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The Global Hegemony Of Chickens
March 27, 2005
As you're doubtless aware, epistemology is the study of the nature, origin and limits of knowledge. I had an epistemological moment earlier today, when my five-year-old daughter, apropos of nothing, earnestly enquired of me, "Daddy, are there more chickens or people?" How can one really, really know, I thought. Ah, but of course, there's The Internet. Chickens are important. Yes, we eat them, but there is still strength in numbers. With advances in science and breeding, chickens could grow larger still, more aggressive, politically aware (despite their pea-sized brains), and (ominous tympani, please) more resource-intensive. So, I thought hard for about five seconds. Of course, I acknowledged to myself, there's high-volume poultry production in the U.S. and elsewhere, much to PETA's displeasure. Asia's big on chickens, too, I recalled. Africa? Lots and lots of chickens, definitely. And so forth. But - perhaps stupidly - I found it hard to conceive of an earth populated with chickens more numerous than the estimated global human population of 6.1 billion. So, I breezily replied, "Well, there are a lot of chickens for sure, but there've got to be more people." Wrong, wrong, wrong. Or so at least according to a trivia Web site (fifth item from bottom) which says there are twice as many chickens as people; and a 1997 Los Angeles Times piece, which asserts the ratio is four to one. That's right; 24 billion chickens, and this was eight years ago. Yet I wonder. Has anyone actually counted them all? Could there be more than a peck or two of poultry industry hype at play? Just what exactly is the basis for this astonishing claim? I will be investigating this matter further. If you have any sources of information for current global chicken population (as of no earlier than 2003 or 2004); and any tips on evaluating the methodologies employed in conducting a global chicken census, please advise. We must get to the bottom of this. Posted by Matt Rosenberg at March 27, 2005 08:48 PM Trackback Pings TrackBack URL for this entry: Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The Global Hegemony Of Chickens:
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Unlesh the hounds. Posted by: Gary B at March 28, 2005 09:28 AMI don't know how many chickens there are in the world, but I am absolutely sure that the patriarchy as manifested in the roosters of the world is abusing these poor hens. Thus, I believe that Seattle should build an abused hen shelter for them. Posted by: Iguana at March 28, 2005 11:36 AMPost a comment
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