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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: CountDeMoney on September 09, 2013, 08:12:41 PM

Title: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: CountDeMoney on September 09, 2013, 08:12:41 PM
Great.  Chicom-fil-A.

QuoteChinese-raised chicken could be on U.S. tables soon, too
By: Tarini Parti and Bill Tomson
Politico
September 9, 2013 04:34 PM EDT

Chicken raised and slaughtered in China could be sitting on U.S. grocery store shelves as soon as a year from now, a top meat safety official told POLITICO before leaving on a weeklong trip to China.

Given China's recent history and reputation for food safety, nervousness already surrounds the prospect of U.S.-raised and slaughtered chicken being processed in China before being shipped back to the United States.

But the prospect of Chinese-raised birds also being allowed into the United States will be one of the main topics of discussion on the table, too, when Al Almanza, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, talks to Chinese officials this week. Almanza left for Beijing on Monday for a meeting that was supposed to take place last month, as POLITICO previously reported, but was rescheduled.

The USDA notified China last week that four of its processing plants were cleared by inspectors to begin processing U.S.-origin chicken and selling it back into the American market. Officials have also been inspecting Chinese slaughtering facilities to make sure they are up to U.S. standards, a key prerequisite for China to begin selling its own, homegrown chicken to the U.S., Almanza told POLITICO in an interview at USDA headquarters on Friday.

But more needs to be done to establish equivalency between the U.S. and Chinese poultry plants before the USDA approves the country for exporting its own chicken, which is what a formal letter being sent to Chinese officials in three to four weeks will say, Almanza said. There are some unresolved issues as the USDA works to guarantee that Chinese safety standards are equivalent to U.S. standards.

"What I can tell them is that there are some issues that still need to be addressed," he said.

Consumer safety advocates have been increasingly anxious about allowing any chicken, whether it's just Chinese-processed or Chinese-slaughtered, to be sent over to the U.S., given the country's record on food safety and deadly bird-flu outbreaks.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has previously called approving Chinese plants for processing U.S. chicken "deeply worrisome to American consumers," and groups such as Food and Water Watch have said that the USDA is pursuing the chicken deal with China so that the country will open up its market to U.S. beef.

But Almanza asserted the department has been carefully auditing plants before approving them.

"If we were to determine that their system is equivalent, why wouldn't it be?" he said.

"It's the same [set of standards] we use for any other country. We're not treating China any differently in determining equivalency for exporting to the United States."
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:13:54 PM
Yay. More lead in the diet.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Neil on September 09, 2013, 08:14:54 PM
Have fun dying.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: derspiess on September 09, 2013, 08:16:01 PM
If it saves us 10 cents per bucket of chicken, how could this not be worth it??  :lol:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:17:19 PM
I blame Xiacob.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: CountDeMoney on September 09, 2013, 08:20:38 PM
Quote from: derspiess on September 09, 2013, 08:16:01 PM
If it saves us 10 cents per bucket of chicken, how could this not be worth it??  :lol:

Quoteto begin processing U.S.-origin chicken and selling it back into the American market.

How in the wide world of sports can it be cost-effective to send chicken all the way to the other side of the globe, get processed into various chicken-like substances and then send it back?
Why not rinse it all off in the Ganges while we're at it, because we all know how much better chicken nuggets are when they taste like curry and dirty feet.  WTFKFC
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Jacob on September 09, 2013, 08:23:29 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:17:19 PM
I blame Xiacob.

And I blame you.

I'm in favour of stringent food safety regulations and locally produced foodstuffs.

You're the arch-priest of the shareholder value moloch and the cretin who actually eats industrial chicken product while prioritizing a $0.05 price cut. The blame, sir, lies with you and those like you.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Neil on September 09, 2013, 08:24:00 PM
I think it's important that you find out which products are being made in China, and then avoid them like the plague.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:26:07 PM
Quote from: Jacob on September 09, 2013, 08:23:29 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:17:19 PM
I blame Xiacob.

And I blame you.

I'm in favour of stringent food safety regulations and locally produced foodstuffs.

You're the arch-priest of the shareholder value moloch and the cretin who actually eats industrial chicken product while prioritizing a $0.05 price cut. The blame, sir, lies with you and those like you.

Somebody is sensitive this evening.  :lol:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Jacob on September 09, 2013, 08:28:35 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:26:07 PM
Quote from: Jacob on September 09, 2013, 08:23:29 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:17:19 PM
I blame Xiacob.

And I blame you.

I'm in favour of stringent food safety regulations and locally produced foodstuffs.

You're the arch-priest of the shareholder value moloch and the cretin who actually eats industrial chicken product while prioritizing a $0.05 price cut. The blame, sir, lies with you and those like you.

