So he and the experts he has taken along on their sampling travels to see how they can beat the competition vow that to succeed, he should be as authentic farm to table as possible, minus the MSG. The bottom line is the money, the dollar," said Buttram. Stephanie Ruhle is joined by a farmer who took action and sued the Trump administration, Jonathan Buttram, and "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!" filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock to discuss. As a membership organization, there are currently about 2,500 farmers who make up the AFF. It would also prohibit checkoff funds from being used for lobbying efforts and prohibit funds from being used to pay for staff and programs of trade associations that favor multinational corporations pushing independent farmers out of business. Like Hilburn, Buttrams father owned all of the birds and was an independent farmer. "Also, I didnt have the money to start a cattle farm," he said candidly. Thats really what its always been about if you want to get down to it.. 'Super Size Me 2' Review: Beware That 'Healthy Chicken' Thats just the way the system is rigged right now. Recently, one lender mentioned that Spurlock was looking to get a chicken farm, calling from a New York number. "These people are the backbone of feeding our country and youve never seen people get more used, abused and mistreated than these farmers by these corporations.". But thats 7 days a week. Messrs. Irby and Buttram also serve as board directors at the Organization for Competitive Markets in Lincoln . He said he sees a very public and aggressive race between restaurants wanting to corner that specific marketplace this year. The documentary dives into the challenges farmers like Buttram are facing in dealing with big corporations. Poultry and pork corporations strike contracts with farmers to raise animals for them, but the packers determine what type of equipment a farmer must buy, how many animals that farmer receives, how much feed, water, and medicine those animals get, as well as the price the animals are worth at the end of the process. His case is still under investigation, and no action has been taken. Super said eliminating the rules will save the consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. But this guy took video evidence of him being cheated by a company to the governor and the [Department of Justice] and nobody did anything. If water or a feeder isnt working in that house, a guy might not fix it because hes getting paid the same no matter what. I didn't know what was going on, he recalled. Because there is no legal protection for farmers who decide to speak out against chicken companies, finding farmers willing to discuss issues that may arise from contract farming can be hard. The three generations of Buttram chicken farmers will end with Johnathan, according to his son Zack who has already begun to gravitate toward the cattle business. The film culminates in the well-publicized opening of Spurlock's fast-food restaurant, Holy Chicken, with the documentarian shaking hands, posing for photos, and ringing up customers who all . We need laws and regulations to protect the American farmer rather than the big corporations that are currently controlling this industry.. Signs reading, Tyson, Pilgrim and Koch Foods sit along the road, marking the farms that hold contracts with the companies. Oct. 11, 2019 Buttram Farms is situated on 158 acres just outside of Geraldine, Alabama, down several long, serpentine county roads. director Morgan Spurlock tackles some uncomfortable truths about fast food. When it comes to contract farming, some people are successful and some people arent. Chick-fil-A and Popeyes start hilarious Twitter feud. It's pretty clear that fried chicken is the new burger patty at least for now, said Spurlock. Copyright 2017 WAFF. It's not going to help me to think about the what ifs, he said. In 1970, the U.S. saw 871,200 pork producers; in 2023, only 67,000 remain. "It's just something that always brought me joy. Spurlocks film is fascinating and sardonic not only for what he reveals, but for the authentic and honest approach he takes insuring the credibility and reliability of his chicken sandwich product. Id like to write a more open book.. This is gonna make you look bad. So we left a lot of stuff out of it. "Super Size Me 2," which had premiered in a few international markets, was swiftly dropped by Google, which had planned to release it on YouTube Premium's predecessor, YouTube Red. In the movie, Spurlock takes a closer look at how fast food is made by participating in the process from start to finish. One after another, with bigger and bigger mergers.. However, in this system farmers are not responsible for two main factors in how well they will fare in the tournament: the quality of the chickens they receive and the quality of feed that is delivered to them. To big brother chicken integrators the truth is punishable by elimination. If you have any further information or know people who have been contacted, please let me know. Communities are concerned about job losses and decreased food access. "Today's chickens are so big they can barely walk by the time they go to slaughter," explained the filmmaker. It was featured a few years ago at the Toronto Film Festival and then was pulled for #MeToo reasons against Spurlock who made an Al Franken move and apologized for his behavior then was bashed again and again for it. Facebook It would instead require transparency, accountability, and a system of checks and balances that would allow farmers to see where their dollars are being spent. The questions you submitted to us led us to believe your story was going a particular place that could put one of our members in a challenging position and that is a different kind of deal than trying to find a farmer to talk generally about life on the farm, Helms said. The Rome News-Tribune estimated the explosion left about $3 million in damages to the facility.