There are currently only four meat processors in China who are eligible to export any poultry into the United States. This can be good because it means that food safety officials have at least screened some of the meat processors out, but in an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to worry about where our chicken came from at all. Luckily for us, no raw chickens are allowed to be imported into the United States, which is just one less flock of diseased worries (for now).
However, like any ordinary business transaction, both sides are benefiting from this. This particular step in the food industry process has been outsourced because in China, the taxes are lower, the regulations (of both health and safety) are lighter, and labor is cheaper. This means that the prices of our chicken back home in the U.S. are lower.
Unfortunately, outsourcing (even a small step in the long process of chicken consumption) does mean that there are fewer jobs in the U.S. Many of us (if not all) agree that saving money is excellent for consumers, particularly in this current economy, but certainly not at the cost of our processing plants closing nation-wide and our local U.S. factory workers losing their jobs.
"...but in an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to worry about where our chicken came from at all."
Although it can be, has been, and will continue to be argued that lower prices don’t justify the health and safety concerns of others, many Americans can only afford to feed their family with processed chicken due to our country’s current economic standing.
So, do we need to worry about this? YES. Researchers are concerned with the socio-economic implications of our agri-food system based upon the evidence of health hazards and negative economic effects. If they are worrying about it, we should be, too.
It is pertinent that we, as consumers, understand the implications of globalization for labor and how the externalities of free trade have become the social problems of nations and tragedies to individuals. People have lost jobs, beloved pets, or even their health or the health of their loved ones all because of chicken. Enough is enough.
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Mystery Meat Magazine: Issue 2