Steve Striffler, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas, provides an historical perspective on the rise of the American poultry industry. As the industry has rapidly grown since World War II and struggles to remain competitive, animal agribusiness continues to operate within small profit-margins and employ a series of disturbing labour strategies. Through Chicken, we learn how poultry production has intensified and become imbedded within larger market forces. With emphasis given to issues of immigration, xenophobia, racism, and poverty, Striffler weaves a compelling narrative about the people involved in chicken raising and slaughtering. While the following interview does not focus on the animal cruelty inherent in modern production practices, Striffler provides an important anthropological account of the origins and consequences of factory farming.
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Animal Voices 