As I was watching Carole Morison in the Oscar nominated film, FOOD Inc., she instantly became a personal hero of mine. “This is not farming, this is mass production like an assembly line,” she said in the film. Carole, a Perdue chicken grower, was the only farmer brave enough to allow the film crew into the chicken house for all the world to see what’s really happening — how these animals are really being bred and what we’re really eating when we sit down to our family meal with a plump, juicy, stuffed chicken. If you haven’t seen the film, I promise you, what’s happening and what we’re eating isn’t finger licking good.
As a business woman, what blew my mind is a typical grower with two chickens houses has borrowed over $500,000 and earns about $18,000 a year. Not good. I asked her in our interview, “What DIDN’T you say in the film that you really wanted to?” Carole doesn’t hold back. You’ll want to hear this for yourself!
About my guest: Carole Morison is a farmer from Maryland. She and her family raised chickens under contract for 23 years on their family farm. Carole helped organize the Delmarva Poultry Justice Alliance and served as its executive director for eight years. Her work has earned many awards such as the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award, Episcopal Bishops Award, The Catholic Campaign for Human Development Award, and the Center for a Livable Future Award.
Carole’s story is featured in the Oscar nominated documentary, FOOD Inc. She is a mother of three children and has three grandchildren. Currently, Carole is a private Agricultural Consultant specializing in local food systems and resides on the family farm with her husband and son.
Carole’s favorite links:
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/agricultural-policy/why-antitrust-laws-matter-for-agriculture-and-food/
http://www.rafiusa.org/programs/contractag/contrag.html
http://www.animalwelfareapproved.org/
A Big Shout Out to Amy Randy for sharing with us what it means to her to be a woman of green:
“To be a Woman of Green means to live that life style. Personal examples: I do not own a car, we grow our own vegetables all summer and freeze them so we eat out of our garden all winter as well, and I work for a “Natural Step” company which does high performance architecture. We correspond with friends and family overseas using instant messaging and don’t use any of the caustic cleaning products, just natural ones. And we recycle our clothing by giving away to charities every half year anything that has not been worn for 6 months. We also avoid synthetic fabrics. And I live in a city which has adopted green parameters for construction and for waste management. What could be better! So to be a woman of green, I believe you have to live the life, not just talk it.”
What about you? Share your voice in our comment box!
Here’s your free ticket to Chicago Green Festival! If you haven’t been to a Green America Festival, you’re missing out on lots of good green fun, connections, and incredible speakers. It’s like a candy store for greenies. Here’s a link to a free ticket! The Chicago Green Festival is on May 22n’and 23rd at the Navy Pier. Why don’t you go with a friend?
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Touche. Sound arguments. Keep up the amazing
work.