The Lion's Pride vol. 2 (Jun. 2014) | Page 75

68 to the rain and exhaust fumes. I couldn’t look away as my stomach churned in unrest. This is our food. Everything from fried chicken to omelets comes from this system- and I had to investigate. Is this really the best way to raise chickens in a progressive nation? There have been many controversies that have surrounded the poultry industry, everything from the health aspect to the human interventions on nature, and what we’re doing about the issues stated. After all, is there any way to change what we’ve already started? One of the largest controversial topics of the factory farming system is the health of the poultry. It is no secret that keeping chickens crammed together in unsanitary conditions is going to make the animals sick. The World Health Organization (WHO) has kept its vigilant eye on the safety threats of factory farming techniques. It’s the same concept of the deplorable slave trade. The current Avian Flu, H5N1, is wreaking havoc in Asia and Northeast Africa (WHO, 2013). The wildfire-like spread of this strain was attributed mainly to the tight living quarters of global poultry. Death and disease follows this strain, and the same conclusion was deducted from H9N2 and H7N7. The majority of the records for Avian Flu fall under the jurisdiction of the Centers of Disease Control (CDC). According to the CDC