Hey! Check Out That Chick!

Well my little chick-a-dee, you're about to be cast adrift in a sea of un-inspected processing plants. The Agriculture Department is seriously considering curtailing it's poultry inspection service for several reasons. It would be a cost saver, no question about that. At least for them. And at least for now. But also, they claim it's an outdated program. It's antiquated and therefore it needs to be eliminated. As opposed to modernized. Besides the poultry industry is fully capable of handling the job, quicker and better than we are. Strong arguments to be sure. But let's stop, step back, and give some thought to this idea. What would this change mean to you and I? Would we save money? If you considered the savings to Ag. Dept. as those figures relate to you and I, the savings would be so minuscule as to be unnoticeable, but the increased cost to the industry in replacing those inspectors, assuming they will replace them, might well be noticeable because they would be passed on in the price of poultry.  Would there be a larger supply of poultry? I didn't know there was a shortage of poultry now. But it would allow the industry to triple the output. Do we need three times as many chicken breasts and thighs? Have any of you experienced a shortage of breasts or thighs anywhere? At the Colonels or nuggets at Ronald's or the King's? Doing away with government oversight has always had the effect of reducing the protections for the public. If not in the short run, then definitely in the long run. And guess what? They already seem to be feeding chickens banned antibiotics and more. If they're willing to do that, why stop there? So which is more important to you: three times as many chickens as you need, or better inspection of the chickens available at the market? Corporate goals are always about more profits but rarely about discarding potential profits by government inspectors. Government inspectors are supposed to be about better food safety, but not so much about profits. So which side do you think the corporations are on? So which side are you on? If  we need more birds on the shelves, by all means increase production. If we increase production, by all means increase inspection. If our corporations need bigger profits, modernize, cut staff and have at it. But let's not skimp on safety.