Since January, Russia has blocked American chickens from being imported into the country. What a foul decision! Previously the largest importer of U.S. chickens, Russians have seen no trace of Yankee-born chickens during the past five months—and that’s a mighty long time to go without a good ol’ American chicken dinner.

Thankfully, this all changed last week when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with President Barack Obama in Washington, and the two scratched out an agreement to reinstate chicken entry into Russia. As outlined in this article, chicken travel into Russia will likely resume quickly, even within a matter of days.

It’s great news that American chickens have been cleared on Russian border control list. But, it does seem rather ironic that all this productive chicken-squawk between Medvedev and Obama happened while the two shared a hamburger lunch.

Where the cluck were the tasty drumsticks to celebrate this victory?

According to the article, the word was the USDA won’t allow egg farming in the jail yard because of concerns about salmonella poisoning. Far be it for us to be uncompassionate about the health concerns of the incarcerated, but how might this differ from, say, any small-time operator selling eggs by the side of the road or at local farmer’s markets?

 In light of the locally raised food issue that is all the rage, does it really get any more local than this? Fact is, the prison yard spinach could be tainted with E. coli, right? As with any food product, just follow the precautionary steps for cleaning, preparation and consumption.

Let the sheriff keep the cuts coming and the prisoners engaged in productive rehabilitation…and let ’em raise their own eggs.

Columnist Linda Valdez wrote about her experience visiting a farm where the birds are raised in cage housing for egg production, as well as touring a cage-free operation. These tours occurred after she took aim at the so-called factory farming issue and the perception of negligent animal care on modern farms. Clearly she had a biased opinion going in, which is precisely why this column is important and worth resurfacing.

These are perhaps the most telling lines of her column:

“People think by spending more money on cage-free eggs they are creating a better life for that chicken,” Armstrong says.

I was one of those people. I’ve changed my mind.

While Valdez’s column was published in advance of Proposition 2 passing in California, and subsequently banning cage housing by 2015, it’s obvious that too few Californians got the message.

Before more states follow California’s misguided lead, perhaps we should all do our part to circulate Valdez’s aptly titled column to the misinformed. Her headline says it far better than we could:

“Cage-free egg farms peck away at consumer reality.”  

Effort to ban chicken coops harms birds? WTC?!  One should question why those who appear to be feverishly concerned about animal welfare aren’t quick to point out this fact.  As you’ll read, this is far more than one man’s experience.  

It’s a quick read –  and it’s one that should make you stop and think every time you hear a so-called “compassionate plea” by those radically opposed to modern egg farming.

And if you’re not yet familiar with “A Feathered Fiasco” — check it out (here on this page — or in our video archive). You’ll find Avery’s story and the Cluck Nation feature have quite a bit in common.

Truant officers? Check.

Chicken catchers? WTC?!

Until recently, Miami employed a full-time “chief of chicken round up” because the city was overrun with loose chickens. Consider this another costly and unintended consequence of backyard farming. It’s bad for the birds, communities, the environment, and potentially public health.

Check out the photo in this article to see how just how secure some backyard operations look, fencing and all.

And while Miami expects to save $20,000 by eliminating the bird-busting post, it certainly doesn’t imply that the chickens will stop running amok any time soon.

Let’s leave it to the farmers…not the urban and suburban hobbyists.

It’s hard to imagine anyone having a beef with the iconic children’s show…but then there’s PETA. While it’s unclear if PETA has it in for muppets too, their faux feathers are definitely ruffled over the American Egg Board sponsorship of the program. Why? Simply put, eggs aren’t on their plate and they don’t fit with their radical agenda.

 In November, PETA encouraged its members to voice displeasure over the sponsorship. Recently, they’ve ratcheted up their whining by filing complaints with the FCC, taking a play from the playbook of their deep-pockets brethren. Follow the links to learn more.

From bacon and eggs to Bert and Ernie, it’s good to know some things stand the test of time, even when challenged by radical agendas.

While the animal extremists urge its members to contact Sesame Street to criticize the sponsorship, perhaps a word from the rest of us applauding their efforts to build on a legacy of quality educational programming for children is in order.

Then consider Josh Frye among the few.

The West Virginia poultry farmer has tinkered and toyed with a contraption that contains, heats and converts poultry waste into energy to heat his barns. The byproduct of that process is “biochar” – which is a naturally organic fertilizer. The upside of biochar is that it doesn’t release greenhouse gasses from waste into the atmosphere. Instead, the carbon is contained in the waste and the biochar can be used to fertilize and fuel other green plants that naturally suck more carbon out of the atmosphere. Call it a natural win-win for Mother Nature.

Then consider that Al Gore – the mastermind behind “An Inconvenient Truth” – calls biochar “one of the most exciting new strategies” available to stop climate change, with other environmentalists, scholars and legislators also recognizing its potential.

Imagine…manure to save the planet and environmentalism home grown on the family farm. It’s a far cry from the doom and gloom some groups are quick to suggest about animal agriculture, with solutions that are as equally unimaginative as they are short-sighted and impractical.

Ingenuity, innovation and hard work. Traits synonymous with the family farmer…or the bureaucrat? You decide.

Domino’s is just one of nearly 40 food-related companies in which HSUS has become a shareholder. Any good investment advisor worth his salt might suggest that HSUS is putting all its eggs in one basket, which makes for bad investing. But unlike the average investor, HSUS isn’t interested in return on investment as we know it.

The end goal is simple and one in which they openly admit: pressure dozens of restaurants, grocery chain and food providers to change their purchasing practices away from farmers that HSUS philosophically disagrees with. And with tens of millions of dollars in their coffers, you can see why such a strategy makes sense to them, and should begin to incense the rest of the public…especially if you thought that a donation to this Humane Society was going solely to help kittens and puppies.

Yes, everyone’s favorite groundhog – Punxsutawney Phil – opted for six more weeks of winter this morning. But with all the activists lurking about and hoping to pry him from the “good life” and replace him with a robotic stand-in, can you really blame him for wanting to burrow in?

Find out more about Phil’s big day and PETA’s proposed stunt here.