Kid Finds Chicken Organ in KFC Meal
Dear students and friends,
In the process of desiring for more convenient food options in our fast-paced lives, our health has gradually been compromised…
When was the last time we thought about how our food ended up on our plate? We eat our meals not conscious about where the chicken came from, how old the cow was when he died, the conditions that the pig lived in before he became labeled ‘pork’, or that the leg of lamb being roasted is the leg of another being.
In the article below, it was any other day for a teen living in California. He bought a box of chicken nuggets, and took a bite only to find that he had bit into a piece that contained a red piece of chicken organ.
It may seem disgusting to read such news, but the content of a chicken nugget isn’t that much better either.
Many of my students and friends will know that I’m a vegetarian, and have consistently promoted vegetarianism very strongly. All animals avoid pain and gravitates toward comfort, which is a clear indication that they have the inherent ability to distinguish between happiness and suffering. Even if we do not believe in the laws of karma, no being deserves to be tortured or to suffer in any way.
“Granted, these animals do not have all the desires we humans have; granted, they do not comprehend everything we humans comprehend; nevertheless, we and they do have some of the same desires and do comprehend some of the same things.
The desires for food and water, shelter and companionship, freedom of movement and avoidance of pain? These desires are shared by nonhuman animals and human beings.
As for comprehension: like humans, many nonhuman animals understand the world in which they live and move. Otherwise, they could not survive.
So beneath the many differences, there is sameness.”
The above quote is taken from Earthlings, a must watch documentary. I hope that the article below will create some public awareness so that we’re more conscious about our daily diet. All animals should be given the equal chance to live.
Tsem Rinpoche
Kid Finds Chicken Organ in KFC Meal
Posted on February 12, 2015 by Kim Johnson
A teen in Stockton, California, recently found what he believed to be a chicken brain in his KFC meal.
The teen was disgusted after finding the organ (which was later determined to be a chicken kidney or gizzard, both of which are considered safe to eat) and has asked KFC to refund his money. But does he realize that the other things in his fast-food meal are also gross body parts?
In a world of nuggets, patties, and strips made from processed meats that have been formed into non-animal shapes, it’s easy to forget that we’re eating the decaying body parts of another being who was once alive.
Chickens are highly intelligent, sensitive animals with unique personalities and feelings, just like the dogs and cats we share our homes with. But chickens raised by the commercial meat industry often spend their entire lives in filthy sheds with tens of thousands of other birds, where intense crowding and confinement can lead to disease outbreaks.
They’re bred to grow so large so quickly that their legs can’t keep up, which regularly causes them to suffer from painful bone and joint conditions. Undercover investigations into the broiler chicken industry have repeatedly revealed that birds were suffering from dehydration, respiratory diseases, bacterial infections, heart attacks, crippled legs, and other serious ailments. When chickens are only about 6 weeks old, they’re typically crammed into tiny cages, loaded onto trucks, and sent off to slaughter.
At most slaughterhouses, chickens’ legs are forced into shackles, their throats are cut, and they’re immersed in scalding-hot water to remove their feathers.
Because chickens have no federal legal protection (birds are exempt from the Humane Slaughter Act), most of them are still conscious when their throats are cut, and many who either slip past the throat cutter or are still alive after having gone through it are scalded to death in defeathering tanks.
Of course, all this suffering takes place behind closed doors, so it’s easy to forget about it and dive into a bucket of fried chicken parts (out of sight, out of mind). But do we really want to live in a society that thinks it’s acceptable to torture a living, feeling being just to have 10 minutes of pleasure or a convenient lunch? I know I don’t.
So if finding a chicken organ in your fast-food meal grosses you out, make the connection—and go vegan! With so many animal-free options now available at grocery stores and even fast-food restaurants like Taco Bell and Chipotle, it’s easier than ever.
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/60-second-chicken.mp4
[Extracted from: http://www.peta2.com/blog/chicken-brain-kfc-meal]
For more interesting topics:
- 40 billion every year!
- A Chicken and Egg Situation
- Amazing and sad
- NEW YORK school does what??
- Good news at Nando’s!
- Earthlings
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
It has never occurred to me that one day I will become a vegetarian. Enjoying meat and fish is normal in my family, opting for a vegetarian diet is not normal. Most people still have the misconception that if we don’t eat meat we will become weak and we will become less healthy.
Vegetarianism has become very popular for the past 10 years, I was more exposed to vegetarianism by then but I was still eating meat until I have started to read more about animal cruelty on Rinpoche’s blogs. It is very heart-breaking to see how the animals have to suffer before ending up on our plate.
