Review of Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!

2019 was indeed the year of the chicken sandwich. It was so popular that fast food companies like Popeyes nationally sold out their sandwiches within days after first introducing them due to high customer demand. Other companies that has them like Chick-Fila & KFC continues to sell well throughout the year. Even some restaurants where chicken sandwich is not a specialty are starting to get into the game. Why is that? Well filmmaker Morgan Spurlock believes that beef consumption like hamburgers is in the decline as consumers are becoming more health conscious and want to choose sandwiches with leaner meats. With this knowledge, he hopes to capitalize on the craze by building his own fast food joint while meanwhile exposing the truth about the chicken industry to the public and the health halo marketing that goes with it. For the most part he does, however don't count all your chickens before it hatches. The idea that contract growers are frequently lowballed and mistreated under big chicken corporation tournament system is not quite accurate. The majority of seasonal boiler chicken growers are given the same access to veterinary care and reduced the economic cost of feed as others. Because of that the majority of growers are quite satisfied with their relationship with the corporations. With 95% of them continue to retained their business year after year according to the records from the National Chicken Council (NCC). The chances of getting sick birds are very slim. If there were, field technicians are specifically employed to assist them in raising the healthiest chickens possible as its economic in both parties' interest to see that the chickens are healthy and treated with care. Nobody wants a dirty ill bird to be serve to them. If technicians find the facilities uncleaned or discover illegally dumping of untreated wastewater, it would lead to the termination of a grower's contract. The same goes to over cruel abuse of any kind to the animal past or present. All of this has been documented in the past, which sadly the film doesn't explore much. Along with the practice of growers hiring illegal immigrants. While the movie does show the cost of retaining houses with many of them being quite high to the point that the facilities are often small and crowded. Surprising compare to other segment of livestock the loan default rates of these owners are among the lowest. Such a track record speaks to the stability of the system, which has worked well for decades and kept tens of thousands of families working who otherwise would have had to get out of business altogether. As for the myth that the system makes it impossible for new growers to compete. It's a lie. According to the USDA, the grower market has increase by more than 67 % within the last four years. They are more than 220 regional food hubs in operation around the country more than the five big corporations that the film mentions. To add onto that, the idea that growers can be 'sued into bankruptcy' by chicken companies for discussing ranking along each other is bit exaggeration. There are federal regulations in place that require the grower be given a logically reason for breach of contract. Most companies wouldn't fire them over something silly like that or try to lowball them into bankruptcy. It's not good business. To add onto that the image of contract growers as impoverished serfs is not an accurate reflection. Those growers who invest in more advance bigger houses are indeed more likely to be rewarded for their effect. If not, the government will help enforced it. After all, federal oversight within the poultry industry is not as weak as the film makes it out to be. Chicken companies are highly regulated by USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). Still I do agree with Spurlock that the current USDA labeling approval process is terribly misleading for consumers. Words like 'free range' and 'natural' don't really mean nothing as the film shows that due to extensive breeding selection of the boiler chicken rather than hormone injection or steroid usage for rapid early growth. They're very susceptible to the elements due to their skeletal malformation and congestive heart conditions. Thus, management of ventilation housing must be evaluated regularly to support a decent welfare of the flock until the slaughter. With the help of growers Jonathan and Zack Buttram, Spurlock somewhat does that. While most of the humor and heartening that goes along with those sequences can be seen as too morbid, depressing or disturbing. We can all agree that the cartoony colorful graphics & data are very informative. As for the climax of opening his own fast food restaurant. It didn't quite have the impact as it should had due to the filmmaker admitted to sexual harassment in a New York Times article in 2017; causing the movie to be shelf for two years by distributer YouTube Red until being picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films. In the end, despite the film feeling like an odd mixer of 2004 'Super-Size Me' with 2011 'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold'. It's certainly still worth flying the coop for.