Somebody is sensitive this evening.  :lol:

:hug:

I was hoping you might be...   
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Caliga on September 09, 2013, 08:31:52 PM
You people might find this hard to believe but most of my groceries are sourced locally.  My beef?  Slaughtered at a farm in Oldham County, like 15 miles from here.  Pork?  Mostly comes from southern Indiana. :cool:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Mine are locally sourced from Kroger. It's less than 2 miles away.  :P
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Caliga on September 09, 2013, 08:38:05 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Mine are locally sourced from Kroger. It's less than 2 miles away.  :P
I'll shop at Kroger for stuff like detergent, deodorant, headache medicine, etc.  :sleep:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Grey Fox on September 09, 2013, 08:40:13 PM
Eat local, they say!
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Eddie Teach on September 09, 2013, 08:41:59 PM
Quote from: Caliga on September 09, 2013, 08:31:52 PM
You people might find this hard to believe but most of my groceries are sourced locally.  My beef?  Slaughtered at a farm in Oldham County, like 15 miles from here.  Pork?  Mostly comes from southern Indiana. :cool:

I don't find that hard to believe at all, sadly.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:42:46 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 09, 2013, 08:40:13 PM
Eat local, they say!

The wife has a friend that won't eat anything from more than 200 miles away. She got pissed when we gave her kid banana pudding.

Fuck her weird rules.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
There were some people here who were trying that 100-km rule, announced with a full-on media blitz.  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: derspiess on September 09, 2013, 09:19:35 PM
Quote from: Jacob on September 09, 2013, 08:23:29 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:17:19 PM
I blame Xiacob.

And I blame you.

I'm in favour of stringent food safety regulations and locally produced foodstuffs.

You're the arch-priest of the shareholder value moloch and the cretin who actually eats industrial chicken product while prioritizing a $0.05 price cut. The blame, sir, lies with you and those like you.

I drink locally :hug:

When I first moved to Cincy, that was kind of hard to do.  Now we've got too many locally-brewed beers to keep track of.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:28:58 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

Never heard of greenhouses?

Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 09:29:46 PM
Quote from: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:28:58 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

Never heard of greenhouses?

Canada picked the hockey tech tree.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: HVC on September 09, 2013, 09:31:32 PM
Quote from: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:28:58 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

Never heard of greenhouses?


100-km from a city rule means there's a good chance there's no green houses in that area.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Eddie Teach on September 09, 2013, 09:35:07 PM
Canada's not really fit for human habitation, so you either have to subsist on seal and moose or cart your food in from elsewhere.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: derspiess on September 09, 2013, 09:41:29 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 09:29:46 PM
Quote from: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:28:58 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

Never heard of greenhouses?

Canada picked the hockey tech tree.

:lol:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:45:50 PM
Quote from: HVC on September 09, 2013, 09:31:32 PM
100-km from a city rule means there's a good chance there's no green houses in that area.

And its illegal to build any?
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:55:23 PM
Quote from: HVC on September 09, 2013, 09:31:32 PM
Quote from: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:28:58 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

Never heard of greenhouses?


100-km from a city rule means there's a good chance there's no green houses in that area.
There are, but they're rare and expensive.  If these people had been rich, it wouldn't have been a problem.  And greenhouses aren't proof against the cold.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Razgovory on September 09, 2013, 10:14:49 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 09, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Mine are locally sourced from Kroger. It's less than 2 miles away.  :P

Fuck if I know where my local Kroger gets their food.  I doubt that lobster is locally grown though.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Barrister on September 09, 2013, 10:33:28 PM
Quote from: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:28:58 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

Never heard of greenhouses?

Greenhouses are wonderful and do extend the growing season.

But they don't work so well in -30C in January.  Even at the local farmers market you won't find greenhouse-grown veggies that time of year.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: KRonn on September 10, 2013, 10:45:48 AM
QuoteGiven China's recent history and reputation for food safety, nervousness already surrounds the prospect of U.S.-raised and slaughtered chicken being processed in China before being shipped back to the United States. 

I'm very surprised that it's cheaper to ship the birds or their carcasses to China for slaughter, then ship them back to the US for sale in markets! In fact, from what I've been reading some companies are finding it not such a bargain to produce products in China due to rising wage and benefit demands by Chinese workers, then the cost of shipping the goods to the US.
Then too after all the food issues by China I usually try not to buy food grown or processed in China.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Grey Fox on September 10, 2013, 10:56:57 AM
Quote from: citizen k on September 09, 2013, 09:28:58 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

Never heard of greenhouses?

so, 6 months instead?
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Tamas on September 10, 2013, 10:59:41 AM
If all the "free range" stuff labelled as such here in the UK would actually be free range, every house would need to be full of chickens.

I favour quality stuff greatly, my grandparents had animals, I ate them, I know there IS difference compared to the industrialized ones, but lets face it: there is too many of us humans to feed us based on medieval-style technics.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Caliga on September 10, 2013, 11:29:20 AM
Quote from: Tamas on September 10, 2013, 10:59:41 AM
If all the "free range" stuff labelled as such here in the UK would actually be free range, every house would need to be full of chickens.
I would tend to agree, at least since the end of World War II. :sleep:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: KRonn on September 10, 2013, 12:27:53 PM
Quote from: Neil on September 09, 2013, 09:14:49 PM
There were some people here who were trying that 100-km rule, announced with a full-on media blitz.  They quietly dropped it during the winter when they realized that they wouldn't be able to eat any fresh produce for about eight months of the year.

