Chinese Chicken

Everyone has their little trip-wire (Pink Slime, etc, etc)....This is one of mine. Personally, I do my utmost to avoid -any- food made/processed in China (or any Pan-Asian country for that matter).

http://www.whas11.com/news/national/245815701.html

...."For the first time, the USDA has agreed to allow chicken that has been raised and slaughtered in the U.S. to be shipped to China to be processed then shipped back for us to eat"...

..."A million dollars worth of lamb was sold to Chinese consumers that turned out to be the meat from rats and foxes," said Siegel. "This is a system that's so weak, it can't even catch these egregious problems, and so that's why we're concerned about having our chicken processed there...."

...."There's a bigger concern with the chicken changes. Chicken that is processed in China into foods like nuggets, tenders and patties will not have to be labeled. So, consumers won't know what they're buying"...

The only logical reason for this move is that some "green slime" crossed some palms somewhere in D.C.

The USDA is gonna be selling Soylent Green next. I can't remember what the ingredients are in Soylent Green, but I hear it is very good for humans. Safe and nutritious.

How, HOW, HOW is it cheaper to ship the chicken to China and back than process it domestically? HOW?

I do not understand.

How, HOW, HOW is it cheaper to ship the chicken to China and back than process it domestically? HOW?

I do not understand.

My thoughts exactly! It seems like the shipping charges alone would put the price of the finished product out of reach.

I'd be concerned. I'd be REAL concerned.
Maybe the Chinese will make part time vegetarians out of a lot of people.

Timely article in today's Wall Street Journal . . . to summarize,

1. Chicken of the Sea tuna . . . owned by Thai Union Frozen Products of Thailand . . . cleaned in Thailand . . . canned in Georgia

2. Bumble Bee Tuna . . . owned by UK's Lion Capital . . . cleaned in Fiji/Maruitius/Colombia and Thailand . . . canned in California

3. StarKist Tuna . . . owned by Dongwon Enterprise of South Korea . . . cleaned and canned in American Samoa

Technically, the only "American" canned tuna fish available is StarKist, as American Samoa is American, but their plant was downgraded to such a degree that the Agriculture Dept. disallowed schools from buying StarKist. Thus, no American schools have served canned tuna for over a year!

The StarKist plant just recently passed an inspection, so it may be on the approved list shortly, and the other two have petitioned Congress to allow them to sell to schools as they are canned in this country, but hasn't happened yet.

Moral of the story: don't buy canned tuna!

Yes, but that proves my point even further. If its so damn affordable to can tuna here, why is it cheaper to process chicken in China?

Sourcing is a big difference. I get the tuna thing, I mean I have no idea how much tuna is swimming around the USA, but maybe not so much? So you have to out source it, I get it.

But if we source the chicken HERE, why are we sending it away to be processed? Cannot be cheaper. Cannot, I refuse to believe it. Even with Chinese child slave labor. Cannot.