When I heard «Disco Lies» by Moby on the radio – the first released single from his new album – my imagination formed John Travolta’s figure dancing. With surprise, I noticed that the song is accompanied by a video clip with a rather surreal scenario: a human-sized chicken is thirsty for revenge for the “inhumane” treatment of his family, with a passionate fury ignited by the old bearded owner of a fast food chain. The video clip is a clever commentary on contemporary poultry practices and methods of breeding and production.

The musical piece has historic precedents. The film «Baraka» presents to viewers the sad, 40-day-life of chicken: their ”detention” in cages with densities often reaching 18 chicken per square meter, the grinding of their beaks –without anaesthetic-  to prevent the aggression they develop inside the cages, their constant exposure to light so that their production capabilities don’t lag. The film also makes a well-aimed parallelism: images of encaged birds are mixed with images of prisoners in detention camps.

Similarly, within the trilogy of “The Meatrix,” the calf Moopheus, the pig Leo, and the chicken Chickity attempt to free the consumer from the Meatrix, the story we keep telling ourselves about where our food comes from. All these videos hail from Sustainable Table and Free Range Studios, activists that are clever enough to realize that the most efficient education is achieved through leisure and entertainment.
 
Why is this art so aggressive? Because, there are artists that understand social interference not just as a right, but as an artistic duty. Because, to the sensitive receivers of social realities, ignorance and indifference seem criminal.

And they are not alone in the fight against profit maximization. These artistic activists are standing together with organizations fighting for more animal friendly practices. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), who is fighting for animal rights, has long since embarked upon a campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds, and Burger King. The last two colossi of fast food have adopted somewhat better practices, while the fight against the first, still wages. 

Channel 4 has hired the three titans of British cuisine- Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Fearnley and Jamie Oliver- in The Big Food Fight, attempting to awaken consumers and turn their habits of consumption towards more ethical eating. RSPCA (Support welfare-friendly chicken) defines the prerequisites for certified control.

In the caged reality of commercialization, it’s our consuming habits that can make the difference for the billions of poultry within the E.U. And if Moby’ s clip makes even one person stand in front of a wrapped chicken in a supermarket fridge, then the movement has not been in vain.

Tips that can make a change…
• Try to buy the best welfare bird you can afford. There are currently four levels of chicken – the organic chicken at the top, free range underneath, higher-welfare birds next, and then the standard chicken at the bottom.

• You don't have to eat chicken every day. So consider cutting down on the amount of chicken you consume and just have better, nicer (and more expensive) chicken when you do have it.

• Support your local farmers and steer clear of the cheap products of big businesses.

• Try buying a whole bird. Most chicken in this country is consumed via pre-packed food like chicken breasts. This is the most expensive way to buy chicken. If you buy a whole chicken then there are million things you can do with it. You can get, on average, eight whole portions of dinner from one bird… can you say “great value?”

• When it comes to buying eggs, do not buy the ones from caged hens. There is barely any difference in price at all between a standard egg and a free range egg, so read the labels and buy the free range or organic varieties.