Ever since American talk show host Oprah Winfrey announced that her website www.oprah.com would be giving away coupons for free chicken dinners, KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants around America have been literally inundated with people coming with coupons in hand for a free chicken dinner, including two side dishes and a farm biscuit.
The situation has gotten so bad that many stores either ran out of chicken or had to turn people away without honoring the coupon.
Why America’s most popular female talk show host would offer such a deal is beyond the comprehension of most sane people, including those who are against the killing of millions of innocent fowl to satisfy the hunger of these people. The following piece, taken from a website, called www.Kentuckyfriedcruelty.com sums it up well: KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can’t even walk, and often break their wings and legs.
At slaughter, the birds’ throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water — often while they are still conscious. It would be illegal for KFC to abuse dogs, cats, pigs, or cows in these ways.
In addition, it’s now becoming evident that many of these factory farms feed their chickens arsenic, mixed in with chicken feed, as both a growth stimulant as well as to kill parasites.
Fast food chicken establishments are now open in many parts of the Middle East, including: Bahrain. Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE. The arsenic issue is not limited solely the USA, as it has been revealed that small quantities of arsenic were fed as a growth stimulant to chickens in Israel from 2003 to 2006.
Although officially discontinued in 2006, the damage done by three years of eating chickens laced with arsenic has most likely left arsenic residues in many people, which one day could cause cancers and other health problems.
Israel has a very large and well developed poultry industry, with more than 700 poultry farms producing more then 400,000 tons of chicken meat a year.
Chicken is one of the country’s main sources of animal protein; and Israelis are the second largest world chicken consumers, averaging 36 kg per person per year. Much Israeli poultry is also raised on large farms, which also supplies eggs to large supermarket chains.
Due to Jewish Kashrut dietary laws, chickens have to be ritually slaughtered, which many say is much more humane than the American example noted above. That still doesn’t eliminate the problem of feeding hormones and other growth supplements to chickens that between 2003 and 2006 included arsenic as well.
Arsenic was also fed to pigs being raised in Israel, also as a growth stimulant. Free-range chicken, under the Teva Off brand are now available in Israel it’s doubtful but KFC franchises will use them, due to their smaller size and higher costs.
One reader of her site wrote: “I found it interesting that Oprah would promote KFC after doing a show about the horrors of factory farming.”
Author: Maurice Picow
Maurice Picow grew up in Oklahoma City, U.S.A., where he received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. Following graduation, Maurice embarked on a career as a real estate broker before making the decision to move to Israel. After arriving in Israel, he came involved in the insurance agency business and later in the moving and international relocation fields. Maurice became interested in writing news and commentary articles in the late 1990’s, and now writes feature articles for the The Jerusalem Post as well as being a regular contributor to Green Prophet. He has also written a non-fiction study on Islam, a two volume adventure novel, and is completing a romance novel about a forbidden love affair. Writing topics of particular interest for Green Prophet are those dealing with global warming and climate change, as well as clean technology - particularly electric cars.
Given the terrible effects of the worst recession in the US since the great depression of the 30s, and given that the hardest hit live in vast urban food deserts with virtually no access to tofu restaurants or fresh vegetables within economical driving range, her gesture is well thought out to ease the very real suffering here in America.
Horrible as it is, the one food supply you can count on being available to the poorest Americans is fast food. Given a choice between no food and fast food, this is not such an evil thing.
I agree with you.
I think it’s better idea with the deal of free coupons that Oprah’s giving away. Thank you.
FIRST, I THINK OPRAH WENT OUT OF HER WAY TO MAKE A WONDERFUL GESTURE. SHE PAID KFC OVER 100 THOUSAND DOLLARS SO SHE COULD FEED THE WORLD IN THIS ECONOMIC CRISIS….. GROCERIES AREN’T CHEAP. SO EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS. SHE COULD KEEP ALL OFF HER MONEY FOR HERSELF BUT SHE DOESNT AND ALL WE CAN DO IS COMPLAIN. FIRST U WANT TO QUESTION WHY SHE IS HELPING CHILDREN IN AFRICA. THE WHY IS SHE GIVING OUT CARS AND NOW CHICKEN. IF U DONT EAT CHICKEN THEN DONT, BUT DONT GET MAD AT OPRAH LIKE SHE IS SOME KIND OF ANIMAL HATER FOR DOING THIS. I THINK SHE IS WONDERFUL AND I HOPE SHE CONTINUES THE GOOD WORK OF BLESSING THOSE, WITHOUT EXPECTING ANYTHING IN RETURN.
I think it’s better idea with the deal of free coupons that Oprah’s giving away.In fact,oprah’s offered the opportunity for many people and that’s what kept her so positive and so successfull and so strong in her life and I respected it.
Aside from my reaction “What was she THINKING?” handing our coupons for such cruelly produced dinners, I thought it ironic that Oprah would *encourage* such unhealthful eating.
I wonder what would have happened if the coupon on her website had read: Free tofu dinner.
Probably a grease-laden hunk of GMO corn and artificial flavoring that resembles corn bread. Oprah, how about instead of handing out cars and industrial chickens, try “Everyone gets a home vegetable gardening kit!”
This would be perfect for live audience members who are unemployed and worried. They can feed themselves and their families, occupy their newfound and depressing free time, and maintain a positive body image through working outside, which will make them more confident at job interviews. Oprah, do it!
Comes from the farm, where else?
What is a ‘farm biscuit’?