Since I have a choice but the animals don’t, the only way for me to help them is not to eat meat so there will be less demand. By cutting down the demand for the meat, we are helping to reduce the suffering of the animals. It also is a way to develop compassion. Most importantly a vegetarian diet is a healthier choice as it reduces the risk of getting cancer and heart diseases.
I had a lot of McDonalds chicken nuggets before I become vegetarian. What Rinpoche said is very correct, most of us (me included of course) do not really think about where did our food come from, and what kind of ingredients are put inside to process the food. This is especially the case of fast food, where the food is prepared much earlier, and we don’t know what kind of preservatives are added to the food.
I become a vegetarian because of Rinpoche and Kechara. If not because of Rinpoche’s kindness in spreading the benefits of being vegetarian (in many various ways), I am probably still eating meat, indirectly involved in the killing of thousands of animals, and keep collecting negative karma.
Either from a spiritual point of view, or health point of view, or even environmental point of view, there are many reasons to be vegetarian, but (mainly) because of our attachment to taste buds, we decided to eat meat. I wish more and more people will become vegetarian, and reduce the killings of animals.
Hope this post can hep to wake more people up to the horrors that is experienced by chickens farmed for meat.
这篇文章让我想起了在我还未成为素食者之前,当时的我也和现在的儿童一样非常喜欢吃快餐尤其是KFC的炸鸡。因为本人从小就不喜欢吃红肉（牛，羊和猪），海鲜类也很少吃。也因为这样，造就了我比较喜欢吃鸡肉。当时的我，未曾想过这些鸡肉是经过怎样的过程才能够成为我们的盘中餐，而只会顾虑到这只鸡要用怎样的煮法才能够保持他的鲜味和好吃。
但是，当我开始有更多的时间接触佛法如在克切拉上佛法班和抽出一点时间来做义工。我才慢慢的了解其实我们不需要为了自己的吃欲而要牺牲其他动物的生命。而且有时候还会起烦恼心，觉得到底这些炸鸡肉块是鸡的那一部分所制成的。
一直到2015年3月，我终于选择了成为终生素食者。因为我了解到：
1. 佛法让我明白，除了我们自己和眼前或身边的人，其实还有其他众生的存在。
2. 佛法让我明白，因果和业力的存在。无论我们怎样挣扎的逃避，如果没有尽量的累积功德来消除业障，我们还是要面对业力的纠缠。
3. 佛法让我明白，我们无时无刻要提醒自己，顾及我们的身、语、意。不要伤害他人反而要友善的对待身边的人，和谐相处。
4. 佛法让我明白，眼光要放远，不要在乎无常的变相。不要为了短暂的快乐或是不高兴的事情，而浪费了宝贵的人生。
我觉得自己很庆幸和感恩,因为得到上师尊贵的詹杜固仁波切的衷心教诲，让我在有生之年，做出了最好的选择，成为素食者。
谢谢仁波切的分享与提醒。希望不久的将来，会有更多人选择素食。
弟子双手合十
I heard that KFC has allot of toxins in the chicken. Its cruel in the way of how they kill the chicken.
i just read that KFC is selling genetically manipulated chicken:-
http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/kfc.asp
KFC does not use real chickens. They actually use genetically manipulated organisms. These so called “chickens” are kept alive by tubes inserted into their bodies to pump blood and nutrients throughout their structure. They have no beaks, no feathers, and no feet. Their bone structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is great for KFC.
This is very disturbing, couple with KFC killed those chicken while they still alive, currently there is no law to protect this animals.
Vegetarian is definitely the way to go. We will have less problems, and eating real fresh food.
Many object to eating meat out of respect for sentient life. religious beliefs, along with animal rights. There are also lots of people opt for vegetarianism are health conscious and preserving the environmental
What a classic example of how the new generation these days do not even know what organ a chicken has… they probably think it does not have a heart or feelings and that they exist simply for us to eat. Well I myself used to think that way too when I was a kid until Rinpoche made us watch Earthlings which really struck a cord in me and I believe most people as well.
Yes I am not surprised that the kids these days would have no clue at all how their food come from or even have any connection with them. Hence it is so extremely important for us adults to educate our kids. I find this to be the key, creating awareness, educating and being an example ourselves.
After watching this and many other slaughter houses/animal abused videos, I realise that we’re a really huge hypocrite if we call ourselves an animal lover yet we still eat meat. By us placing a label on what we can love because we can posses like “objects” which we call “pets”, versus what we consider objects to consume is truly a wrong view and one that needs to be greatly corrected. It is really sad to call ourselves an animal lover and then go out an order a chicken to be slaughtered. So once again the need for education because this form of thinking needs to be changed.
If there is more and more people demanding for vegetarian food instead of meat then this would force entrepreneurs to invest and open up more vegetarian eateries or implement it in their menus. This will slowly change the balance and hopefully eventually decrease if not eliminate the meat industry.
