Inside A Prison Cell

I’m not sure I want to see it, but I stand there engulfed.

I know I am in a chicken farm, but I feel I am witnessing a holocaust as I stare down the long corridor.

I am the only free person in this room.

Yet, I am trapped.

And it is shameful. 

And it hurts. 

In a space of about 8 square inches, sometimes up to 4 chicken are crammed. Squeezed together. For their entire lifespan. The will never walk on the grass that is their home. 

These barracks are their jail cells. 

Shackles for crimes they never committed. 

6,000 of them.

This is a small-scale farm. They are antibiotic free. Their owner is trying the best she can, in her own eyes.

I met her. And she is sweet. And she works hard. And I sympathize with her. 

I cannot begin to imagine the magnitude of what goes on in the US Industrial Farms...

Individually, each chicken is unique and evokes a sweetness. If you stand close, they look up at you. 

There are so many questions. There is such confusion. There are feelings.

I am not sure if it is my mind or theirs that is speaking.

Small-Scale Chicken Farm
Santa Ana, Costa Rica, Dec. 10 2013

They walk but a few steps.

They scream in each other’s ears.

They peck at each other’s feathers.

I’ve seen it in the documentaries. I’ve read about it in the books.

This is the first time I am living it.

I peer down the long corridor and I fear if I stay too much longer they will need to call for help.

The smell burns.

Or maybe it’s the sight.

I think maybe the sound of their monotonous calls is even worse than the way they look at me.

I want it to stop.

But I stand there and the movie plays backwards in my head.

This is our reality. We created this. You and I. And every time we buy an egg or grab a bag of packaged chicken without reading the label we are giving them the power to do this.

Sometimes, though, you cannot even trust the label anymore.

Sometimes, it takes work to learn.

Sometimes, there is no easy or no ‘good’ solution.

Because our system has allowed this to be the only way.

...Maybe not.

There are free-range chickens.

Can’t they all be this way? I’m not so sure anymore... 

Land tenure.

Soil fertility.

Markets.

Access.

Urbanization.

Competition.

Corporate Control.

How did we get here?

We are so

Modernized.

Industrialized.

Developed.

Advanced.

We are human beings. We think we are so powerful. We assume control over every path we walk.

I can’t help but feel we’ve made a mistake.

I can’t help but wonder how this is a sign of and advanced, developed human race.

 6,000 chickens in 1 room
Santa Ana, Costa Rica, 2013

Yet, we are powerful.

So why don’t we use it for something good?

Because there are farmers, like this man from Costa Rica, who works really, really freaking hard to produce good food. He recycles all his plastics. He buys only what he needs. He has an organic compost of his home waste. He uses worms. He sells locally.

Don Geraldo and Nina Liliam, Sarapique, Costa Rica

He uses only organic fertilizers. He builds his own tools. He talks to his plants. 

And he smiles, a lot. 

And, yes, his prices are a bit higher.

And I am happy about it. Because it means his food has nutrients.

It means, I don’t have to worry about a factory.

A factory that has become synonymous with both our animal and plant "food".

The solutions are still hard to envision.

But I will continue to dream.

Because I do not believe in settling for a world where our basic necessity of life challenges our entire ecosystem and livelihoods.

We are powerful, compassionate, strong human beings.

Let us start acting that way.

In a way that makes us proud.

Kids Yoga, El Rodeo, Costa Rica