I don't need no steenkin' 100km rule!    :cool:   I use a 25 yards rule for a few months of summer. I get corn, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, squash or whatever I'm growing that year out of my backyard garden. Been eating my home grown stuff since mid July, still getting veggies from there, waiting on my next potato crop to be ready. I've already put a bunch of stuff in the freezer, lots of corn and beans, with potatoes stored in the cellar.  :alberta:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Neil on September 10, 2013, 12:31:57 PM
You don't eat meat?  How awful!
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: KRonn on September 10, 2013, 02:09:10 PM
I eat meat, chicken, fish etc., store bought of course. I did trap a couple squirrels over the summer that were raiding my corn so I guess I could have cooked them up and considered them part of my backyard farmer's market, but nah.  ;)
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: derspiess on September 10, 2013, 02:26:13 PM
Speaking of trapping pesky animals, I believe I have another mole trying to excavate the tunnels of my former mole.  I had just gotten grass to start growing again in the dead spots.

Set the trap this morning.  If I get this one, I may hang his body from a tree as a warning to others :angry:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Jacob on September 10, 2013, 03:39:42 PM
Quote from: derspiess on September 09, 2013, 09:19:35 PMI drink locally :hug:

:cheers:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: derspiess on September 10, 2013, 03:43:39 PM
I also use eco-friendly growlers whenever possible rather than buy it in bottles :showoff:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Savonarola on September 10, 2013, 03:44:43 PM
Quote from: Barrister on September 09, 2013, 10:33:28 PM
Greenhouses are wonderful and do extend the growing season.

But they don't work so well in -30C in January.  Even at the local farmers market you won't find greenhouse-grown veggies that time of year.

There are large greenhouses in Ontario south of Detroit.  Even that far south and with the Great Lakes to warm the region the greenhouses would produce nothing in late January and February.

Here in Florida we have the opposite problem, it's hard to find local produce in July and August.  We need shade houses.  :cool:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: The Brain on September 10, 2013, 03:48:34 PM
Quote from: derspiess on September 10, 2013, 02:26:13 PM
Speaking of trapping pesky animals, I believe I have another mole trying to excavate the tunnels of my former mole.  I had just gotten grass to start growing again in the dead spots.

Set the trap this morning.  If I get this one, I may hang his body from a tree as a warning to others :angry:

Artist's impression:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCG_ETMZvyg
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Maximus on September 10, 2013, 03:49:31 PM
Quote from: Savonarola on September 10, 2013, 03:44:43 PM
Quote from: Barrister on September 09, 2013, 10:33:28 PM
Greenhouses are wonderful and do extend the growing season.

But they don't work so well in -30C in January.  Even at the local farmers market you won't find greenhouse-grown veggies that time of year.

There are large greenhouses in Ontario south of Detroit.  Even that far south and with the Great Lakes to warm the region the greenhouses would produce nothing in late January and February.

Here in Florida we have the opposite problem, it's hard to find local produce in July and August.  We need shade houses.  :cool:
It's not just heat. A certain amount of sunlight is required as well.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Jacob on September 10, 2013, 04:03:20 PM
Quote from: derspiess on September 10, 2013, 03:43:39 PM
I also use eco-friendly growlers whenever possible rather than buy it in bottles :showoff:

Careful now, you might turn into a hippie  :ph34r:
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ed Anger on September 10, 2013, 04:37:48 PM
I'm eating toast smothered with home made Apple butter (and regular butter).

The bread came from a factory. The butter? I assume Wisconsin. Or Minnesota.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Sheilbh on September 12, 2013, 12:05:45 AM
Quote from: Tamas on September 10, 2013, 10:59:41 AM
If all the "free range" stuff labelled as such here in the UK would actually be free range, every house would need to be full of chickens.
Well 'free range' has a meaning. It's not medieval farming or even organic farming. So it's still modern and industrialised. But it can make a big difference in taste, especially with poultry I find.

But obviously if you want real quality you need something on a smaller scale - my brother has a smallholding and that food's amazing.
Title: Re: Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?
Post by: Ideologue on September 12, 2013, 06:12:50 AM
Quote from: KRonn on September 10, 2013, 10:45:48 AM
QuoteGiven China's recent history and reputation for food safety, nervousness already surrounds the prospect of U.S.-raised and slaughtered chicken being processed in China before being shipped back to the United States. 

I'm very surprised that it's cheaper to ship the birds or their carcasses to China for slaughter, then ship them back to the US for sale in markets! In fact, from what I've been reading some companies are finding it not such a bargain to produce products in China due to rising wage and benefit demands by Chinese workers, then the cost of shipping the goods to the US.
Then too after all the food issues by China I usually try not to buy food grown or processed in China.

Yeah.  That sentence:

QuoteGiven China's recent history and reputation for food safety, nervousness already surrounds the prospect of U.S.-raised and slaughtered chicken being processed in China before being shipped back to the United States.

basically sums up everything wrong with the world.

We will be looked back upon as insane people.