"The Ugly Secrets Behind Costco's Beautiful Chickens," Nicholas Kristof

 

Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

The Ugly Secrets Behind Costco's Beautiful Chickens

By Nicholas Kristof Opinion Columnist, Opinion

Costco’s $4.99 rotisserie chickens are legendary, both cheap and delicious, even enjoying their own Facebook page. And Costco is a great company that treats workers well and claims to respect animal rights. To look at its marketing, you’d think its chickens enjoy a nice avian middle class life before volunteering for the rotisserie.

Not so. An animal rights group called Mercy for Animals sent an undercover investigator to work secretly on a farm that grows chickens for Costco, and the investigator shared video from inside the barns. That’s the topic of my Sunday column, and I think Costco customers who read it would flinch before ordering their next rotisserie chicken.

One problem is that the birds are almost genetically programmed to suffer. They are bred to grow extremely quickly, six times as fast as chickens did in 1925. If humans grew at the same pace, a two-month old baby would weigh 660 pounds. As a result, the chickens’ legs often can’t support the weight. The birds topple over and flop helplessly. They sit on ground encrusted with droppings and get terrible ammonia burns on their undersides.

We grew chickens on our farm when I was a kid, and, no, Costco’s poultry practices are not humane. But I also realize that modern agribusiness is extremely efficient at delivering cheap protein, and there are complicated trade-offs between efficiency and animal well-being. I’d like to see Costco join 200 other food companies in making the “Better Chicken Commitment,” a pledge to work toward somewhat better conditions. If Burger King and Chipotle and Whole Foods can do it, so can Costco. Please read the column!