Flippy - I Rant, You Read

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Idiots of the Day - PETA & Burger King

“MIAMI–Animal rights advocates praised Burger King for its new commitment to begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not keep their animals in cages or crates.” Whoo, that sure sounds good, doesn’t it?  Better treatment for animals and probably a better product for Burger King.  However, I fail to see why anyone is fawning over this announcement.  Sure, it’s a positive step, but let’s take a look at the details.  “Burger King Corp. has already started purchasing 10 per cent of its pork from suppliers that do not use sow gestation crates, according to a letter sent to PETA. The company said it will double that amount by the end of 2007.” Whoo hoo, a whole 20%.  However, that’s a remarkable achievement compared to this - “Burger King also said it will start getting 2 per cent of its eggs from hens that are not confined to small cages. That percentage should more than double by the end of 2007.” Wow, a whole 2%?  That’s incredible.  But, when they’re going to DOUBLE it to 4% by the end of the year, that’s when they really had me in the palm of their benevolent hand.  Who could ask for more than that?  Maybe they’ll even TRIPLE it by the end of 2008.  Damn, that’s just embarrassing, for both Burger King and PETA.  That said, on the way home from a zillion errands yesterday, I had a small bag o’ Burger King fries and they were delicious.  It’s been months since I last had any fries.  I’m thinking of possibly doubling my intake of fries by the end of 2007.  C’mon, who here applauds my efforts?

Posted by Flippy in

• Idiot of the Day

(3) Comments • Permalink

1. Oh, that’s pitiful. I confess I saw the headline, thought, “Bully for them,” and went on with my day. But a thought occurred while I was waiting for the comments page to load: What if the numbers are so small because there simply aren’t enough chickens and pigs being raised in this fashion now to fill Burger King’s massive needs? Then another thought: Don’t they care about cows at ALL, the bastards? I mean, they’re BURGER King, not Bacon n’ Eggs King.

   I’m not sure which of these things would be more depressing, really. And then there’s that terrifying Burger King guy who looms outside people’s windows in commercials…

   mercy buttercup  on  03/31  at  10:34 AM

2. Damn, that’s a good point.  I just zipped right past the “pork” part and thought “meat”.  Really, how much pork do they use anyway?  Their sandwiches are beef or chicken.  Ooooh, they’re sneaky, they are.

    on  03/31  at  11:09 AM

3. I also wondered if there might not be enough “uncaged” pigs and chickens to fill a need larger than 10%/2%.  If that’s the case, the information should have been included in the story.  I will happily turn our yard into a free-range chicken farm if we have a steady contract with Burger King (I just wrote, “Burkey King").  And yes, they should definitely do something positive for cows, although I don’t know what they can do except for going organic or hormone-free.  Either would be a step in the right direction, but I don’t think cows have the same living condition issues as pigs and chickens.

   Leigh-Ann  on  03/31  at  06:39 PM