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--- Begin Message --- -Caveat Lector-
Organic-chicken producers and the approximately 2,000 folks tending back-yard flocks (officially 99 birds or fewer) in the Fraser Valley may become, as he put it, "victims of fortress agriculture".
Not surprisingly, the current buzz in the conventional, intensive-production industry, which produces more than 90 percent of all local chickens and eggs, is all about ways to boost regional biosecurity, including a suggestion that every chicken in the valley live its entire short life indoors to minimize risk of infection. Reid says he's received "indications that many [large-scale operators] don't want any free-range, organic, or back-yard flocks nearby or at all...and organic production without free-ranging will mean nothing."
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Free-Ranging Thoughts On Repopulation
By andr� lariviere
Publish Date: 6-May-2004
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: main_customer_list
Date: Saturday, May 1, 4:45 p.m.
Subject: Free-ranging thoughts on repopulation
For those who've asked, no, we won't be dropping the chicken-paillasson sandwich from our summer menu. We intend to stay as local as possible, with alternate organic birds from the island or from Prairie provinces until our regular supplier, Thomas Reid Farms in Langley, can resume production in the aftermath of the avian fluinitiated depopulation of the Fraser Valley.
Owner Brad Reid told us the last of his flu-free birds will get to market in the coming weeks, ahead of the grim reaper's fowl scythe of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Should the valley be deemed "clean" after the scheduled process--depopulation complete by May 21, then 21 days' cleaning/cooldown, then another 21 days of "sentinel" test flocks posted at the 50-plus previously infected farms--Reid hopes to be marketing his tasty birds again in mid-to-late September.
However, even with a positive, disease-free outcome, Reid says this tragic event could have a long-term and potentially devastating impact. Organic-chicken producers and the approximately 2,000 folks tending back-yard flocks (officially 99 birds or fewer) in the Fraser Valley may become, as he put it, "victims of fortress agriculture".
Not surprisingly, the current buzz in the conventional, intensive-production industry, which produces more than 90 percent of all local chickens and eggs, is all about ways to boost regional biosecurity, including a suggestion that every chicken in the valley live its entire short life indoors to minimize risk of infection. Reid says he's received "indications that many [large-scale operators] don't want any free-range, organic, or back-yard flocks nearby or at all...and organic production without free-ranging will mean nothing."
The industry's line of thinking is somewhat understandable because, despite the increasingly frequent incidences of bird flu around the globe, scientists have yet to produce any sure-fire stopper or even a real understanding of the bug's habits. Though it's known to be spread via contaminated feed, water, equipment, or clothing, waterfowl and other wild birds are often prime suspects in passing the flu around to their feathered kin in the barnyard.
Our favourite organic egg man, Steve Easterbrook of Rabbit River Farms, says his place in Richmond offers excellent natural habitat for ducks and many other birds, yet his chickens remain healthy. "So either waterfowl aren't carriers or my free-ranging and mixed-breed flock has developed immunity to flu."
Easterbrook feels that science and a deeper respect for nature together will provide the most effective prescription. "After years of breeding for efficiency, rapid growth, tender flesh, or just sheer output, we rely on too few genetic strains of chickens, and along the way we bred out their natural instincts for self-preservation and abilities to withstand disease," he argues.
And according to Ron Lewis, the province's chief veterinarian and director of the Animal Health branch for the Ministry of Agriculture, at an upcoming government-led "top-to-bottom re-evaluation of the entire poultry industry", all suggestions and concerns will be on the table...except for concentrated production. "It's hard to argue against the cost-benefits of having major processors, farms, and support industries in one place."
That said, Lewis agrees that free-ranging flocks in contact with wild waterfowl near large commercial operators "present a potential risk, and those operators view it as such...not to say they're always right. While most have good biosecurity in place, there are always a few who clearly skipped basic hygiene."
As to whether or not there'll be a new protocol requiring chicken-barn doors be locked and free-ranging left to seagulls, Lewis says he doesn't know, adding that "it's very important that the organic and back-yard-flock producers be at the table."
Nobody wants to witness another chicken doomsday, but isn't it time other voices are heard? Those of us, say, who want to preserve a real choice in the chicken we put on our tables?
If we don't exercise our consumer muscle, we'll be flocked. Big time.
Original story at:
http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=2428
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Please let us stay on topic and be civil.-Home Page- www.cia-drugs.org
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