This is so gross. The whole process from start to finish is disturbing. The motivation is disturbing, the process is disturbing
How much do you have to desensitize yourself in order to benefit from this as a supplier? Just think – you’re benefiting from taking the life of another living being.
How much do you have to ignore regarding the realities of the meat industry, in order to participate as a consumer? It’s like what they say – if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would become a vegetarian.
The thing is, it’s not as though KFC or any kind of fast food, or any kind of processed meat forms an essential part of our diet. In most cultures, meat-eating was considered a weekly treat because to acquire it required a lot of time and resources. But the proliferation of cheap meats has led people to think that because they CAN eat meat everyday, that they deserve to eat meat and that it is an essential part of our diets. They forgot the most basic lesson of Economics 101 – “want” does not equate to “need”.
So no, meat isn’t an essential part of our diets. It is NUTRIENTS which are an essential part of our diets, and nutrients can be derived from numerous sources, and not just meat.
As Rinpoche wrote, there has been a push for more convenient food options and this movement has encompassed meat which has become cheaper and more convenient. There is no doubt meat has become more convenient, but convenient for whom? The animal? Definitely not.
I think the next time people want to eat meat, they should ask themselves:
1) if the price of their meal is the value they are placing on a life. Sorry but for this $4 meal of nuggets, an animal had to lose its life. A living being’s life and immense suffering was worth a measly $4…who put that price tag on there? The consumer did, when they demanded cheaper meat and told the company that’s all they would be willing to pay for it.
2) if they would bite it off the side of the animal (sorry if that’s a little extreme). If doing that would be wrong, gross, sick, disturbing, etc. how is it any less disturbing to pay someone to take the animal’s life first so you can eat it afterwards?
Just some stuff to think about…
Watching the chickens suffer, living in such horrible conditions and be slaughtered is heart breaking. Many people whom I know who watch animals being slaughtered think it’s ok and that it’s food. To them it’s like chopping vegetables. They have been conditioned to think that it’s food, period.
When we take time out to observe or even interact with animals like chicken, cows or pigs, we realize that they have feelings and a mind of their own. Obviously it’s not comparable to mind of a human being. As the article states, they can identify suffering and happiness. So to put them in harsh living conditions and physically abusing them is not right and inhumane. No amount of reasons can justify this wrongful action.
Another reason to stop eating meat is the amount of drugs farmers pump into the animal feed to make them grow faster and the health conditions of the animals. The drugs would have side effects on humans. Animals that are sick and consumed by humans would have negative effects on humans as well. I’m sure we’ve noticed that cancer has now become one of the most common illnesses nowadays as compared to our grandparents time. To me this is a clear indication that there is something in our food.
Another reason to stop eating meat is that the biggest contributor to the global greenhouse effect is animal farming especially cows. Cow emit a lot of methane gas which adds on to the greenhouse effect. Large tracts of land are deforested and cleared to rear the cows for the growing demand of beef. With the increase of cow population and deforestation, it is obvious how detrimental the effects are on the environment. More methane gas and less oxygen.
On a spiritual level, when we consume animals, we are supporting the act of killing and suffering on other beings. The karma is heavy and it creates the karma for us to be born in the 3 lower realms.
When we study and understand the consequences of consuming animals, we begin to question whether it’s necessary. Humans can still survive without eating meat. There are millions of vegetarians all over the world. This should be clear evidence that we will still be fine and well without eating meat.
Eating meat IS disgusting. Just because we do not always “bump into” an organ that should not be there does not mean that consuming is all pretty and fine. Just because meat is presented in bloodless, neat and squeaky clean packages, does not mean that there is not suffering and ugliness in the production of meat.
There is nothing glamorous, fabulous or nice about eating meat because is it a cause for great suffering, contamination and very importantly, deterioration of human consciousness.
Consuming meat has been proven to damage the environment due to the low productivity of the meat production industry where 10kg or grains only produce 1 to 2 kg of meat. Additionally the meat industry produces most if not all the methane gas emission that is one of the most toxic green house gases that is polluting our home.
This is an opportunity to reflect and make new choices about what we choose to eat everyday. Begin with observing the vegetarian Monday pledge that is a growing culture worldwide. Every meal matters, literally.
