Her body is her prison.

Chickens are perhaps the ‘best’ example of the worst effects of factory farming.

Over generations, these animals have been selectively bred to grow at three times their natural rate – to be ready for slaughter at just five to six weeks old. They may look like adult birds but they are just babies – they’re still chirping and have soft baby feathers.

This rapid growth rate puts enormous pressure on their immature hearts and skeletons. Millions of chickens won’t even survive the few short weeks to reach slaughter weight. They’ll die in factory farm sheds – from heart problems, respiratory issues or other illnesses that are a direct result of their breeding and living conditions.

Chickens are effectively born into a genetic prison – their bodies are their cage.

The true cost of ‘cheap chicken’.

Chickens are the most consumed animals on the planet. They are farmed and killed in the billions annually.

Some attribute the modern phenomenon of ‘cheap chicken’ to the establishment of fast food chains like KFC. Whatever the catalyst, this seemingly insatiable appetite for chicken flesh has come at an enormous cost to the welfare of the birds. Even ‘free range’ chickens will barely see the light of day before slaughter.

Perhaps most surprising for many people is that our legal system entrenches this suffering. Chickens are excluded from the basic animal cruelty laws that protect our pets – simply because they are seen as ‘food’ not ‘friend’, and despite the fact they share the capacity of all other animals to suffer.

Your choices are powerful.

It is the demand for animal products that has led to chickens being treated so cruelly. But consumers were never told of the price animals have been paying to meet that demand. Knowledge truly is power.

Every time you embrace a meat-free choice you are helping dismantle a system that treats living beings as little more than units of production.

Within the pages of this free magazine you’ll find an invitation to explore a new way of living – and eating – with us. One founded on kindness and compassion for all.