pouring rights contract with Pepsi.

Crap. You're right!