这也再一次证明了因为很多快餐店的需求量造就了很多农场不间断的生产出足以提供给大众的需要，很多的消费者往往都被广告隐瞒了背后的事实。
以上所分享的只不过是一小部分认真报道的新闻，可想而知还有多少不为人知的数字没有被人揭穿快餐店的食物是含有动物的内脏或器官之类的。这也可以说明这些食物在处理的过程中是不人道或不卫生的。
鸡群成千上万的被送上宰场宰杀，它们也是会感觉到痛苦与害怕的，它们还要长期累月的关在狭窄的面积里生活，以上影片看到的是不为人知的一面也是最残忍的一面。
请大家认真看待你们选者要吃下肚子的食物，选者权还是在于我们1本身如何做出善意的抉择，我们可以改变它们的命运，不让它们受苦。
This news shows us that KFC don’t care for the customers, it’s a chicken Organ! How can the employees not even see that? Where are the eyes of the employee who served this teen? Were they thinking like: “Oh, it’s not a chicken nugget, maybe I should just pretend to not see it and leave it in there?” How can they act like that? It doesn’t make sense right?
If all slaughterhouses are made out of glass windows and walls, I strongly believe that more people will become vegetarians. Many people know that animals have feelings but they don’t care and still eat them, buy their fur and wear them for pleasure purposes. Is that really fair to the animals? I believe that animals should have their rights to be free in the wild. Not captivated, not stuck in a slaughterhouse throughout their whole lives and definitely should not be slaughtered for people’s pleasure. These actions should be stopped immediately!
Thank You Rinpoche for sharing this article. This article reminds me and others to remember that animals have feelings too. So we have to treat them equally like us, respect them, and not eat them.
Personally, I think that the easiest solution to this issue is to stop eating meat ultimately. As we can see, the chickens that live in slaughterhouses are treated inhumanely. Every single day is a suffering for them.
I can’t imagine myself living in such condition, caged, abused and tortured. How could a living being endure this? If we can’t even take this, what makes us think that small animals like chickens, geese, ducks etc can tolerate it? It is very selfish of us to think that animals do not have feelings, we are living in denial.
The choices are in our hands, we can either make a decision that requires no killing or we continue to cause sufferings to the animals we consume on a daily basis just to satisfy our taste buds. It is definitely difficult at first, but if we are determined to live a healthier lifestyle, it is worthy of our effort and hard work because these animals do matter.
This article was very informative and very strong Rinpoche. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us.
It seems that the meat industry is getting more and more sloppy in the meat that they produce. I wonder why. My theory is that because the meat industry is such a big industry, even tiny errors like delivering wrong parts of the meat would not even be recognized. This gives us some idea on how big the killing of animals are these days and also how badly this needs to stop.
The boy in the article did a good thing of reporting his very strange meal. I can already see many other people just eating the strange piece of meat. I hope that the boy has second thoughts of eating at KFC. Its fast food joints such as KFC and McDonalds which contribute the most to animal slaughter. They demand such large amounts of meat, and many animals are killed for this meat. Terrible.
Also, I would just to say that i thought the video at the very end was very well done. Thank you for sharing that with us Rinpoche. I thought the because the video was very short and very straight to the point, it would have a strong impact on its viewers. Because the video showed most factors of suffering behind slaughter houses within such a short period of time, people would be hooked and they would not get bored. This is a good way to get people to understand things. Short, impactful videos are better than long, boring videos.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you very much of sharing a strong message of thus video. No matter with KFC , fast foods companies, or restaurant served meats, etc.., animals are should be free from suffering and pains.
Humans are attached to meats, but without realizations of animals suffering, we will created more karma.
See, this is what happens when you eat products of cruel death. The people that make it do not care about anything but what is possible to increase their paychecks. They won’t waste money so they won’t waste any parts of the poor animals that they killed for you to have that slight satisfaction on your tongue for a few seconds.
Eating meat is so cruel and this is karma and this is also to show all the people that eat meat that the meat industry spares no expense. This is a sad reminder of the sad truth. There is so much cruelty in our lives and yet people still choose to ignor it until it literally ends up on their plate.
The worst part about this is it also reminds me that eating meat has adapted and joined our society as “normal”. Eating parts of another living being that was sentient and killed has joined out society as “normal”. People grow up believing that it is normal and soon, nobody will even know where meat comes from. That is very very sad.
It is disgusting how KFC can just push away the fact that it is a brain of chicken that is in the nugget.
However, they are not the only ones that are doing such unethical things of selling meat like that. Most of the fast food chain stores are all doing things like that. The way that they are rearing the animals are all closed up in the factories that people do not see.
Many times, people do not know what is going on behind the walls of those factories. At the same time, even if they know that something bad is happening behind the doors of these factories, they choose to turn a blind eye as well as they are too afraid to be see the truth. They are also afraid that they do not want to face the fears of seeing how the animals are slaughtered because of their comforts. They wan to continue “enjoying” that taste of the animals.
It is sad that even some of younger generations do not know how that the meat they are consuming are actually the flesh of some animals that have to be slaughtered for their taste buds.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing with us this article of how big fast food companies always manage to shift and change the stance of people so that they are not attracting so much attention of how they are processing the meat.